Rock legend Mick Jagger has released a new track called “England Lost” that reflects the soul-searching in Britain since the Brexit vote in what he said was “a difficult moment in our history”.
The song released on Thursday, a collaboration with grime artist Skepta, starts out as a reflection on seeing England’s beleaguered football team lose.
“But when I wrote the title I knew it would be about more than just that. It’s about a feeling that we are in a difficult moment in our history,” the Rolling Stones frontman, who turned 74 on Wednesday, said in an interview for Apple Music.
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“It’s about the unknowability about where you are and the feeling of insecurity. That’s how I was feeling when I was writing,” Jagger said.
“I went to find England, but England’s lost,” he sings in the blues-inspired track.
“I went to find England, it wasn’t there/ I think I lost it in the back of my chair,” goes the song, with a music video showing a smartly-dressed man being held back as he tries to run into the sea.
“I think I’m losing my imagination/ I’m tired of talking about immigration/ You can’t get in and you can’t get out/ I guess that’s what we’re all about.”
The Brexit referendum last year divided the country after a bitter campaign in which hardline rhetoric against immigration featured prominently.
Jagger told Sky News in an interview in April 2016 ahead of the vote that: “I don’t think to me personally it’s going to make a huge difference”.
“I think to the country in the short-term it will be detrimental. In the longer term, in say a 20-year term, it might turn out to be beneficial.”
Jagger also on Thursday released a second solo track entitled “Gotta Get a Grip”, a dance tune, that he said was more inspired by the United States and is being seen as a comment on US President Donald Trump.
“The world is upside down/ Everybody lunatics and clowns/ No one speaks the truth/ And madhouse runs the town,” Jagger sings.
“Immigrants are pouring in/ Refugees under your skin/ Keep ’em under, keep ’em out/ Intellectual, shut your mouth/ Beat ’em with a stick,” he sings.
“The message I suppose is despite all those things that are happening, you’ve got to get on with your own life, be yourself and attempt to create your own destiny,” Jagger said.
