Midnight Oil – Beds are Burning
The year was 1987. Australian band Midnight Oil released their 5th album (since 1978) entitled Diesel and Dust. Beds are Burning was released as the 2nd single off the album. I remember hearing Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett’s catchy vocals on many tapedecks and boomboxes in my native South Africa (I was 10 years old at the time). The song was extremely well received worldwide. It reached #1 in South Africa, #3 in the Netherlands, #5 in the France, #6 in the United Kingdom, #11 in Ireland and #17 in the United States. Beds are Burning was also the most played song in the 1980s on South African radio station 5FM (then called Radio 5).
Beds are Burning is a political song about giving native Australian lands back to the Pintupi (an Aboriginal group who were part of the Western Desert Cultural group in Australia), who were among the very last people to come in from the Australian desert. In 2001 the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) named Beds are Burning as the 3rd Best Australian song of all time. Beds are Burning is definately one of my favorite songs from the 1980s. I still crank up this song now and then. Midnight Oil is also one of my favorite artists from Australia (behind AC/DC). Midnight Oil released 5 more albums after Diesel and Dust. Peter Garrett left Midnight Oil in 2002 to pursue his political career. In 2007 Australian Prime Minister elect Kevin Rudd named Peter Garrett as the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Arts.
Related Links:
Midnight Oil – Official Website
Midnight Oil – Last.fm
Midnight Oil – Discogs
This is the music video for Beds of Burning followed by the lyrics:
Out where the river broke
The blood wood and the desert oak
Holden wrecks and boiling diesels
Steam in forty five degrees
The time has come
To say fair’s fair
To pay the rent
To pay our share
The time has come
A fact’s a fact
It belongs to them
Let’s give it back
How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning
How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning
The time has come
To say fair’s fair
To pay the rent, now
To pay our share
Four wheels scare the cockatoos
From Kintore East to Yuendemu
The western desert lives and breathes
In forty five degrees
The time has come
To say fair’s fair
To pay the rent
To pay our share
The time has come
A fact’s a fact
It belongs to them
Let’s give it back
How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning
How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning
The time has come
To say fair’s fair
To pay the rent, now
To pay our share
The time has come
A fact’s a fact
It belongs to them
We’re gonna give it back
How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning
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What a TUNE!!! And thanks for the info on the background of the song… very informative… and interesting…
Mariaan: Thank you for your comment. Glad you enjoyed this post