Singh Song! by Daljit Nagra
Form and Structure
As it says in the title, this poem is a song - it has a strong lyrical voice, and depends on rhyme and rhythm, as well as repetition to create a sense of a refrain or chorus. The structure does not stay the same throughout, but cycles through a number of different stanza patterns, finishing in four two-line stanzas that follow a conversation between the narrator and his bride. The structure is highly repetitive, creating a sense of closeness between the two speakers.
Attitudes and Ideas
As well as exploring the experience of the main character, this poem challenges the conventional expectations other people might have of him. These expectations are set up in the first stanza, in which the narrator tells us his father wants him to work twelve-hour days in the shop, playing on the idea of the immigrant work ethic. But he constantly upsets and challenges these expectations through the image of his wife: she is "netting two cat on her Sikh lover site", and swearing at his mother, which are both unexpected, but not as much as her punk appearance, with a "red crew cut" and a "Tartan sari". The focus on the love between them and the human aspect of their experience conveys very powerfully the idea that you can't use stereotypical expectations to judge what a person will be like. The poem is playful. The rhyme, the subversion of expectations and the comic images that seem created just for the rhyme (making love "like vee rowing through Putney"), all create a light-hearted poem and prevent the end from becoming sentimental.
What can this poem be compared to?
Checking Out Me History Both poems use non-standard spelling to suggest an accent for the voice of the narrator. These narrators both bring the voices of others into their poetry - in Checking Out Me History it's the authority behind 'dem' and in this poem it's the voice of the complaining customers. Although both these poems challenge assumptions, Singh Song! is not as obviously political as Checking Out Me History. Brendon Gallacher There's repetition in both of these poems, which helps create rhythm and a distinctive voice. Both are love poems to another 'half'. There's a lot of humour in both poems, but in the end Singh Song! is joyful, whereas the Brendon Gallagher has a sad ending.
Language: Imagery
In the fourth stanza Nagra plays with the metaphor of the cat and mouse, as the narrator's wife is on what could be an internet dating site. The men she is catching are both mice, which she is playing with as a cat might. But they could also be cats. 'Cat' is a fairly common but old-fashioned slang term for a man. The confusion of who is the cat and who is the mouse reflects the situation the metaphor describes, where we might expect the bride to be the victim, but she is not! There may also be some punning here on the idea of the 'web' and her "netting" her prey. The metaphors used to describe the narrator's bride are quite unexpected. Neither the "tiny eyes ov a gun" and the "tummy ov a teddy" sound particularly attractive, but it is clear that he loves her. They also tell us a lot about his wife: using the comparison of the gun tells us she's assertive, but "teddy" suggests affection and softness. One image - of his bride swearing - sums up the ideas behind the poem: "all di colours of Punjabi" draws on the idea of colourful language, but it also suggests the idea of variety, and that behind the stereotype of the Indian immigrant, there are many different individual lives. The shop at night becomes a romantic destination. The personification of the "whispering stairs" gives a beautiful sense of secrecy, and the shopkeeper's stool is elevated with the adjective "silver", while they look out past the things which represent their daily life - the "half-price window signs" - to the "brightey moon", a romantic icon.
Language: Sound
Nagra uses phonetic spellings in places to represent 'Punglish' - English spoken in a Punjabi accent. This increases the number of 'd' and 'v' sounds in the song, and creates an alliterative, rhythmic effect. There is a lot of rhyming in the poem, which is to be expected in a song form. It doesn't follow a regular pattern, in the same way that the structure is irregular. It is usually end rhyme, and the 'ee' sound of "chapatti", "chutney" and "Punjabi" tends to dominate. This use of rhyme gives a swing to the poem, and speeds up the metre. Towards the end of the poem, in the stanzas set at night, rhyme disappears and the metre slows down, appropriate to the intimate feeling of the most affectionate section of the poem.
Context
Singh Song is a first-person love song by a young man about his wife. He manages his father's shop but keeps sneaking upstairs to see her instead. He paints a colourful picture of their love and lives, challenging stereotypical ideas about Indian culture
