The Big Yin
There may never have been a Scot in our lifetime more universally loved than Sir Billy Connolly. He is, in many ways, a living saint. Not because he is flawless, but because he makes the flawed parts of life feel bearable. His genius lies not in detachment, but in connection. He takes tragedy, struggle and heartbreak, and makes them human, funny and real.
Billy has never asked to be idolised. He is not without critics. But no one who walks the path he walks can please everyone. What matters is that he is real. And for many of us, myself included, that makes him a hero. He reflects our absurdities back to us with warmth, wit and wisdom.
He feels like a modern-day Robert Burns. Not just a performer but a chronicler of the human spirit. A man who transcends class, prejudice and social division with ease. You don’t love Billy because you are told to. You love him because he reminds you of yourself, only braver and funnier.
Yet today, in my opinion, truth-tellers like him are under threat. We live in a culture that often confuses offence with harm, and loud reaction with moral clarity. If we don't protect space for honesty, imperfection and uncomfortable laughter, we risk losing the very voices that help us understand who we are.
Sir Billy Connolly is not just a comedian. He is a cultural touchstone. A necessary figure. A permission-giver. Someone who shows us that the tragic can be comic, the broken can be beautiful and that laughter is often the most sacred thing we have.
'Big Yin' is not about fame. It is about spirit. It had to be slow. It had to be gritty. It had to be stripped down. It had to sound like truth weathered by time, but still standing, defiantly. Rightly.
It's a tribute told by a voice that has lived. Because Billy is not above us. He is us, only blessed with the rare courage to say what most of us only feel. He's truly a Class Above Class.
Finn Moray
Disclaimer: All songs released under the Finn Moray name are artistic works of storytelling and commentary. Any individuals who are named, referenced, suggested, or recognisable are not involved in the Finn Moray project. The views and creative expressions in the songs are solely those of Finn Moray, and no partnership, agency, employment, or other association with any referenced person is implied.
Song Lyrics
[Verse 1]
He speaks in knots and jagged lines,
a weathered hymn in four-four time.
Old soot on the skyline,
glass in his shoes,
spinning tales with nothing to lose.
[Verse 2]
There’s laughter hiding in the scars,
a halo cast from tenement bars.
He breaks the silence with a sigh,
and dares the void to blink or lie.
[Chorus]
Oh… class above class.
Light in the ash.
He doesn’t bow.
He doesn't pass.
He stands and he laughs,
class above class.
[Verse 3]
He waltzes through static,
in perfect tune,
with banjo strings
and shipyard wounds.
Says “truth’s a joke with better aim,”
and “kindness is a harder game.”
[Bridge]
No crown, no robes,
just rust and grace.
He tears the curtain
from this place,
and shows the gears
beneath the face.
He whispers: “This is all we have.”
[Final Chorus]
Oh… class above class.
Wind through the glass.
He speaks the dark.
He makes it pass.
He charts his map
from battles past.
He doesn't blink.
He doesn't ask.
Our Glasgow brother,
a class above class.
[Outro]
No mask.
No lies.
Just time...