Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning - Meaning of the song
This is a political song about giving native Australian lands back to the Pintupi, who were among the very last people to come in from the desert. These "last contact" people began moving from the Gibson Desert to settlements and missions in the 1930s. More were forcibly moved during the 1950s and 1960s to the Papunya settlement. In 1981 they left to return to their own country and established the Kintore community which is nestled in the picturesque Kintore Ranges, surrounded by Mulga and Spinifex country. It is now a thriving little community with a population of about 400.
Midnight Oil performed this in front of a worldwide audience of billions, (including Prime Minister John Howard, who has claimed it as his favorite Midnight Oil song) at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The whole band were dressed in black, with the words "sorry" printed conspicuously on their clothes. This was a reference to the Prime Minister's refusal to apologize, on behalf of Australia, to the Aboriginal Australians for the way they have been treated over the last 200 years.
This won Best Single and Best Song at the 1988 ARIA Awards (the album also won Best Cover Art). Gary Morris, the band's manager, accepted the prizes on behalf of the group and got into a tiff with Australian music journalist Molly Meldrum when he declared he didn't like the evening's choice of presenters, particularly Bryan Ferry. Morris made a snide remark about Ferry's stylishly wrinkled suit, causing Meldrum to leap to the Roxy Music leader's defense. Morris later explained the problem was that Ferry was a Brit presenting an Australian award:
"I had an attitude about bringing over offshore artists to present at a local awards."
Beds Are Burning - 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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