Video transcript
Festival of Choral Music 2021 - 04. Naughty - reverse

[music playing]

[music - 'naughty'] Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water, so they say. The subsequent fall was inevitable. They never stood a chance. They were written that way, innocent victims of the story.

Like Romeo and Juliet, it was written in the stars before they even met. Not love and fate and a touch of stability would rob them of their hope of living happily. The endings are often a little bit gory. I wonder why they didn't just change their story. We're told we have to do what we're told, but surely, sometimes, you have to be a little bit naughty.

Even if you're little, you can do a lot. You mustn't let a little thing like riddles stop you. If you sit around and let them get on top, you won't change a thing.

Just because you find that life's not fair, it doesn't mean that you just have to grin and bear it. If you always take it on the chin and wear it, you might as well be saying you think that it's OK. And that's not right. And if it's not right, you have to put it right.

In this slip of a book, there's a tiny revolt, the seat of a war in the creak of a floorboard. A storm can begin with the flap of a wing. The tiniest mite packs the mightiest sting. Every day starts with the tick of a clock. All escapes stop with the click of a lock.

If you're stuck in your story and want to get out, you don't have to cry. You don't have to shout, 'cause if you're little, you can do a lot. You mustn't let a little thing like riddles stop you. If you sit around and let them get on top, you won't change a thing.

Just because you find that life's not fair, it doesn't mean that you just have to grin and bear it. If you always take it on the chin and wear it, you might as well be saying you think that it's OK. And that's not right. And if it's not right, you have to put it right.

But nobody else is going to put it right for me. Nobody but me is going to change my story. Sometimes, you have to be a little bit naughty.