As a Bangladeshi expatriate who has lived for a very long time abroad, albeit not in the UK, but elsewhere and in a place that can be as equally racist and xenophobic, I don't at all see this song as being racist or being targeted specifically towards a Bengali or any race. We have to remind ourselves that Morrissey wrote this song reflecting upon his own difficulty with trying to blend in, being the son of Irish immigrants.Here, the focus is no more on Irish immigrants, but immigrants of a new nature, an incoming influx of people from South Asia who come in search of new jobs, a new life, aspirations of a far more superior environment and culture than the one they leave back at home,from hearing tales told by their own relatives living abroad when they talked of cities that don't sleep at night. When they move to such new places, what they don't realize is how difficult they can find things, their working environment is not the kind they envisioned it to be, and they realize that they left home with false hopes. This could apply to anyone migrating to a new country in search of something better. Why should these immigrants now shelve their "Western Plans"? While these lyrics do tend to make the narrator of the song sound pedantic and want to tell immigrants that the narrator is the one who "belongs", the message otherwise has a better meaning than the one directly implied.People like Bengalis and Indians belong to a culture/religion that is a world apart from the one they try to immerse themselves into (note the second or third generation immigrant kids still looking for that "identity"), and whatever they might try to do, from appearing "Western" to impress or adopt Western political/social/religious/cultural ideologies, they still are not completely "British" or "American" or whatever they want to call themselves.It is as difficult for the native born British to interact with a migrant who might otherwise have very different ideas and thoughts, thoughts which might not even be in tune with the rest of the Western society.With Morrissey trying to explain that had he been in Yugoslavia, he would have felt the same way doesn't really hold as a strong defense. Colour and race matters too, and while Morrissey would have been able to seamlessly adjust himself within the crowd, a dark Bengali or Indian wouldn't find doing the same so easy...and yes, let's not kid ourselves about the situation that the world is still in when it comes to the issue of colour. Political correctness would like to tell you otherwise. I agree with Rachel Summers and citizenerased19.
When the narrator tries to explain to this Bengali that he doesn't want to be blamed when he has to break the bad news to the Bengali, it just implies that sooner or later, somebody has to wake up and remind immigrants, especially ones with a low education and bad language skills, that life could be much harder than they had imagined it to be. These people could be the first generation immigrants themselves or educated citizens with origins in other countries trying to warn people back at home. Morrissey's 80's Britain was different, the mood less forgiving. Adjusting is difficult,people around you can make it harder. Morrissey warns the immigrant of possible alienation and isolation.I hope I could explain this well enough. I know it is me merely rambling on and on...but I could identify with this song in several ways...not that I have had the same experience since I was born in another country and lived there for so long, but because I have seen and known people who had gone through the same experiences as outline by Morrissey in the song.I bet my dad had gone through all that himself; he was the first one to leave home and his family after all.
Anyway, Morrissey is still God and a lyrical genius...a pure legend!
As a Bangladeshi expatriate who has lived for a very long time abroad, albeit not in the UK, but elsewhere and in a place that can be as equally racist and xenophobic, I don't at all see this song as being racist or being targeted specifically towards a Bengali or any race. We have to remind ourselves that Morrissey wrote this song reflecting upon his own difficulty with trying to blend in, being the son of Irish immigrants.Here, the focus is no more on Irish immigrants, but immigrants of a new nature, an incoming influx of people from South Asia who come in search of new jobs, a new life, aspirations of a far more superior environment and culture than the one they leave back at home,from hearing tales told by their own relatives living abroad when they talked of cities that don't sleep at night. When they move to such new places, what they don't realize is how difficult they can find things, their working environment is not the kind they envisioned it to be, and they realize that they left home with false hopes. This could apply to anyone migrating to a new country in search of something better. Why should these immigrants now shelve their "Western Plans"? While these lyrics do tend to make the narrator of the song sound pedantic and want to tell immigrants that the narrator is the one who "belongs", the message otherwise has a better meaning than the one directly implied.People like Bengalis and Indians belong to a culture/religion that is a world apart from the one they try to immerse themselves into (note the second or third generation immigrant kids still looking for that "identity"), and whatever they might try to do, from appearing "Western" to impress or adopt Western political/social/religious/cultural ideologies, they still are not completely "British" or "American" or whatever they want to call themselves.It is as difficult for the native born British to interact with a migrant who might otherwise have very different ideas and thoughts, thoughts which might not even be in tune with the rest of the Western society.With Morrissey trying to explain that had he been in Yugoslavia, he would have felt the same way doesn't really hold as a strong defense. Colour and race matters too, and while Morrissey would have been able to seamlessly adjust himself within the crowd, a dark Bengali or Indian wouldn't find doing the same so easy...and yes, let's not kid ourselves about the situation that the world is still in when it comes to the issue of colour. Political correctness would like to tell you otherwise. I agree with Rachel Summers and citizenerased19. When the narrator tries to explain to this Bengali that he doesn't want to be blamed when he has to break the bad news to the Bengali, it just implies that sooner or later, somebody has to wake up and remind immigrants, especially ones with a low education and bad language skills, that life could be much harder than they had imagined it to be. These people could be the first generation immigrants themselves or educated citizens with origins in other countries trying to warn people back at home. Morrissey's 80's Britain was different, the mood less forgiving. Adjusting is difficult,people around you can make it harder. Morrissey warns the immigrant of possible alienation and isolation.I hope I could explain this well enough. I know it is me merely rambling on and on...but I could identify with this song in several ways...not that I have had the same experience since I was born in another country and lived there for so long, but because I have seen and known people who had gone through the same experiences as outline by Morrissey in the song.I bet my dad had gone through all that himself; he was the first one to leave home and his family after all. Anyway, Morrissey is still God and a lyrical genius...a pure legend!