By Martin Gonzalez
Well some of you may recall these guys from back in the day and some may not. For me Midnight Oil has always been one of those bands that I wake one day with a chorus or a line playing over and over in my head. I have fond memories of putting their tape in and just jamming out. For all you youngin's that this thingy. Anyways, these guys are an Aussie band with like 10 axes to grind. They are very political and usually have a message to spread. Oh and fun fact their singer is about one steve tall (that's about 6'5"), he is very good and spreading messages.
Beds Are Burning by Midnight Oil
Lyrics:
Out where the river broke
The bloodwood 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
The fire will 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'r 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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I've heard this song a thousand times, but I never stopped to figure out what it was about. This time through, reading the lyrics, it seemed to maybe be about making repatriations to Native Americans. But these guys are Australian, right? So I looked it up. It's about making repatriations to the aboriginies known as the Pintupi. I guess everyone's got some indigenous people they screwed over in the development of their country.
ReplyDeleteGreat classic 80's song.
I've never heard this song before but i can see how someone can listen to and and not really pay attention to the lyrics, so I'm glad i had the lyrics to read while i listened to the song. It takes guts to sing about what you feel are the issues when your paycheck depends on whether or not people will like what you say. It would be so much easier to just "shut up and sing"
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