''England, Half-English'' is a 2002 album by English political singer-songwriter

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...

and The Blokes, and a song from that album. The song is about racism in England and the

anti-immigration Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, has become a significant political ideology in many countries. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory ...

feelings and racist abuse of asylum seekers fuelled by the

tabloid Tabloid may refer to: * Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism * Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size ** Chinese tabloid * Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size * Sopwith Tabloid, a biplane aircraft * ''Ta ...

press, particularly the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

''. The song uses examples such as the lions on the

English football team The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...

's shirts,

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

and the English

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

(from Lebanon), the hyphen in

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

and the nation's favourite dish ( curry) to convey his message that everything about English culture is shaped and influenced by the waves of immigration that have taken place in the past. The title is taken from ''England, Half English'', a 1961 collection of essays and articles by Colin MacInnes, which includes a 1957 article called "Young England, Half English" about the influence of American pop music on English teenagers. "

Take Down The Union Jack A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production. Film In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup". Takes of each s ...

", a song from the album that protests against the monarchy, Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee and argues for English and Scottish independence, reached number 22 in the UK singles chart in May 2002.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Billy Bragg; except where indicated #"St. Monday" – 3:04 #"Jane Allen" ( Ian McLagan, Martyn Barker, Lu Edmonds,

Ben Mandelson Ben Mandelson (born 6 October 1953, in Everton, Liverpool, England) is an English world musician, and also manager and producer. Punk and new wave years In the mid-1970s, Mandelson was a student at Bolton Institute of Technology (now Bolton Univ ...

, Billy Bragg & the Blokes) – 3:58 #"Distant Shore" (Ian McLagan, Martyn Barker, Lu Edmonds, Ben Mandelson, Billy Bragg & the Blokes) – 2:30 #"England, Half English" (Ian McLagan, Martyn Barker, Lu Edmonds, Ben Mandelson, Billy Bragg & the Blokes) – 2:29 #"NPWA (No Power Without Accountability)" (Billy Bragg & the Blokes) – 5:31 #"Some Days I See The Point" – 4:59 #"Baby Faroukh" (Billy Bragg, Ian McLagan, Martyn Barker, Lu Edmonds, Ben Mandelson) – 3:06 #"Take Down The Union Jack" – 3:20 #"Another Kind of Judy" – 3:44 #"He'll Go Down" – 3:21 #"Dreadbelly" (Ian McLagan, Martyn Barker, Lu Edmonds, Ben Mandelson, Billy Bragg & the Blokes) – 3:33 #"Tears of My Tracks" – 3:53 ;Bonus disc The 2006 reissue included a bonus disc with the following tracklisting: #" Billericay Dickie" – 4:46 #"Mansion on the Hill" – 4:20 #"Glad And Sorry" – 4:08 #"He'll Go Down" (demo) – 3:31 #"Yarra Song" – 3:33 #"You Pulled The Carpet Out" – 2:38 #"Mystery Shoes" – 3:09 #"Tears of my Tracks" (demo) – 3:20 #"Take Down The Union Jack" (band version) – 3:22 #"England, Half English" (7" remix) – 3:56 #"1 2 3 4" – 2:05 #"Dry Bed" (band version) – 3:19 #"Danny Rose" – 2:27 #"She Smiled Sweetly" – 2:50

Personnel

*Billy Bragg – guitar, vocals ;The Blokes *

– various string instruments * Ian McLagan – Hammond organ, piano * Lu Edmonds – various string instruments *Martyn Barker – drums, percussion *Simon Edwards – bass guitar

References

External links

* {{Authority control Billy Bragg albums 2002 albums Albums produced by Grant Showbiz Elektra Records albums Cooking Vinyl albums