Can a song capture 50 years of one of the most iconic buildings in the world?
Tim Minchin is an Australian composer who was commissioned to answer this question last year as part of the 50-year anniversary celebration for the Sydney Opera House. He shared the story of how he did it on stage this week as part of the SXSW Sydney event.
The opera house is one of the most recognizable in the world, so ubiquitous that it’s simultaneously become a legendary performance venue and a cliché logo you’ll find on tea towels and fridge magnets in souvenir shops across Sydney.
How do you bring that story to life through music that honors the history without becoming forgettable?
For Tim, the inspiration came from writing exactly the opposite of what the entire world might have expected. His song and the ensuing campaign were called “Play it Safe.” It talks about the virtues of staying inside a box, never venturing too far and not taking risks.
Exactly the opposite of everything the Opera House represented.
In the song, he writes: “You gotta play it safe. Your mind is like a house. If you keep it locked up tight. You just might keep the world out.”
Along the way, the video is filled with historic images of the construction of the Opera House, all the criticism it received along the way as a waste of money and resources, many of the famous moments the venue hosted throughout the years including performances, protests and other memorable images.
It also brilliantly subverts with the distinctly Australian cultural mindset often described as the “tall poppy syndrome” which is defined as a societal attitude that occurs when people are resented, disliked or criticised due to their successes. “No one likes a showoff,” the song lyrics say. “No one cares what you have to say.”
And yet, when you find the right way to stand out … you can create something so culture-defining that it becomes the thing you’re known for. For a culture that has often struggled with the very idea of standing out in a crowd, the Opera House is everything Australia could be … if it let itself.
Playing it safe isn’t for everyone.
