Walls Fall Down

Album: Street Gospels (2007)
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Songfacts®:

  • "There are many elements to 'Walls Fall Down,'" Bedouin Soundclash frontman Jay Malinowski told Songfacts in 2022. "In a very direct way, 'When the walls fall down on your hometown,' I think holding on to things really tightly that we have grown accustomed to, when we take all those things away, then we can actually begin to start something new again - as opposed to holding on to past ideas."
  • When this was released as the lead single from their third album, Street Gospels, in 2007, George W. Bush was still serving his second term as US president. The effects of his post-9/11 War on Terror were on Malinowski's mind when he wrote the song in reference to a war-hungry leader. "At the time I wrote that, George W. Bush was still the president of the United States, so the references in the verse may not make as much sense anymore. But that's generally what the song is about."
  • This was a big hit in the band's native Canada, going to #6 hit on the Canadian Hot 100 and #1 on the MuchMoreMusic Countdown.
  • Street Gospels was nominated for Pop Album of the Year at the Juno Awards in 2008, but lost to Feist's The Reminder.
  • The album peaked at #2 on the Canadian Albums chart and #4 on the US Reggae Albums chart.
  • In the music video, the band performs in a room that continues to change as walls are taken down and different ones are put back up. A run-down storage area transforms into a sleek studio space, which then shifts to a den where a house party is going on.

    The clip, directed by Marc Ricciardelli, was nominated for Video of the Year at the 2008 Juno Awards, but lost to Blue Rodeo's "C'mon."

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