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The meaning of the lyrics of the song "Telly" by the artist "Tim Minchin"

In the song "Telly" from Tim Minchin's musical "Matilda," the character Mr. Wormwood sings the praises of television, believing it to be the sole and primary source of knowledge.

He ironically claims that television replaces thousands of books and that the size of a television screen is directly proportional to a person's intelligence. Wormwood ridicules the very idea of reading, considering it a waste of time and energy. He extols the superficial entertainment offered by television and mocks classic literature, seeing no value in it.

Wormwood is a caricature of a person completely blinded by the "idiot box," unable to think critically and preferring passive consumption of information. He represents a satirical take on the dangers of relying solely on television for knowledge and entertainment, highlighting the importance of critical thinking and engagement with diverse sources of information.

(MR WORMWOOD)

Somewhere on a show I heard

That a picture tells a thousand words

So telly, if you bothered to take a look

Is the equivalent, of like, lots of books!

All I know I learned from telly

This big beautiful box of facts

If you know a thing already

Baby, you can switch the channel over just like that

Endless joy and endless laughter...

Folks living happily ever after...

All you need to make you wise

Is 23 minutes plus advertisements

Why would we waste our energy?

Turning the pages 1, 2, 3

When we can sit comfortably

On our lovely bumferlies

Watching people singing and talking and doing stuff?!

All I know I learned from telly

The bigger the telly, the smarter the man!

You can tell from my big telly

Just what a clever fella I am!

Take it away, son

(Michael plunks out a few notes on a guitar)

You can't learn that from a stupid book

All I know I learned from telly -

What to think and what to buy

I was pretty smart already

But now I'm really, really smart — very very smart

Endless content, endless channels...

Endless chat on endless panels...

All you need to fill your muffin

Without having to really fink or nothing!

Why would we waste our energy

Trying to work out "Ulysses"

When we can sit happily

On our lovely bapperlies

Watching slightly famous people

Talking to really famous people?

All I know I learned from telly

The bigger the telly, the smarter the man!

You can tell from my big telly

Just what a clever fella I am!

Who the dickens is Charles Dickens?

Mary Shelley? Cor, she sounds smelly

Harry Potter? What a rotter

Jane Austen? In the compostin'

James Joyce? Doesn't sound nice

Ian McEwan? Ugh, I feel like spewin'

William Shakespeare? Schwilliam Schmakespeare

Moby Dick? Easy Grandma!

All together now!

All I know I learned from telly

The bigger the telly, the smarter the man!

You can tell from my big telly

Just what a clever fella I am!

Thank you very much!

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