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An all time great topic are song texts. However, the choice of song is not unimportant. I like to choose songs everyone knows with lyrics most people don’t. There has to be a little mystery and surprise concerning the text, something special about it.
In this respect, the song below definitely qualifies.
Englishman in New York
Pre-listening vocabulary
Go to the internet and find out about the expression
- 1. ‘manners maketh man’
Do you know any of the words below?
- 2. modesty
- 3. propriety
- 4. notoriety
- 5. sobriety
These four words are all from the bridge of the song and probably the most difficult passage of the lyrics. Try to match the words with the definitions below.
- A) i.The state of not being drunk, sober; ii. State or quality of being serious and calm
- B) The quality of not talking about or not trying to make people notice your abilities and achievements
- C) Correct moral behaviour or actions
- D) The state of being famous for something bad
Listen to the song and speculate what it is about. Go through the lyrics and clarify the unknowns. Describe the images and the people in the video. Would you be able to tell which time period the video is in?
Recommendation: listen first without subtitles, and only the second time, if you wish, with subtitles.
What and who is the song about?
Spoiler Alert – under the lyrics you find who Sting had dedicated the song to
“Englishman In New York” (link to video with subtitles – if you want to watch without first go HERE)
I don’t drink coffee I take tea my dear
I like my toast done on one side
And you can hear it in my accent when I talk
I’m an Englishman in New York
See me walking down Fifth Avenue
A walking cane here at my side
I take it everywhere I walk
I’m an Englishman in New York
I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien
I’m an Englishman in New York
I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien
I’m an Englishman in New York
If “Manners maketh man” as someone said
Then he’s the hero of the day
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say
I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien
I’m an Englishman in New York
I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien
I’m an Englishman in New York
Modesty, propriety can lead to notoriety
You could end up as the only one
Gentleness, sobriety are rare in this society
At night a candle’s brighter than the sun
Takes more than combat gear to make a man
Takes more than a license for a gun
Confront your enemies, avoid them when you can
A gentleman will walk but never run
If “Manners maketh man” as someone said
Then he’s the hero of the day
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say
Be yourself no matter what they say
Be yourself no matter what they say
Be yourself no matter what they say
Be yourself no matter what they say…
I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien
I’m an Englishman in New York
I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien
I’m an Englishman in New York
I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien
I’m an Englishman in New York
I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien
I’m an Englishman in New York
From the wikipedia entry: Quentin Crisp
Sting dedicated his song “Englishman in New York” (1987) to Crisp. He had jokingly remarked “that he looked forward to receiving his naturalisation papers so that he could commit a crime and not be deported.” In late 1986 Sting visited Crisp in his apartment and was told over dinner, and the next three days, what life had been like for a homosexual man in the largely homophobic Great Britain of the 1920s to the 1960s. Sting was both shocked and fascinated and decided to write the song. It includes the lines:
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile,
Be yourself no matter what they say.
Sting says, “Well, it’s partly about me and partly about Quentin. Again, I was looking for a metaphor. Quentin is a hero of mine, someone I know very well. He is gay and he was gay at a time in history when it was dangerous to be so. He had people beating up on him on a daily basis, largely with the consent of the public.”[22]
On Youtube you find the film adaptation of Quentin Crisp’s autobiography The Naked Civil Servant from 1975. John Hurt plays the young Quentin.
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