Sting: Englishman in New York Meaning

1. anonymous

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   Apr 10th 2013 report

   This is my favorite song. It tells you to always be yourself no matter what. I find it very inspirational, especially for discriminated ones.
2. anonymous

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   Apr 5th 2013 report

   Englishman in New York" is a song by Sting, from his 1987 album ...Nothing Like the Sun. The "Englishman" in question is the famous eccentric and gay icon Quentin Crisp. Sting wrote the song not long after Crisp moved from London to an apartment in New York's Bowery. Crisp had remarked jokingly to the musician "...that he looked forward to receiving his naturalization papers so that he could commit a crime and not be deported
3. astorian

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   Nov 2nd 2012 report

   This song is a tribute to Quentin Crisp, a gay English writer who wrote the famous autobiography "The Naked Civil Servant."
   
   Crisp has always been an eccentric, flamboyantly effeminate man. When he was growing up, being a feminine homosexual was dangerous, and could get you beaten up or killed. But Crisp never tried to hide who he was, and always lived as openly and outrageously as possible. He lived by the philosophy expressed in the song's lyrics: "Be yourself, no matter what they say."
   
   Crisp did a series on one-man stage shows. He took the show to America, where it became quite popular. In the late Seventies, he moved to New York City, where he lived for the rest of his life.

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