[Intro Guzheng sample over distant harbor sounds] Golden door in the distance Paper wall by the shore [Verse 1 Modern Chinese hip hop flow] Crossed the ocean chasing something bright Worked from early morning to the edge of night Helped build the West with a hammer in hand Still they treated our people like strangers on land Jobs ran low so they blamed our name Turned worker on worker to rig the game Said we cut wages said we worked too cheap Bosses set the pay while the workers compete Naytivist voices grew louder with fear Made us the target when hard times appeared We brought our language our labor our pride Still America kept pushing our people aside [Chorus Layered vocals over heavy bass] Golden door Closed door What was all that welcome for Built your cities Built your lines Still you drew a racial line Eighteen eighty two Congress made the law Chinese Exclusion Built a paper wall [Verse 2 Beat switches with sharp guzheng chops] Ten year ban on the laboring class Skilled and unskilled could not legally pass Teachers, merchants, students could try Every exception faced a government eye Families divided by water and law Dreams put on hold by the border they saw Those already here could work but not be Citizens equal and legally free First major law made exclusion the rule Race at the gate became government tool Land of opportunity shifted its tone Made Chinese workers feel foreign at home [Chorus Layered vocals over heavy bass] Golden door Closed door What was all that welcome for Built your cities Built your lines Still you drew a racial line Eighteen eighty two Congress made the law Chinese Exclusion Built a paper wall [Verse 3 Rapid flow over rising strings] Ten years passed but the ban did not die Geary renewed it as hope passed by Nineteen oh two brought exclusion once more Nineteen oh four made permanence law Decades rolled while the families stayed split Chinese communities never would quit Businesses opened as families remained Culture kept living through pressure and pain Nineteen forty three brought repeal at last Still no new law could erase the past Every closed border leaves stories untold Hands built America then got left in the cold [Bridge Guzheng solo over whispered vocals] They called us foreign We helped build the nation They called us different We built generations The law drew a line But the people stood strong A country grows richer When all can belong [Final Chorus Full beat with soaring vocal layers] Golden door Closed door What was all that welcome for Built your cities Built your lines Still you drew a racial line Eighteen eighty two Congress made the law Chinese Exclusion Built a paper wall Golden door Open wide No more pushing hope aside Every language Every face Every story has a place [Outro Guzheng fades over ocean waves] A wall made of paper But history stays America learns When it faces those days
