"Immigration Man" is a song written by

Graham Nash Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, photographer, and activist. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and the supergroups Crosby, Stills ...

and recorded by David Crosby and Graham Nash, released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in March 1972. It was the lead single for the duo's debut album, ''

Graham Nash David Crosby ''Graham Nash David Crosby'' is the first album by the partnership of David Crosby and Graham Nash, released on Atlantic Records in 1972, catalog SD 7220. It peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and a single taken from the album, " ...

''. It peaked at No. 36 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and is their only Top 40 hit as a duo.

Background

Nash wrote "Immigration Man" about an unfortunate moment he had with a U.S. Customs official when he tried to enter the country. The customs official held him up interminably, and soon people started coming up to Nash for his

autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Inter ...

. When that happened, Nash was allowed to go through, but he remained angry with the treatment he received. "I'm not against local colour," Nash explained in discussing the song, "but why should you fight me just because you speak differently than I do?" Nash also explained why he chose a picture of the earth from space for the cover of the sheet music for "Immigration Man." "When you look at a photograph of the earth you don't see any borders. That realisation is where our hope as a planet lies." Nash himself became a naturalized

U.S. citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

in 1978.

Music and lyrics

The music of "Immigration Man" is mid-tempo West Coast

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

in the

Crosby, Stills and Nash Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member, ...

Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield was a rock band formed in Los Angeles by Canadian musicians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin and American musicians Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely known for the song "For What It's Worth", rele ...

tradition. The guitar solo is by

Dave Mason David Thomas Mason (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic. Over the course of his career, Mason has played and recorded with many notable pop and rock mu ...

. The first verse of "Immigration Man" refers to Nash going through customs and getting stopped by the "immigration man", who tells Nash that he's not sure if he can let him in. The second verse tells how Nash was given trouble over various documents, and the third finds him filling out a form that Nash humorously describes to be as big as a blanket. Crosby joins Nash on the next line, offering a warning to would-be global travelers: "So go where you will / As long as you think you can / You better watch out, watch out for the man / Anywhere you're going." The choruses, with harmonies from Crosby and Nash, are pleas for the

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

official to let Nash into the country, with a slight rewording at the end in which the immigration man is referred to as an "irritation man."

Personnel

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (born August 14, 1941) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Crosby joined the Byrds in 1964. They got ...

—

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

— vocals,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

— electric guitar *

Greg Reeves Gregory Allen Reeves (born ) is an American bass guitarist. He is best known for playing bass on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's album ''Déjà Vu'' (1970). Early life Reeves grew up in Warren, Ohio, and graduated from Warren Western Reserve Hi ...

— bass *

Johnny Barbata John Barbata (born April 1, 1945) is an American drummer who was active especially in pop and rock bands in the 1960s and 1970s, both as a band member and as a session drummer. Barbata has served as the drummer for The Turtles, Crosby, Stills ...

— drums

Production personnel

Crosby & Nash In addition to solo careers and within the larger aggregate of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the musical team of David Crosby and Graham Nash have performed and recorded regularly as a duo, mostly during the 1970s and the 2000s. History After th ...

, Bill Halverson —

producers Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

* Bill Halverson, Doc Storch —

engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the ...

* David Geffen, Elliot Roberts — direction 1972 singles 1972 songs Atlantic Records singles Folk rock songs Protest songs Songs written by Graham Nash Works about immigration {{1970s-single-stub