England, Half-English is a 2002album by English political singer-songwriterBilly Bragg, and a song from that album. The song is about racism in Britain and the anti-immigration feelings and racist abuse of asylum seekers fueled by the tabloid press, particularly the Daily Mail. The song uses examples such as the lions on the English football team's shirts, Britannia and the English patron saint, St. George (from Lebanon), the hyphen in Anglo-Saxon and the nation's favourite dish (curry) to convey his message that everything about British 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 Americanpop music on English teenagers.
"Take Down The Union Jack", a song from the album that protests against the monarchy and Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee, reached number 22 in the UK singles chart in May 2002.
With this odd duality, his teenage fans seem quite at ease: they prefer him to be one of them in his unbuttoned moments, but expect him to sing in a near foreign tongue: rather as a congregation might wish the sermon to be delivered in the vernacular, and the plainsong chanted in mysterious Latin.
The essay, "Young England, HalfEnglish", was originally written in December 1957, when a certain group of Liverpool lads was still known as the Quarry Men.
Englishness is continuous, it stretches into the future and the past, there is something in it that persists, as in a living creature.
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