The Immigrant (Neil Sedaka song)

"The Immigrant"
Single by Neil Sedaka
B-side	"Your Favorite Entertainer" (US) "Hey Mister Sunshine" (UK) "Baby Blue" (Italy)
Released	March 1975
Recorded	1975
Genre	Pop
Length	3:43
Label	Rocket/MCA (US) Polydor (UK)
Songwriter(s)	Neil Sedaka, Phil Cody
Producer(s)	Neil Sedaka, Robbert Appere
Neil Sedaka singles chronology
"The Queen of 1964" (1975) "The Immigrant" (1975) "New York City Blues" (1975)

"The Immigrant" is a 1975 single written by Neil Sedaka and Phil Cody and performed by Sedaka. The single was the second release from his album, Sedaka's Back. "The Immigrant" was dedicated to John Lennon and the immigration problems that he faced.^[1] The single peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent one week at number one on the Easy Listening chart in May 1975.^[2]

Sedaka has referred to "The Immigrant" as his most controversial song and the only time he ever publicly waded into politics as a performer.^[3] According to Philip Cody, the song's lyric writer, it was originally written as a tribute to his father, Anthony Feliciotto, who came to America from Sicily in 1930. Sedaka's parents had also emigrated, from Russia/Poland. Lennon responded favorably, stating that Sedaka and other songwriters in his Brooklyn neighborhood were among "the greatest songwriters in the world;" Sedaka joked that there must have been "something in the egg cream."^[4]

Chart history

Chart (1975)	Peak position
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[5]	3
Canada RPM Top Singles[6]	9
New Zealand (RIANZ)[7]	17
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[8]	22
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening	1
U.S. Cash Box Top 100	28

See also

• List of Billboard Easy Listening number ones of 1975

References

1. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Today's Mini-Concert - 8/21/2020". YouTube.
2. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 218.
3. Reflections on "The Immigrant", September 23, 2020
4. Neil Sedaka: 'I think the songs will outlive me—It's a form of immortality.' Morning Joe. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
5. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1975-05-17. Retrieved 2019-05-12.
6. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1975-06-07. Retrieved 2019-05-12.
7. Flavour of New Zealand, 8 August 1975
8. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X