Lyric discussion by Smart Alex 

Cover art for Emigre lyrics by James Dean Bradfield

The title is French for "a person who has migrated."

The reference to two hundred miles of sleepers is the distance between London and Cardiff by train, which James does lot on the Great Western.

He wrote a lot of the lyrics for the album travelling between Paddington and Cardiff Central.

I think the song is about dealing with separation from the people and things you love and how that changes you over time.