Songs about immigration often can evoke a range of different emotions and feelings. From hope and longing to fear and uncertainty, these 20 songs below capture the essence of immigration and all of the struggles and triumphs that come with this topic.
The songs below offer listeners a window into the immigrant experience, in a variety of different genres.
So, if you’re an immigrant or just looking to better understand what it is to be one, you’re sure to find at least one song here that resonates with you!
1. “Immigration Man” by Graham Nash and David Crosby
Graham Nash and David Crosby’s “Immigration Man” sing from the perspective of an immigrant coming to their new potential home. Through their journey and struggles, we learn just how difficult their life is. The duo sings the lyrics, “Come on and let me in, immigration man / Can I cross your line and pray?”
2. “Love It If We Made It” by The 1975
The 1975’s hit song “Love It If We Made It” discusses many problems and struggles in the world, including immigration. The song quickly details all of these many issues of the world, so no one subject is discussed for long.
However, by including the topic of immigration in this list — which also includes children who have died while attempting to immigrate to a new world, as well as war — the band is explaining the unfortunate tragedies that immigrants can go through.
However, the band does try to bring some optimism into this dark and almost hopeless song as the singer explains that he’d “love it if we made it.”
3. “Can’t Catch Me” by Avicii
“Can’t Catch Me” by Avicii, which features Matisyahu and Wyclef Jean, discusses a lot of different topics. At one point, Wyclef Jean talks about his upbringing and mentions having immigrant parents. He says, “Raised in the capital of Port-au-Prince / Born with them pillars and them tenements / Papa used to run from the immigration / When we got to the United Station.”
4. “Telegram” by Nazareth
Nazareth’s 1976 song “Telegram” also mentions immigration. However, this song isn’t about the immigrant experience and instead follows the band as they travel around the world to play their shows. Through their own experiences, they talk about immigration while traveling.
They sing, “Find your bags and walk for miles / The customs man is waitin’ there / Immigration cause delay / You wonder if you’ll ever play.”
5. “England Lost” by Mick Jagger
In the 2017 song “England Lost”, Mick Jagger talks about how he feels that England is on a losing streak in history, referencing his negative thoughts on Brexit and isolationism in the country. At the beginning of this song, Jagger sings as if he’s at a soccer match where England will lose.
However, as the song goes on, we learn that Jagger feels as if the country will lose in much more meaningful, difficult ways because of the new policies that are being put in place.
As a result, he also talks about immigration. He sings, “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.”
6. “Superheroes” by Stormzy
In “Superheroes”, Stormzy sings to black men and women, particularly in the UK, and the many struggles they have to deal with on a daily basis. However, he tells them to never give up and to continue to fight for equality — and to live their life as they want.
Through this message, he also talks about how many of them have come from other places and either have immigrant parents, are immigrants themselves, or are refugees. He says, “Our burdens are heavy but we ain’t lightweights / Our parents were legends, they had to migrate.”
7. “Rip This Joint” by The Rolling Stones
“Rip This Joint” by The Rolling Stones, which appears on the band’s 1972 album Exile on Maine St., follows the band as they discuss their difficulties of traveling, immigrating, and touring during a period of their life when they were in trouble for consuming illicit substances.
As a result, they mention immigration to the United States, signing, “Mister President, Mister Immigration Man / Let me in, sweetie, to your fair land.”
8. “Pastime Paradise” by Patti Smith
“Pastime Paradise” by Patti Smith discusses how many people often spend their time thinking of the good old days, back in the past. They want paradise on earth, but they’re too busy spending their time in their head, on their memories.
Smith believes we should think about the future and enact change now, rather than continue to live in our heads. When talking about positive things we can look forward to on earth, she sings, “Proclamation of race relations / Immigration, integration / Verification of relations, acclamation, world salvation / Vibrations, stimulation, confirmation to the peace of the world.”
9. “Senegal” by Akon
“Senegal” by Akon, released in 2004, is a bit of an introduction song to Akon for those who don’t know him. Akon explains that he was born in Senegal, yet moved to the United States when he was young. He tells people his life story, yet also questions what they truly know about the world and the world’s history.
He sings the lyrics, “Now what you know about Goree Island / Where all the slaves were shipped from? / What you know about / Being born in America to avoid immigration?”
10. “Refugee” by Melissa Etheridge
“Refugee” by Melissa Etheridge, which is the cover of a Tom Petty song, doesn’t necessarily explain the specific immigrant or refugee experience. However, Etheridge does sing about a romantic relationship — and then compares how her partner lives to that of how a refugee lives and feels.
She sings, “Everybody has to fight to be free, you see / You don’t have to live like a refugee.”
