He just doesn't get them

He's fine that his mates have tattoos

But he thinks they'll regret them

He likes going to pubs

But he hates when the music's too loud

He tends not to go to rock concerts

Cause he can't stand the crowds

But all he's ever wanted to be

Is a rock star on Rage or MTV

But he knows that it's not fucking likely

He's just turned thirty

He knows that he will always be

A rock'n'roll nerd

He'll keep writing songs the world will never hear

And though they won't be heard

He'll just keep writing

Oh yeah

But you see the problem is

He always dreamt of being a star

But he learned piano instead of guitar

Which in the '90s didn't get you very far

So while all the other kids were learning Stairway

He was the piano to their forte

But he was convinced one day

He'd rock their fucking asses

Be an icon for the disenfranchised masses

And grow his hair long

And rebel against the state

But just for now that'd have to wait

Cause he's running late for his morning classes

And he will always be

A rock'n'roll nerd

He'll keep playing gigs that no one knows about

And though it sounds absurd

He'll just keep playing

Oh yeah

But you see the problem is

There's not much depth in what he's singing

He's a victim of his upper middle class upbringing

So he can't write about the hood

Or bling bling

So he sits and imagines his girlfriend is dead

To try and invoke some angst in his middle class head

But the bitch is always fine at half past nine

When they go to bed

And he's not spent a single night in prison

He has no issues with nutrition

He has no drinking problem

And no drug addiction

Unless you count the drugs they put in chicken

And marijuana always tends to make him cough

He doesn't look good with his t-shirt off

And when he tries to act tough

You can tell he's tricking

While his mates all go out late

Popping pills and having fun

He goes home and showers

And gets a good eight hours

He gets his thrills from his morning run

And while his mates all go on dates

Taking speed and drinking cans of Jim Bean

He stays home and cooks

Curls up with a book

With the girl he's had since he was seventeen

He doesn't know the difference between metal and thrash

He likes Ben Folds and the Jackson Five

He knows all the words to Staying Alive

And though he wants to be all grungy and cool

He spent eleven years in a private school

So it don't matter how he tries

He cannot hide behind his rock'n'roll lies

Cause you've either got it or you don't

You'll either rock it or you won't

Yeah, you've either got it or you don't

Yeah, you'll either rock it or you won't

He knows that his music lacks depth

But it just can't be helped

He has nothing interesting to say

So he writes about himself

He knows that he will always be

A rock'n'roll nerd

He'll keep writing songs the world don't care about

And though it sounds absurd

He'll just keep writing

Oh yeah

You can criticise him

But he won't care

Cause he wants to rock

And he will never be deterred

But he'll always be a fucked up little

Try-hard wannabe rock'n'roll nerd

Another thing that’s important to take in mind is the fact that this rock is orchestrated, and interpreted by the Heritage Orchestra. That’s not a common thing in Tim Minchin song because he tends to play solo, only with his voice and his piano. This time, and for an entire show he plays with an amazing and talented orquestra which adds a powerful and profound meaning to Minchin’s songs.

At first he starts describing a person who’s not really presented to us, the audience, before, talking in third person. This character that he’s forming is the “Rock’n’roll nerd” from the title of the song, and as the lyrics goes on we start to create this image of a musician that wants to excel at music and wants to be recognized but “he knows that it’s not f*** likely” as the Minchin says. You can notice lots of opinions and critiques about himself and other aspects such as what he wants to achieve.

After hearing a couple of  times the main verse, and after hearing some more details about this character, this story, about to end, does a little change and Minchin remarks that this musician writes about himself and in third person so that he “doesn’t seem self-obsessed”. In this section of the song you find that this sentence is a reference to this own lyrics and that this “Rock’n’roll nerd” is in fact himself, Tim Minchin.

So, for the entire song, Tim Minchin has been singing his whole music career and life experience through this entertaining lyrics that seemed to be talking about some musician that he invented. As the lyrics had progressed we found opinions and facts about him like why he plays piano, his life as an adult, his relation with drugs and criminal affairs and even which groups he would prefer instead of others. Basicly, through this piece, he brings self-criticism to an extrem while he shows you a facet of himself.

To talk about the past, which is what most of the song is about, he uses rather present than past tenses, so when you listen to the song, you get more into it. He also uses other tenses, although just in particular cases, such as present perfect, future and conditional.

Through the song, he uses some words that are not very nice (to say it softly) like “f*cking” or “ass*s”.

What’s particularly funny about the song is that, despite he writes about himself, he uses third person, like he was explaining someone else’s life. He even jokes about it in the end of the song when he says “he doesn’t want to seem self-obsessed, so he writes in third person”.