"From Auschwitz to Ipswich" is a song by English singer and songwriter Jarvis Cocker

Jarvis Cocker

Jarvis Branson Cocker is an English musician and frontman for the band Pulp. Through his work with the band, Cocker became a figurehead of the Britpop movement of the mid-1990s. Following Pulp's hiatus Cocker has led a successful solo career...

. It appears on his debut solo album Jarvis

Jarvis (album)

Jarvis is the debut solo album by Pulp vocalist and musician Jarvis Cocker, released in the UK on November 13, 2006.-Production:...

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Cocker discussed the song with Will Hodgkinson

Will Hodgkinson

Will Hodgkinson is a journalist and author from London, England. He writes for The Guardian newspaper, 'The Times newspaper, 'Mojo magazine, and presents the Sky Arts TV show Songbook, in which he interviews contemporary songwriters....

 in the 2009 Sky Arts "Jarvis Cocker: Songbook" TV programme. Cocker described the inspiration for the song being when he met someone in London who described their relative having been kept in a prisoner of war camp near Ipswich

Ipswich

Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

. From this, he said the phrase "Auschwitz to Ipswich" arose, even though he recognised it was "slightly inappropriate". He went on to describe the song as "muscially quite pretty actually; it's a pity I had to spoil it by writing such dark lyrics". The song features a D major 7th, the same chord from Cocker's earlier Babies

Babies (song)

"Babies" is a song and single by British rock group Pulp. It was released as a single for Gift Records in 1992, and was later remixed for the Sisters EP in 1994. The remixed version featured on the His 'n' Hers album and the original single mix on the Intro compilation...

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