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Prejudice Lyrics
This is a song about prejudice
And the language of prejudice
And the power of the language of prejudice
It's called: Prejudice
In our modern free-spoken society
There is a word that we still hold taboo
A word with a terrible history
Of being used to abuse, oppress and subdue
Just six seemingly harmless letters
Arranged in a way that will form a word
With more power than the pieces of metal
That are forged to make swords
A couple of Gs, an R and an E, an I and an N
Just six little letters all jumbled together
Have caused damage that we may never mend
And it's important that we all respect
That if these people should happen to choose
To reclaim the word as their own
It doesn't mean the rest of you have a right to its use
So never under estimate
The power that language imparts
Sticks and stones may break your bones
But words can break hearts
A couple of Gs - jeez, unless you've had to live it
An R and an E - even I am careful with it
An I and an N - and in the end it will only offend
Don't want to have to spell it out again...
Yeah
Only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
Only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
So listen to me if you care for your health
You won't call me Ginger 'less you're ginger yourself
Only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
When you are a ginger life is pretty hard
Years of ritual bullying in the school yard
Kids calling you Orangu and Fanta Pants
No invitation to the high school dance
But you get up and learn to hold your head up
You try to keep your cool and not get het up
But until the feeling of ill is truly let up
Then the word is ours and ours alone
Don't you know that...
Only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
Only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
So if you call us Ginge
we just might come unhinged
If you don't have a fringe
with at least a tinge
of the ginge in it
Only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
Now listen to me
We're not looking for sympathy
Just because we're sensitive to UV
Just 'cause we're pathetically pale
We do alright with the females
Yeah I like to ask the ladies round for ginger beer
And soon they're running their fingers through my ginger beard
And dunking my ginger nuts into their ginger tea
And asking if they can call me Ginger
And I say:
"I don't think that's appropriate!"
'Cause only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
And all the ladies they agree it's a fact
Once you've gone ginge, you can't go back
Only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
Yeah go ginge, go you funky mother fucker ginge
Yeah, you can call us Bozo or Fire Truck
You can even call us Carrot Top of Blood Nut
Yeah, you can call us Match Stick or Tampon
But fucking with the G-word is just not on
If you're a ginger-phobe and you don't like us
We will stand up to the fight if you want to fight us
But if you cut yourself you might catch gingivitis
So maybe you should shut your funky mouth
Only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
Only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
So if you call us Ginge
You can't whinge If your injured
If you don't have a tinge
of the ginge
in your minge
Only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
And you know my kids will always be clothed and fed
'Cause Papa's gonna be bringing home the gingerbread
And they'll be pretty smart because they'll be well-read
And by "read" I mean "red" and the other kind of "red"
It's a homophone
Only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
Only a ginga can call another ginga Ginga
Just like only a ninja can sneak up on another ninja
Yeah, only a ginger
Only a ginger
Only a ginger, yeah
Are you listening-er?
I'm not pointing the finger
I'm just having a sing-er
I'm just remindin' yer
That only a ginger can call another ginger...Ginger
And the language of prejudice
And the power of the language of prejudice
It's called: Prejudice
There is a word that we still hold taboo
A word with a terrible history
Of being used to abuse, oppress and subdue
Just six seemingly harmless letters
Arranged in a way that will form a word
With more power than the pieces of metal
That are forged to make swords
Just six little letters all jumbled together
Have caused damage that we may never mend
That if these people should happen to choose
To reclaim the word as their own
It doesn't mean the rest of you have a right to its use
The power that language imparts
Sticks and stones may break your bones
But words can break hearts
An R and an E - even I am careful with it
An I and an N - and in the end it will only offend
Don't want to have to spell it out again...
Only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
So listen to me if you care for your health
You won't call me Ginger 'less you're ginger yourself
Only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
Years of ritual bullying in the school yard
Kids calling you Orangu and Fanta Pants
No invitation to the high school dance
But you get up and learn to hold your head up
You try to keep your cool and not get het up
But until the feeling of ill is truly let up
Then the word is ours and ours alone
Only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
Only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
So if you call us Ginge
we just might come unhinged
If you don't have a fringe
with at least a tinge
of the ginge in it
Only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
We're not looking for sympathy
Just because we're sensitive to UV
Just 'cause we're pathetically pale
We do alright with the females
And soon they're running their fingers through my ginger beard
And dunking my ginger nuts into their ginger tea
And asking if they can call me Ginger
And I say:
"I don't think that's appropriate!"
And all the ladies they agree it's a fact
Once you've gone ginge, you can't go back
Only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
You can even call us Carrot Top of Blood Nut
Yeah, you can call us Match Stick or Tampon
But fucking with the G-word is just not on
We will stand up to the fight if you want to fight us
But if you cut yourself you might catch gingivitis
So maybe you should shut your funky mouth
Only a ginger can call another ginger Ginger
You can't whinge If your injured
If you don't have a tinge
of the ginge
in your minge
And you know my kids will always be clothed and fed
'Cause Papa's gonna be bringing home the gingerbread
And they'll be pretty smart because they'll be well-read
And by "read" I mean "red" and the other kind of "red"
It's a homophone
Only a ginga can call another ginga Ginga
Just like only a ninja can sneak up on another ninja
Only a ginger
Only a ginger, yeah
Are you listening-er?
I'm not pointing the finger
I'm just having a sing-er
I'm just remindin' yer
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Apparently 20% of people who hear this song for the first time don't realise that ginger is an anagram of n*****. Maybe they're not paying attention. I can't help wondering if the fact that Minchin was horribly and unfairly accused of being a racist (which I am certain he isn't) when he performed his song "If You Really Loved Me" in which he had used the N word. He's changed the lyrics in that song now. You've got to admit that the irony of getting upset about six little letters is so beautifully illustrated here.
It does not suprise me that people took this song at face value. Anyone with an ounce of intelligence would have recognised that this song wasn't what it seemed.
It does not suprise me that people took this song at face value. Anyone with an ounce of intelligence would have recognised that this song wasn't what it seemed.
The (great) documentary on Tim's early career "Rock'n'roll nerd" tells the story which later inspired this song.
In his earlier song "If You Really Loved Me" there's a part that goes "We go together / Like a cracker and Brie / Like racism and ignorance / Like niggers and R&B". At his second Edinburg festival he was called a racist because of that line, which deeply affected him.
Tim explains the his intentions: "The whole song works on contrast between the innocent and the shocking(...) I make a point that racism is ignorance, so my position is clear; and then I make a point that there's an industry out there (...) that exploits the idea of the 'nigger' as reclaimed by black people to mean someone who cares about money, guns and bitches, and in my eyes it's not a particularly positive reclamation of the word."
The criticism was too much for him. "Trouble is the word is so loaded that when people hear it it's like KHHHKHHHH! and the noise around that word is such that they can't hear anything else. (...) I guess all they're saying is 'you don't know what it's like'. And I don't. So I dropped the word."
But later he used that episode to make this song. This is really about challenging the social taboos, political correctness and about looking beyond the surface. And it was a really too perfect an opportunity to pass. He's a redhead, the word "ginger" is an anagram of "nigger", and so he could turn the tables to prove his point. And he did so perfectly.
The first two minutes or so of the song deliberately come across as awkward and preachy. The first-time listener will, of course, assume that the word under discussion is the N-word (either immediately, or once he lists the letters), and the lyrics come across as trite, moralizing statements which clumsily dance around the actual word.
(The gradual build-up in intensity also creates a certain odd tension; the song seems to be building to some kind of climax, and it's easy to guess that he intends to actually use the word at some point in the song. And, if that word were the N-word, such a moment would most likely come across as uncomfortable and tone-deaf at best, and downright offensive at worst.)
But then the music abruptly switches from dramatic, emotional crescendo to a subdued, bluesy riff, and we finally get the payoff to this prolonged set-up when Tim delivers the song's main punchline: Only a ginger can call another ginger 'ginger' at which point the tension is released, the listener admires the clever anagram, and the remainder of the song is mostly wordplay on the word "ginger" along with a humorously melodramatic portrayal of the plight of redheads.
I interpreted this song differently. I don't think it's about 'not being offended by it because it's just a word' or political correctness, and the like.
Since he keeps repeating the phrase "only a ginger can call another ginger ginger" it seems that it is the critical point of this song - that is, if people find a word offensive, and don't want it to be used as a derogatory word against them, they should not being using it to refer to each other so casually. Like, if you want this word to not to be used against you, you shouldn't be using it to refer to yourself and others that belong to the same group as you. That, to me, makes more sense, since this phrase is constantly repeated, and is obviously meant to be more salient than other things mentioned.
That's just my take on it, anyway :)