Re: Tim Minchin at the Secret Policeman's Ball 08

[jod125]

i got the word niger in my head

[bloodraven234]

he is very witty and clever i wonder how old he is????

[ourher0]

@bloodraven234 Not sure exactly how old he is at this point, but he's in his early 30s. Alot of the youtube videos from the last couple of years peg him at 31, so atleast that old.

[Sozzie16MJ]

@bloodraven234 Well he's currently 36, and I saw him live very recently; he was absolutely phenomonal. :')

[bloodraven234]

@Sozzie16MJ nice thank you but I have a friend who's mum loves him and I wonder where to get them tickets does anybody know

[Sozzie16MJ]

@bloodraven234 Check his website? xD

[bloodraven234]

@Sozzie16MJ he has a website I would have figured but whoa thanks a buntch

[spook81793]

I learned exactly two seconds ago that n*gger is an anagram of ginger. Love it!

[YouHolli]

@spook81793

I didn't realize it either. Does that make me dumb or unbiased?

[randrews02809]

It's amazing how Tim Minchin can bring up the concept of the Nword in a song and explain why it's use is wrong (even if he's really talking about the Gword) ... and yet moronic commenters here want to discuss the use, contrary to the meaning of the song. Tim 1 : Internet Morons 0

[konnwat]

@randrews02809 I think you may have missed the irony of the entire song...

[konnwat]

The way I see it, it's fine to use the word "nigger" in this context and many others, so long as black people use it in the same context. If a black guy can call another black guy a nigger, what makes it any worse if a white guy does? Why shouldn't I be allowed to use a word, simply because of the colour of my skin?

[coralaisly]

@konnwat How about because the original intent of the word was for white people to demean and classify people of African American descent as subhuman?

I don't think ANYONE should use the word. I believe it should be taught what happened so that it doesn't happen again and no one should use the word, regardless of skin color.

It's naive to assume that just because the culture that embraced the sentiment is dead that the word has lost meaning. It hasn't.

[fr33k27]

@coralaisly the word nigger knows no race/ethnicity/religion/anythi­ng (a person of any race or origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc.) direct definition from a dictionary and it was used during slavery times mainly for black people because they were calling them stupid they would also call a white person being stupid at the time a nigger as well as it was a common word back then its become a taboo word from our society's interpretation of slavery times

[fr33k27]

@fr33k27 i myself think african american and native american are more racially derogatory because white people arent called euro americans they are just called americans why can everyone just be called americans regardless of race

[goldmanmelissa]

@fr33k27 It's my understanding that the word came from a corruption of "negro" but I'm no etymologist... The point is, in the US, the word is derogatory--but only because we give it that power. I choose not to use it because it makes me distinctly uncomfortable, but I admire Tim's casual (and inoffensive) use of the word (see--I can't even type it!) And coralaisly--political correctness makes liberal look bad. People have to come to their own conclusions and make their own choices.

[77Conor]

@fr33k27 i really didnt kno it meant that! i thought it just meant a black slave

thanks for clearing that up for me ;D still feel uncomfortable bout the word tho and im half black lool

i dont even like thinkin bout the word for some reason

[arkalen29]

@fr33k27 : Are you trying to argue that that word is RACE-NEUTRAL ? o_O

Of all the ignorant...

It's like saying that "bitch" is gender-neutral because men can be called that too. Yeah, and when men are called that it's always in a context putting them down for being "womanlike" - aka weak, usually.

[konnwat]

@coralaisly then how about they don't use it themselves? by using the word, black people have ruined the meaning of the word, which is a good thing, right? If you don't want the word to be used at all, don't use it yourself. I find it just as racist that a man is allowed to say that word, only if he is black.

[arkalen29]

@konnwat : That might be true if racists didn't use that word at all anymore, but they do so it isn't. Whether Tim agrees with it or not his intro is perfectly valid, and by assuming he doesn't agree with it you're projecting your own opinions onto him.

Complaining about "racism" because people might be upset at you using a certain word is an insult to what racism actually is.

[ComedyLovingKlutz97]

I was one of the ones that didn't realise what the word was :L is it because im engish? lol

[JustLoveForMe]

@Od294 Yeah, he's speaking about the word itself, rather than using it to describe a person. So really there's no way it can become offensive in the way he used it. Whereas if he was calling someone a nigger, that could easily be offensive

[B4dConn3ction]

fuck,shit,twat,wanker,bollocks­,basterd......not offencive.......nigger,fag and other such words that are difficult to say outload are offencive....so why can't we use the first 6 in public?

[TheRealBarnez]

@B4dConn3ction We can :P

People say fuck and shit all the time, my friends and I call each other wankers all the time :P

Bollocks is used a lot too. Twat is not as common but does happen. and Bastard you hear now and then.

[nonutsnorris]

You gotta love him !!!

[11mrblue]

Oh dear, I didn't get that he was doing the n-word thing! I just thought it was hilarious anyway! Oh.. that makes me a retart then?! I feel ashamed to call myself a Minchin fan!

