Songfacts®:

• This is the opening track from Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr's solo debut album, which was released under the alter ego name of Lostboy! AKA.
• Kerr currently lives in the small town of Taormina on the East Coast of Sicily. In an interview with the Daily Mirror, where he explained this song, he references the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, which is notable as a staging post for illegal immigrants. Said Kerr: "To me, Refugee is a voice that's dying to be heard. It sounds like young man's music. Refugee is a word that's always in the headlines, especially in Italy. The difference between LostBoy! and Simple Minds is that at a certain point in my career the song would have been called Lampedusa . It would have been all very obvious - a cry for change. Lostboy! says it's about what's in my head - he's a spiritual refugee. I liked where I grew up but I was attracted to the esoteric and there was a point where it couldn't contain my imagination. Through music and books I found a different kind of life."