© Sing Better English, 2016
Tag Archives: Tim Minchin
White Wine in the Sun: the Tardis of ‘Mum’
Imagine this: you’re Tim Minchin. You’re writing a song. It’s about love and the pull of home. You want to list your faraway family members. How to organise the list? It matters. There’s a surprising emotional power to the first and the last in a list, especially in song.
Here are a few options (using the family members that Tim names):
- …my mum, my brother and sisters, my dad and my gran
- … my brother and sisters, my gran, my mum and my dad
- …my dad, my brother and sisters, my gran and my mum
- …my gran, my dad, my brother and sisters and my mum
You’re looking for emotional power, a vivid sound picture and a pleasing rhythm to your words. Where you place gran is surprisingly important to the balance of the group.
How does Tim choose to arrange his family? Listen: