State Line Babylon

[Intro]
(Deep, clean bassline melody starts. A crisp one-drop drum beat enters. Guitar skank on the upbeat.)
(Yeah... a tale of two nations... in one.)

[Verse 1]
In the California sun, the business is boomin'
Gleaming glass and chrome, sweet scent is fumin'
They choose a strain from a menu on a bright, cold screen
Pay the man his tax, the transaction is clean
Packaged and branded, a customer is served
Another dollar earned, another lesson unlearned
Out on the sidewalk, there's no fear in their soul
Just another product under corporate control.

[Chorus]
But it's a State Line Babylon, a trick of the light
Where a plant of healing is wrong or it is right
On one side of the border, it's a legal tender
On the other side, a twenty-year offender
Oh, State Line Babylon, the injustice it grows
On which side of that invisible line the free wind blows.

[Verse 2]
Down here in the Tennessee twilight, it's a different vibration
Living under the threat of a permanent vacation
A simple herb for peace can steal a future bright
Always watchin' your shadow for the flashin' blue light
A mother says a prayer for her son comin' home
Hopin' tonight he ain't caught out there alone
'Cause the same little flower that makes the rich man richer
Can make a poor man a sad and lonely picture.

[Chorus]
'Cause it's a State Line Babylon, a trick of the light
Where a plant of healing is wrong or it is right
On one side of the border, it's a legal tender
On the other side, a twenty-year offender
Oh, State Line Babylon, the injustice it grows
On which side of that invisible line the free wind blows.

[Bridge]
(Music gets spacious, bass and drums prominent. Dub delay on the vocals.)
The healing of the nation... (nation... nation...)
Was given in creation... (creation... creation...)
So who draws the line in Jah Jah sand?
And builds a prison on his brother's land?
It's a politician's game, a modern-day curse
Makin' a bad situation so much worse... so much worse.

[Outro]
(Tempo stays steady, vocals become a chant.)
Tear down the walls of the State Line Babylon!
Let the people live as one!
Tear down the walls of the State Line Babylon!
Justice must come!
(Bassline and guitar skank repeat and fade out)