Video hit Sting

Sting - Englishman in New York (live, 2011)

This video is a clip from Festival Viña del Mar, Chile, 2011.

Excellent Live performance, beautiful Orchestration work, interesting Pizzicato. The Clarinetist did take chances and being rewarded.

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."

The lyrics:

I don't drink coffee, I take tea my dear

I like my toast done on one side

And you can hear it in my accent when I talk

I'm an Englishman in New York

You see me walking down Fifth Avenue

A walking cane here at my side

I take it everywhere I walk

I'm an Englishman in New York

I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien

I'm an Englishman in New York

I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien

I'm an Englishman in New York

If, "Manners maketh man" as someone said

He's that hero of the day

It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile

Be yourself no matter what they say

I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien

I'm an Englishman in New York

I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien

I'm an Englishman in New York

Modesty, propriety can lead to notoriety

You could end up as the only one

Gentleness, sobriety, rare in this society

At night a candle's brighter than the sun

Takes more than combat gear to make a man

Takes more than a license for a gun

Confront your enemies, avoid them when you can

A gentleman will walk but never run

If, "Manners maketh man" as someone said

He's that hero of the day

It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile

Be yourself no matter what they say

Be yourself no matter what they say

Be yourself no matter what they say

I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien

I'm an Englishman in New York

I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien

I'm an Englishman in New York

I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien

I'm an Englishman in New York

I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien

I'm an Englishman in New York