Calling England Home
from The Rich Are Only Defeated When Running for Their Lives by Anthony Joseph
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LP 180g - Limited Edition w/ 8-page Booklet
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album12" 180g LP
Limited Edition w/ 8-page Booklet
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about
“Calling England Home” is carried along by a sleepily evocative 60s horn-driven dancehall ambience, entirely in keeping with the song’s lyrical focus, to highlight the evocation of the post Windrush generations’ search for belonging — a story that soon becomes Joseph’s own.
lyrics
Black and been here since 1949
West London jaw grind, ‘Tek it easy’
We saw him, you saw him
Walking along the canal last night
And what a joy to buck up upon him
At the carnival today
To hear him speak about
The dances and the bands
At the Paramount
The spots you couldn’t mix
With white in, or dance in
Remembering… London
How he been slapped so hard
With the lash - Sam Selvon say
And it take him 60 years
Before he could call England
‘Home’
He musta come here in black and white, 1959
Time longer than twine
So long ago he don’t
Remember being a child,
Just a suit and steamer trunk
Upon a ship which took
A good six weeks to cross
We sat at his kitchen table
And I filmed him on the fly
But he wasn’t saying much
At least nothing I could put in a poem
Instead he showed me
Photographs - with the dashiki and the fez
With Michael X at the Ambience
Outside the night came in
And he had moved so far away
From calling England
‘Home ’
I’ve lived here longer than home, since 1989
Remember Harlesden in the spring time
I used to walk from Cricklewood
To Marylebone High Street
To cut up meat to punch out dough
I was never asked to wait tables
Or to serve scones and coffee
I worked in the basement
But I learned to tie my apron
In a way that retained some dignity
And in my first summer above the corner shop
I listened to rare groove on pirate radio
I was flung so far from any notion of nation
How long do you have to live in a place
Before you can call it
‘Home?’
West London jaw grind, ‘Tek it easy’
We saw him, you saw him
Walking along the canal last night
And what a joy to buck up upon him
At the carnival today
To hear him speak about
The dances and the bands
At the Paramount
The spots you couldn’t mix
With white in, or dance in
Remembering… London
How he been slapped so hard
With the lash - Sam Selvon say
And it take him 60 years
Before he could call England
‘Home’
He musta come here in black and white, 1959
Time longer than twine
So long ago he don’t
Remember being a child,
Just a suit and steamer trunk
Upon a ship which took
A good six weeks to cross
We sat at his kitchen table
And I filmed him on the fly
But he wasn’t saying much
At least nothing I could put in a poem
Instead he showed me
Photographs - with the dashiki and the fez
With Michael X at the Ambience
Outside the night came in
And he had moved so far away
From calling England
‘Home ’
I’ve lived here longer than home, since 1989
Remember Harlesden in the spring time
I used to walk from Cricklewood
To Marylebone High Street
To cut up meat to punch out dough
I was never asked to wait tables
Or to serve scones and coffee
I worked in the basement
But I learned to tie my apron
In a way that retained some dignity
And in my first summer above the corner shop
I listened to rare groove on pirate radio
I was flung so far from any notion of nation
How long do you have to live in a place
Before you can call it
‘Home?’
credits
from The Rich Are Only Defeated When Running for Their Lives,
released May 7, 2021
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
Anthony Joseph Trinidad and Tobago
Anthony Joseph is a poet, novelist, musician and lecturer described as ‘the leader of the black avant-garde in Britain’. His written work and performance occupies a space between surrealism, Jazz and the rhythms of Caribbean speech and music.
shows
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Jun 7Lourmarin, France
discography
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Feb 2025 -
Dec 2024 -
Aug 2024 -
Jan 2022 -
Dec 2021 -
Nov 2021 -
May 2021 -
Sep 2018 -
Jun 2016 -
Sep 2014 -
Feb 2014 -
Sep 2011
contact / help
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