11. “Dust Bowl Refugee” by Woody Guthrie
“Dust Bowl Refugee” by Woody Guthrie is a classic folk song about migration in the United States back in the day. Because of its feelings and emotions, this song can easily be adapted to modern times to explain the immigrant experience.
Guthrie sings from the point of view of a man with his family traveling around to attempt to have a better life. He sings, “’Cross the mountains to the sea / Come the wife and kids and me / It’s a hot old dusty highway / For a dust bowl refugee.”
12. “The People That We Love” by Bush
“The People That We Love” by Bush, released on the band’s 2001 album Golden State, follows the band as they discuss what we would all do for those that we love. Therefore, the band details romantic relationships, as well as platonic ones.
While this song is not specifically about the immigrant or refugee experience, the band does make a comparison between how they feel to how refugees feel. They sing, “We expect her gone for some time / I wish her safe from harm / To find yourself in a foreign land / Another refugee, outsider refugee.”
13. “The Refugee” by U2
U2’s 1983 song “The Refugee” discusses the experiences of a young girl who has become a refugee because of a war in her home country. The band explains the people in her life and what may become of her. They sing, “War, she is a refugee / Her mama say one day she’s gonna live in America.”
14. “A Safe Place to Land” by Sara Bareilles
Sara Bareilles’ song “A Safe Place to Land”, which features John Legend, doesn’t explicitly state in the lyrics that this song is about immigrants. However, Bareilles has explained that she wrote this song during the height of the crisis at the border in the United States.
As a result, the metaphorical lyrics can also be seen as quite literal. Bareilles and Legend sing in the chorus, “Don’t need room for your bags, hope is all that you have / So say the Lord’s Prayer twice, hold your babies tight / Surely someone will reach out a hand / And show you a safe place to land.”
15. “Land of the Free” by The Killers
“Land of the Free” by The Killers, released as a single in 2019, details many problems in the United States, such as gun control, violence, and immigration.
In the first verse of the song, the band explains the idea that America was created by immigrants with the lines, “His mother / Adeline’s family, came on a ship / Cut coal and planted a seed / Down in them drift mines of Pennsylvania / In the land of the free.”
However, this isn’t the only part of the song that talks about immigrants. While the song continues on to discuss gun violence, the band reverts back to discussing immigration, this time in modern America.
The band sings, “Down at the border, they’re gonna put up a wall / Concrete and Rebar Steel beams / High enough to keep all those filthy hands off / Of our hopes and our dreams / People who just want the same things we do / In the land of the free.”
16. “Searching For America” by Janis Ian
“Searching For America” by Janis Ian also mentions immigration. In this 1997 song, Ian sings about problems and issues in the United States. She then touches on how many immigrants do so much work — and often, they aren’t repaid kindly.
She sings the lyrics, “And when the work was finally done / They gave our names to immigration.”
17. “American Land” by Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen’s 2012 song “American Land” appeared on his album Wrecking Ball. Springsteen sings about many immigrants who came to America back in the day, as they wanted to reach the “American Dream”. They thought with hard work, they could make money and reach success.
However, the song criticizes the idea of the “American Dream”, as Springsteen notes that these immigrants were often only allowed to work incredibly difficult jobs that did not pay well.
Towards the end of the song, Springsteen explains that this immigration issue is ongoing today. He sings the lyrics, “They died to get here a hundred years ago they’re still dying now / The hands that built the country we’re always trying to keep down.”
18. “Before the Lobotomy” by Green Day
Like some other songs on this list, “Before the Lobotomy” by Green Day doesn’t literally explain the immigrant experience. However, it does follow two characters who feel like refugees.
This song follows a toxic relationship where the narrator feels as if she’s lost the memories of her happy past (before she knew her partner). She feels sad and stuck with him. To describe their relationship, the band sings, “We’re lost like refugees.”
19. “The Outcast” by Dropkick Murphys
“The Outcast” by Dropkick Murphys, released in 2003, also explains feeling like a refugee — rather than actually being a refugee. At the beginning of the song, the band explains how they feel like outcasts and refugees.
They sing, “Your nomadic state, are you a refugee, no place to call your home / Forever walk alone as the world goes on / Forgotten by the ones you’ve known.”
20. “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin
Finally, we have the last song about immigration on this list! “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin was released on the band’s iconic 1970 album Led Zeppelin III. The song doesn’t necessarily talk about the immigrant experience.
However, the song is titled “Immigrant Song” and describes a group of people traveling to a new land. Therefore, we had to include it on this list. In this song, the band compares their tour in the United States to Norse warriors setting out to conquer new territories in battle!