Bengali in Platforms
Encyclopedia
"Bengali in Platforms" is a Morrissey
song from his debut album Viva Hate
. It refers to a Bengali
boy who is living in the UK
, and trying, but failing, to fit in. Some people believe that it is actually an allegory for the early life of Morrissey, who was the son of Irish
immigrants, though the reference to 'Western plans' does not fit this narrative.
This song was included as evidence of Morrissey
's oft-discussed, purported racism
. The lines most often referred to are:
Writes the author of the "It May All End Tomorrow" Morrissey fan website:
In a 1988 interview with Shaun Phillips for Sounds magazine, Morrissey justified the lyrics by saying: "If you went to live in Yugoslavia
tomorrow, you would find you didn't really belong there."
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
song from his debut album Viva Hate
Viva Hate
Viva Hate is Morrissey's debut solo album, released on 14 March 1988 by HMV Records. The album was considered a very strong foray into Morrissey's solo career, as he utilised his traditional lyrical style and retained the basic sound that The Smiths had developed by the time they broke up. It...
. It refers to a Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
boy who is living in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and trying, but failing, to fit in. Some people believe that it is actually an allegory for the early life of Morrissey, who was the son of Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
immigrants, though the reference to 'Western plans' does not fit this narrative.
This song was included as evidence of Morrissey
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
's oft-discussed, purported racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
. The lines most often referred to are:
- "Bengali, BengaliBengali peopleThe Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
/ Oh, shelve your Western plans / And understand / That life is hard enough when you belong here"
Writes the author of the "It May All End Tomorrow" Morrissey fan website:
- "As [Smiths biographer] RoganJohnny RoganJohnny Rogan is an author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He has written influential biographies of The Byrds, The Smiths and Van Morrison. His writing is characterised by "an almost neurotic attention to detail", epic length and a sometimes hostile...
says, with its tone of condescension 'politely mocking', it's hard to justify these lyrics as anything other than incredibly badly thought out. Easily offensive, two justifications are that it was purposefully done to incite the critics (although as the individual Morrissey was always so closely aligned with his lyrics, it's hard to see this) and Rogan's point that the definite setting of the song is in the 1970s. At no point is it made clear that the singer is in any way sympathetic with the lyrics - it's fair enough to say that the only endorsement of the lyrics is that Morrissey wrote them." http://www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~moz/lyrics/vivahate/bengalii.htm
In a 1988 interview with Shaun Phillips for Sounds magazine, Morrissey justified the lyrics by saying: "If you went to live in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
tomorrow, you would find you didn't really belong there."