Sammy J Has Taken On The Citizenship Saga With A Hilarious Song
The Ballad of Section 44.
After claiming the political lives of parliamentarians left and right, the most notorious section of the Australian constitution has been immortalised in song.
Written and performed by comedian Sammy J for the ABC, ‘The Ballad of Section 44’ chronicles the fate of the unfortunate pollies caught up in the neverending citizenship saga. And it is very, very good.
“Senator Scott Ludlam was the first to fall that night,” sings Sammy J. “He quivered like a jellyfish, he didn’t try to fight. Threw his arms up in surrender, then he lay down on the floor. ‘How pathetic’, said Section 44.”
“Next in line were Xenephon and Canavan and Nash,” the comedian continues. “They grabbed their birth certificates and tried to make a dash. But they tripped on Malcolm Roberts from One Nation at the door. ‘More like two nations’ said Section 44.”
As well as roasting our current crop of leaders — in one verse he describes Barnaby Joyce as having a “tomato for a head” — Sammy J also takes aim at the people responsible for Section 44 in the first place.
“Section 44, one tiny little law,” he sings. “Written by our founders who were mostly born abroad. To help us stand up right, to keep our nation white. They lay it like a landmine ’til it blew up in the night.”
Watch the whole performance below.