Reddit mentions of Crossing the River: A Memoir of the American Left, the Cold War, and Life in East Germany

Try to find this book and read it. It's the biography of an American (US) communist that escaped to East Germany from political persecution, and he gives a very thorough overview of how life was there throughout the decades. It includes his perspective on why the wall was eventually built, among many other things.

And please, do not use song lyrics as a tool of political analysis.

Comrade ksan is referencing this fine memoir. Everyone should read it.