'White Wine in the Sun'

More Tim Minchin for the holiday

Back for a return engagement, my new favorite Christmas song. Enjoy.

The song is made even more poignant by this, from November, 2023:

Tim Minchin revealed that his mum, Ros, has died after being diagnosed with a terminal illness, during his show in Sydney this weekend.

The Australian musician, actor and comedian, 48, was performing on Friday 10 November at the State Theatre as part of his latest tour, An Unfunny Evening with Tim Minchin and his Piano.

The set includes renditions of songs from Minchin’s albums Darkside and So Rock, and Matilda the Musical and Groundhog Day the Musical, which are interspersed with stories from his life.

In one, Minchin explains that his mother, Ros, was diagnosed with terminal blood cancer in 2020.

Later, as he returned to the stage for an encore following a standing ovation, Minchin told his fans: “My mum died yesterday.”

As gasps were heard around the venue, Minchin explained that he had wanted to continue with the show despite the difficult news.

He then performed “White Wine in the Sun”, an original song about loss that includes the poignant lyrics: “I’ll be seeing my dad, my brother and sisters, my gran and my mum… they’ll be drinking white wine in the sun.”

Minchin closed the show with a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, which he asked the audience to help him sing as the venue’s lights were dimmed.

Brings tears.

Bonus Minchin

Your bonus Tim Minchin: He was once on a British talk show and wrote a song just for the occasion. It's typically hilarious.

Happy Season, all. See you next year.

Thomas