This song deals with the journey, both physical and spiritual, of two immigrants attempting to flee where they're from and head somewhere safe and new.
Garvey says;
"It was written in between enormous humanitarian disasters. It was a general sort of… I think it's crazy that depending on a person's income or social status they can or cannot be ignored. As if we're not all immigrants at some point or another. Look at New York: the centre of Western capitalism on the one hand, but a city built by immigrants and lived in by immigrants on the other hand. That's what can happen when you open your arms to the world and get your ideas together. I just think, we made a deal. I met a girl who worked for Kofi Annan, many years ago, and I asked her, what was the point of everyone agreeing to find refugees a home after the Second World War? She told me those laws were eroded and bypassed little by little. Countries were looking for excuses not to accept refugees. And the arguing and politicking from both sides [in the UK] – there's no empathy, no humanity. It was bugging me. So I wrote that song."
This song deals with the journey, both physical and spiritual, of two immigrants attempting to flee where they're from and head somewhere safe and new.
Garvey says;
"It was written in between enormous humanitarian disasters. It was a general sort of… I think it's crazy that depending on a person's income or social status they can or cannot be ignored. As if we're not all immigrants at some point or another. Look at New York: the centre of Western capitalism on the one hand, but a city built by immigrants and lived in by immigrants on the other hand. That's what can happen when you open your arms to the world and get your ideas together. I just think, we made a deal. I met a girl who worked for Kofi Annan, many years ago, and I asked her, what was the point of everyone agreeing to find refugees a home after the Second World War? She told me those laws were eroded and bypassed little by little. Countries were looking for excuses not to accept refugees. And the arguing and politicking from both sides [in the UK] – there's no empathy, no humanity. It was bugging me. So I wrote that song."