Paper suitcase

Verse 1

I was six years old with a paper suitcase

My mom’s hand, my father’s faith

Argentina burning in the rearview light

Promises whispered on a red-eye flight

We didn’t leave for a dream or thrill

We left because staying wasn’t living still

Empty pockets, hearts full of hope

Crossing lines just to learn how to cope

Pre-Chorus

You don’t abandon your home for fun

You run when there’s nowhere left to run

Chorus

If you could feel what they carry inside

You wouldn’t turn away, you wouldn’t hide

When you strip a name down to a label or crime

You don’t just lose them, you lose your kind

There has to be a kinder way

There has to be a human way

Verse 2

My father worked till his hands were worn

Loved this land like he was born

Stars and stripes hanging by his bed

Proud of the life his courage led

He gave up everything he knew

So his kids could choose what to do

He loved this country, every scar

Believed in what we still could be, not what we are

Pre-Chorus 2

Now I watch the same old fear repeat

Different faces, same defeat

Chorus

If you could feel what they carry inside

You wouldn’t turn away, you wouldn’t hide

When you turn a family into a threat

You teach your heart how to forget

There has to be a kinder way

There has to be a human way

Bridge

History whispers if you dare to listen

Every atrocity starts with division

First they’re “other,” then they’re less than real

Then no one stays long enough to feel

It’s easy to hate when you don’t know a name

Easy to cheer when someone else feels the pain

But love is heavier, love stays late

Love refuses to cooperate with hate

Chorus (Soft → Build)

If you could feel what they carry inside

You’d see your own face in their eyes

When we dehumanize, we all decay

We all lose something along the way

There has to be a kinder way

There has to be a human way

Outro

I hear my father in the quiet night

Still believing we’d get it right

This country’s strength was never fear

It was choosing to keep our hearts open here