[WATCH] Is ‘Pinokkju’ the ultimate anthem for Malta’s disgruntled voters?

Regular followers of the ground-breaking neomelodical sub-genre of Maltese synth-pop are gearing up for this year’s annual serving of tunes by the Nationalist Party, for its Independence celebrations.

Indifest’s annual song contest this year features one of the most earnest of political songs, played to a dodgy dance beat and sung from the point of view of the hapless voter: the guy who – literally as this song goes – welcomes the politician at home during his house visit, gives him a glass of whisky, and is convinced about his intentions… only to be disappointed once the winning party takes power.

Sounds familiar? You have to listen to Neville Refalo sing about it, in his song ‘Pinocchio’, in which he quite unashamedly croons about the “good job I was promised” from some candidate who visited him at home, and as he knowingly winces at the camera, decided to vote for him.

Cue the electroswing beat and chorus (yes... it's like that Tu vuò fa l'Americano remix): “I call you Pinocchio… who forgot me, did not even serve me, and you’re up there where you wanted.”

The thing about Pinokkju is that it does, no matter how excruciatingly this kind of lyrical candour rubs you, shine a light on a particular voter: give me a job, and I will give you a vote.

Now you must note the irony of the song being played for the PN’s Independence celebrations: the Opposition has been since 2014 complaining on a regular basis that the country’s job growth is in the main government-induced, mainly in the education and health areas and also in public administration. It's exactly voters like these, who got themselves a government job, that bloat the public administration.

Can this gem of voter discontent be the anthem that scores the Nationalist Party’s political onslaught? We await the results of Indifest’s music contest with bated breath.