Linda Hurley sings to members of the Australian women's cricket team during a reception in August 2019 (Image: AAP/Dean Lewins)

Our piece on Monday about Her Excellency Linda Hurley, wife of Governor-General David Hurley, and her fondness for a bit of a sing-song has, hmmm, kicked off a couple of things. First, a predictably dreary bout of pearl-clutching from a section of the media who usually complain about how no one can take a joke any more, accusing us of “sneering” at her. We would argue that this is an interpretation only available to people who find it inconceivable that a joke could be made with affection. If you can detect sneering or mockery in the following passage, about the song of consolation she wrote about lockdown… well, it’s almost as if you’re being paid to do just that:

With her pristine, unpretentious voice, that slight curl of nerves around the edges, her look of genuine concern as she sings, the fact that she waited until a year and a half into the crisis before deeming a musical response to the pandemic necessary — it’s roughly eight trillion times more likeable and touching than Mark Ruffalo singing a line from “Imagine” into his phone.

Far more joyfully, though, it also kicked off a flurry of tipsters, sending us messages with the same “Oh, I thought I was the only one who saw that” tone. One tipster told us of Hurley’s fondness for regularly leading staff meetings in a rendition of “You Are My Sunshine” (they weren’t always in the mood, to be fair). Another told us about her regular performances in the choir at the Presbyterian Church of St Andrew in Forrest, just down from Parliament House. Another tipster who had dealings with her said that at the end of a meeting they both attended, Hurley announced she would sing — and promptly did so.

“I don’t think many people could pull it off, but she did,” they said, echoing Crikey‘s whole take on this thing, saying it was “both the weirdest and greatest thing ever”.