Amanda Palmer Shares ‘Tony Abbott Song’ In Perth

By James Arnold-Garvey

After a dialogue with fans on Twitter during Abbottlanche 2013, Amanda Palmer & the Grand Theft Orchestra have given fans an “improvised musical moment” in which they share their thoughts about Australia’s new prime minister Tony Abbott during the closing moments of a gig at Perth’s Astor Theatre last night.

After calling for fans thoughts about Tony Abbott during Saturday’s Federal election, Palmer engaged in a lively session of retweets and observations regarding the events. Noting an overwhelming sense of negativity, Palmer tweeted, “I just watched 100+ Australians weep/scream directly into my twitter feed. clearly no tony abbott fans. a sad song is in order.”

She then told fans that her “new goal” for the Perth show on Sunday night would be to “entertain away your sorrows” by writing a song with the band about Abbott, calling on Twitter followers to help with details and specifics. Palmer is nothing if not true to her word, especially when dealing with fans, and last night the group delivered the end results.

Settling on an appropriate “throwback doo-wop” vibe, the lyrics to the piece ended up being a mostly spoken word affair, with Palmer and co lending their “outsider perspective”. With a sweet refrain of “Tony, Tony, you’d never hurt me”, the tune compares Abbott to George W. Bush, Palmer telling her Australian audience that Americans are “OK” after going through Bush’s presidency and entreating Abbott to show all Australians compassion during his term.

The group have certainly tried to put their finger on the pulse, making crowd-pleasing references to Abbott’s hot daughters and the NBN, though seem to have confused Clive Palmer‘s dinosaur-park building, Titanic-resurrecting antics with those of our new PM’s.

Check out the full thing, and some choice tweets, below.

Watch: Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra – Tony Abbott Song

James Arnold-Garvey
James Arnold-Garvey

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