Sunday 21 February 2016

We really do love Tim Minchin (TM). He's like the Australian lovechild of Bill Bailey and Ben Folds*; where Minchin ended up with the best features of each of them and just enough angst about the odd parentage to rebel with a bit of eye-liner. 

Funny piano music men. We love them all. 

Anyway, by now most of our friends back across the pond have probably seen Minchin's latest offering regarding a certain conspiring cardinal in lock-down in the Vatican. If not, here it is:





Now, I'm in total agreement with those that would call this the pitch-perfect protest song. It has all the flair and humour and irreverence to disarm the anxieties about the very serious issue that lurks in the background here, while casting the spotlight rather firmly on what needs to be done.

Rather ironically, it was reported that at least one Jesuit accused TM of harming the victims of church abuse, though it's difficult to untangle the nebulous logic involved there, and it certainly can't do remotely as much harm as the cone-of-silence approach that the Vatican prefers. 


It is an uncomfortable issue with a lot of intense feelings and of course the cardinal and cronies have their own intense feelings about other people's intense feelings being freely expressed - which they've managed to prevent for a long time.

This work from TM may simply be part of, or may be (as TM intended) a critical catalyst for what has become a highly trending issue after a long, uncomfortable build-up. Regardless, the video itself is popular, thanks to TM's always-sharp wit and on-point talent for the catchy compositions. He's also raising money for the victims through the proceeds of the song - I don't really know how that works, but I think he gets money for all the hits on the video above, which he reportedly promises to give to the campaign


With luck, Pell will soon be fit and healthy, and able to take the arduous plane trip that he so fears, in order to tell what he can tell.



* The first time K'la and I were in the same room together was at a Ben Folds concert a few years before we actually met, but that's a story for another time. 

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