Dagenham Dave Lyrics

Lyric discussion by kickme8x 

Cover art for Dagenham Dave lyrics by Morrissey

"Nottingham Jon" has this to say about this song : To understand what Dagenham is and what it produces would help a lot of people get a handle on this song at least, and if it could send one person back to SG with open ears then this is worth a go.

There are only two famous things to come out of Dagenham (an area to the East of London, very unglamorous).

1) Dudley Moore. Now I stand to be corrected but I do not think this song is about him.

2) Ford Motor Cars. Dagenham is home to a massive Ford Factory which produces the UK's most popular cars, the Escort (the chosen car of the so-called Boy Racer) and the Fiesta. And is by far and away the main source of employment in the area.

To prefix a song "Dagenham" immediately places it within a certain context. It tells us that Dagenham Dave is a working class, heterosexual male, works at Fords and drives a Ford Escort (the commonest car on the roads)

In an area with its fair share of unemployment, he has a job, has a car, has more than his share of women (Karen and Sharon) and need not worry where his his next meal is coming from.

@kickme8x thank you, that made the song make more sense