Singh Song!: Love and Relationships Analysis

Singh Song! was written by Daljit Nagra and published in 2007. Nagra’s parents emigrated from India to the UK before he was born in 1966. He grew up on the outskirts of London.

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Several of his older relatives bought shops in the 1980s. With this poem, he wanted to dramatise the lives of these shopkeepers.

Poem Summary

A man runs one of his father’s shops. When nobody is in the shop, he locks the door and goes upstairs to make love to his newlywed wife. Upon returning to the shop, his customers complain, saying his shop is the “worst Indian shop” on the street.

He thinks lovingly of his wife, who runs a Sikh dating site. He describes how she is rude to his parents, gets drunk and has a “red crew cut”. At night, they sit behind the counter when the shop is closed. Their conversation is romantic, and he tells her she is “priceless”.

The poem’s key message:

The poem shows the inner conflict in the narrator. He dutifully, but not enthusiastically, runs his father’s shop. However, he is deeply in love with his wife and wants to spend time with her.

Language

Nagra uses phonetic spelling to show the narrator’s Indian accent and dialect. We see this in the first stanza when he says:

“but ven nobody in, I do di lock”

There are also colloquial English expressions, such as his wife “effing” (slang for swearing). This demonstrates the dual cultural experiences of the narrator as he speaks English with an Indian accent.

Figurative language is used to create humour. He describes their lovemaking as:

“like vee rowing through Putney”

This gives a humorous visual image. It also shows the British references the narrator has incorporated into his speech. (Putney is an area in London known for rowing).

The narrator makes a play on words with the “mouse” that his wife is using with her computer to do work on the dating site. He says, “she netting two cat”, and books them in for “di meat at di cheese ov her price”. This humorously shows how the wife is cunningly bringing people together. Usually, a cat would catch a mouse, but she has gained the power by getting people together and taking their money as the price for this.

Romantic language is used at the end of the poem. He compares his wife to the moon, they look at the beaches in the moonlight, and the “whispering stairs” reflect a sense of secret intimacy. The poem’s final line has him calling her “priceless baby”, showing how deeply in love he is.

Structure

• The poem alternates between his descriptions of his wife and the angry complaints of his customers. This shows the conflict between what he wants to do (spending time with his wife) and what is expected of him (running the shop efficiently).

• The final two stanzas have a slower and more romantic tone. This reflects that his busy day has finished, so he and his wife can finally spend time together without interruption.

Form

• The title is a play on words. “Singh” is a common Sikh surname, but the poem also sounds like a song in parts, helped by the use of rhyme. This song-like tone adds to the joyous, humorous nature of the couple’s relationship.

• It is written in the first person, from the shopkeeper’s perspective, as he tells the reader about his daily life. He addresses the readers as “yoo shoppers”.

• We also have direct speech (in italics) from the customers and the shopkeeper’s wife.

Themes

Key Quotes to Learn