Immigration Man (Graham Nash, 1972)

"It’s a song that sounds as grimly relevant as ever with its aching chorus: “Let me in / Let me in / immigration man / Can I cross the line and pray?”"
Rob LeDonne



Graham Nash wrote the song "Immigration Man" after "an unfortunate moment" he had with a US Customs official when entering the country (he became a naturalised US citizen in 1978). The official held him up drawing the attention of the people around them who came up to Nash asking him for his autograph. Finally, Nash was allowed to go through but he did not forget the incident. For the cover of the sheet music he chose a photograph of earth taken from space: "When you look at a photograph of the earth you don't see any borders. That realisation is where our hope as a planet lies." (via)

I would really have loved the perspective of the astronauts. To stand on the f—ing moon and look back at the Earth — how beautiful, right? But when you see the first photograph of the Earth Rise, there’s no boundaries. There’s no borders. There’s no f—ing walls. There’s just this blue marble in space.
It’s really funny because a lot of people think that space is out there, but as we’re eating our lunch, we’re in space. So that’s why I put that photo on the sheet music. I wanted people to know. How many countries are in the world now? No, no, it’s just one planet!
Graham Nash

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The song on YouTube:
::: Immigration Man: LISTEN
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There I was at the immigration scene
Shining and feeling clean, could it be a sin?
I got stopped by the immigration man
He said he doesn't know if he can let me in

Let me in, immigration man
Can I cross your line and pray?
I can stay another day, won't you let me in, immigration man?
I won't toe your line today, I can't see it anyway

There he was with his immigration face
Giving me a paper chase but the sun was coming
'Cos all at once he looked into my space
And stamped a number all over my face and he sent me running

Come on and let me in, immigration man
Can I cross your line and pray?
I can stay another day, won't you let me in, immigration man?
I won't toe your line today, I can't see it anyway

Here I am with my immigration form and it's big enough to keep me warm
When a cold wind's coming, go where you will
As long as you think you can, you'd better watch out
Watch out for the man anywhere you're going

Come on and let me in, immigration man
Can I cross your line and pray?
I can stay another day, won't you let me in, immigration man?
I won't toe your line today, I can't see it anyway

lyrics via

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photograph of Graham Nash taken by (c) Barry Schultz in The Hague in 1974 via