[dagodfarsha]

Lol Tim dropped a "N" bomb... but we love him so he gets away with it :P

[KardKaper]

@dagodfarsha It's a perfectly fine word. It's in the dictionary. I don't know why so many people are afraid to use it.

[SarahShearer]

i got it ............

[soffie050]

I got it first time lol

[yanyayai]

i didnt hear the nigger first time.

IM A RETARD LOL

[DCJellybean]

yay im not a retard!!!

1st time i heard it i thought

hmmm this gonna go in an awkward direction...

and then the double laugh and i was like

YEAH brilliant and ran and told my (ginger) Brother and he was also amazed

[mattdot666]

Had a few drinks by then, eh Minchin?

[fangirl8392]

I figured it out by the second chorus, but I was like, "He's...going...to say...wait no OMG GINGER!" XD I also appreciate that the interviewer is ginger. XD

[pixies64]

oy calling dyslecixs retards... i can't spell :'( so i didn't get it

[TheBiggestBiscuit]

@ pixies64

Dyslexia is clearly a very cruelly spelt condition.

It's nearly as bad as st-st-st-st-stut-stut.... The one where you can't get the words out.

[783655]

I love that he loves the double laugh thing, I notice that in every version of the song I hear and it's cool that he likes it =]

[MADAMEOCTA07]

id trust him

lmao im a retard then! i didnt know he wanted us to think nigger ... WHOOPS!

[Jaychra]

I only picked it up after I heard the 'only a ginger' line, that's where my second laugh came from xP

[brokenbuttons]

I played this for my sister and she got that it was about gingers right away in the intro! Damn speech pathologist in training.. "we study anagrams!" grrr. lol she still thought it was brilliant though!

[mobster75]

I'd trust him whatever..........

[xpolkadotgirlx]

first time i heard it, i didn't even think it could be about the word nigger. it was late when i watched it, is my defence. i was tired and therefore didn't think. haha.

[NaziJesus]

GINGER PLEASE

[SakujoX3]

Lol, when I first heard it, I thought it was nigger, but then, I said, "Wait, ginger?"

And after I heard him singing ginger..it clicked! 8D

I love ya, ginger! 8D

[mctroyboy]

He has always had a thing about the word nigger only being used by blacks since he was playing a song in the Edinburgh festival which originally had nigger in it, and nearly got rolled by a group of black people out side the venue after they heard it. he later changed it, but i think this song cleverly points out the silliness of only blacks being able to say nigger by trivializing it with the use of the word ginger.

[ChrisN94]

I thought it was talking about the word "nigger" as soon as it said "There's one word, been used to appress".

[Lagomort]

"I thought it was talking about the word "nigger" as soon as it said "There's one word, been used to appress". "

You mean, "oppress," right?

[ChrisN94]

Hah, yeah, I did.

[saelaird]

The ginger song IS about the word 'nigger'!

He may say its not... and its a clever set up... but ultimately his point is that some black people are only ok with hearing the word from other blacks.

No?

[toggle90]

I think your pretty spot on, he always puts cleaver interesting and controversial points in his songs.

im a ginger and i LOVE Taboo, just awesome

[raepfest]

wat

[saelaird]

Yea man its true.

He's really really sly in this one.

Pretending to be talking about "nigger"... then he's not (haha)

But.. the context of the song relates to the occasional usage by the black community!

[FlicaGirl19]

Yeah, Tim is so clever!

[BigW122]

whatchu talkin bout ginga?

[gill76song]

I didn't get either word, I just sat there trying to work it out then gave up..... and I've got an english degree..... I always suspected I was dyslexic. In fact it took me 14 days solid of listening to the CD and watching the DVD to get it..... ho hum (continues pointing at planes).

[FailureByDesign99]

when i saw him live he played this song. I was trying to work it out for like 5 minutes (after the song had finished) and started laughing when everyone was pretty quiet. XD

[jackjude]

tis very good. The Minch' has come on a lot, his stand sections are far better.

[cranberrystarlet]

omg i never got that thingy anagram whatever omg lolololol

[partyboyedd]

I got the anagram straight away, i was thinking wheres this gonna go lol but its incredible!!

What A Legend

[cranberrystarlet]

then i guess its easier when you havnt alredy been given a "link to the ginger song"

[partyboyedd]

Well i first saw a few days after the policemans ball 08 and i was looking through the highlights, and i stumbled upon the video, its named tim minchin at the secret policeman's ball 08, so it did actually take me by surprise!

[partyboyedd]

ok that just posted itself! To finish off my last post, i can see where you would be led down that path lol

[mpizzle90]

yeah that ruined the surprise for me too lol it would have been a lot more fun if i hadn't already known it was about gingers before i saw it.... oh well, still a brilliant song.

[majorleaguefan]

i heard this song and thought it was so amazing! the double joke really worked

[wickedlibrarian]

Excellent. This song is BRILLIANT and it's such fun to listen to Tim explain his thoughts on it. And the double-laugh. Hahahaa... HAHAHA!