“Naughty” is a song written by the anarchic comedian Tim Minchin for Dennis Kelly’s musical adaption of Roald Dahl’s children’s novel, “Matilda”. If you are unaware of the original story of “Matilda”, it is about a downtrodden yet very intelligent and bookish little girl who suffers at the hands of her family and her tyrannical headmistress, but gets her revenge when she discovers she has telekinesis. Yes, it’s “Carrie” for the pre-teens sans the bucket of blood on prom night. Like a lot of great fantasy, the fantasy elements are understated in favour of a strong narrative and character development allowing the incredible to seamlessly be interwoven with the rest of the action. This is honoured in the songs from the musical and, in particular, “Naughty”. A central message runs through the musical and is reflected in this song, which makes a defiant break with a stoic or passive acceptance of life.
