The song ‘This Is Not Your Country’ is often cited as evidence of Morrissey’s racism despite being about the troubles in Northern Ireland.
The title may have been taken from the Australian skinhead film ‘Romper Stomper’, which he cited as a favourite in a press release for Maladjusted:
But it’s impossible to argue that the lyrics approve of racist attacks, or that even the most alarmist skinhead could think that posting a letter meant getting past roadblocks, barbed wire and armed soldiers.
Roadblocks and fire
Barb wire upon barb wire
This is not your country
Armoured cars, corrugated scars
Graffiti scrawls:
“This is not your country”
Home sweet fortress
Gunshot – we hate your kind
Get back!
This is not your country
I need some air
And I’m stopped and repeatedly questioned:
“Born and raised ?”
But this is not my country
We’re old news
All’s well
Say BBC scum
One child shot, but so what?
Laid my son
In a box, three feet long
And I still don’t know why
A short walk home becomes a run
And I’m scared
In my own country
We’re old news
All’s well
Say BBC scum
Everybody’s under control
Of our surveillance globes
We’re old news
All’s well
And thirty years could be a thousand
And this Peugeot ad
Spins round in my head
British soldier pointing a gun
And I’m only trying to post a letter
A short walk home becomes a run
And I’m scared, and I’m scared, I am scared
Old news
All’s well
BBC scum
You’ve got more than the dead, so zip up your mouth
Zip up your mouth
Zip up your mouth
Zip up your mouth (repeated)
Folk Devil 