The Fence

(album: Tim Minchin And The Heritage Orchestra - 2011)

Somewhere in your wardrobe, I'd be willing to bet
There's a t-shirt proudly bearing the silhouette
Of Che Guevara
He was revolutionary, yeah, he wore a cool hat
But behind the design, I think you might find
It's not quite as simple as that:
Che was a bit of a homophobe
Che was a bit of a homophobe
(I think, apparently)
Che was a bit of a homophobe
Che was a bit of a homophobe

This is my song in defence of the fence
A little sing-along, an anthem to ambivalence

The more you know, the harder you will find it
To make up your mind; it doesn't really matter if you find
You can't see which grass is greener
Chances are it's neither, and either way it's easier
To see the difference when you're sitting on the fence

Somewhere in your house, I'd be willing to bet
There's a picture of that grinning hippy from Tibet
The Dalai Lama
He's a lovely, funny fella, he gives soundbites galore
But let's not forget that back in Tibet
Those funky monks used to dick the poor, yeah
And the Buddhist line about future lives is the perfect way to stop the powerless rising up (I reckon)
And he tells the poor they will live again, but he's rich now so it's easy for him to say

I'm taking the stand in defence of the fence
I got a little band playing anthems to ambivalence

We divide the world into terrorists and heroes
Into normal folk and weirdos
Into good people and pedos
Into things that give you cancer
And the things that cure cancer
And the things that don't cause cancer
But there's a chance they will cause cancer in the future

We divide the world to stop us feeling frightened
Into wrong and into right and
Into black and into white and
Into real men and fairies
Into status quo and scary
Yeah we want the world binary, binary
But it's not that simple

And your dog has a bigger carbon footprint than a four wheel drive
Yeah, your dog has a bigger carbon footprint than a four wheel drive
And your dog has a bigger carbon footprint than a four wheel drive
And so does your baby, maybe you oughta trade him in for a Prius

Rock!

Having a rant in defence of the fence
I got a little band playing tributes to ambivalence

We divide the world into liberals and gun-freaks
Into atheists and fundies
Into teetotallers and junkies
Into chemical and natural
Into fictional and factual
Into science and supernatural
But it's actually naturally not that white and black

You'll be dividing us into terrorists and heroes
Into normal folk and weirdos
Into good people and pedos
Into things that give you cancer
And the things that cure cancer
And things that don't cause cancer
But there's a chance they will cause cancer in the future

We divide the world to stop us feeling frightened
Into wrong and into right and
Into black and into white and
Into real men and fairies
Into parrots and canaries
Yeah, we want the world binary, binary
01001000

The more you know, the harder you will find it
To make up your mind; it doesn't really matter if you find
You can't see which grass is greener
Chances are it's neither, and either way it's easier
To see the difference when you're sitting on the fence
Cause it's not that simple... Maybe...