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. In my own way, as a Cherokee, I can relate. When it came out in '86 I was 16, so the meaning went right over my head and I wasn't big on the song for a while. As I got a little older, I learned the meaning and grew to like the song. 🙂
Thank you, Holli for your info here! I always find it refreshing to read comments from people who have thought to seek an understanding of the history of a race and their separate tribes. Noting your heritage here, so I can understand that there would be an empathetic ear in the mix as well.
The neatest thing about 80s music is how much of it actually meant something. It was socially conscious, much of it. Musicians actually thought they could impact the world in a positive way. Not sure if they actually did that much, but they sure as hell tried.
I remember a few years back seeing people online saying that the singer entered politics and actually became one of the people causing problems. Funny how that kind of thing happens sometimes.
In every decade there are bands and artists who are socially conscious. It really isn't just an 80s thing, or something tied to any single time period. In the sixties, we had dozens of political and socially conscious artists, such as Bob Dylan. In the seventies, well, take a look at Pink Floyd's lyrics and even some of Black Sabbath's lyrics. And so on.
Midnight Oil formed in 1972 from what I’ve read, but I was too young to remember,. The lead singer is Peter Garrett who joined in 1973. He has a very eccentric dance style, and that really is his signature move. This song was released in 1987…. He became a politician after and a minister for education and then minister for the environment, and I believe he helped to place a World Heritage on the Ningaloo Reef off the coast of WA, my home State.
It was #1 in many countries in the late 80s and even top 20 in the US. A more iconic (live) performance of this song was in the 2000 Sydney Olympics Closing Ceremony with about 120,000 singing and dancing along. Midnight Oil are one of Australia's most iconic bands of the past 40 years and they have many more (mostly meaningful) songs.
I had the pleasure of seeing them in concert back in the '90's. They actually sound better live than recorded. I was a sweaty mess by the end of the show. Love them!!
I worked at a theater these guys played at, These guys were really cool and the stage at the theater is round and it slowly rotates. I thought the singer was gonna break it, the dude is a giant and when he starts dancing and stomping I swear the stage was bouncing as it tried to rotate.. but such a nice guy.
This was Midnight Oil's biggest song, and had the most play overseas of any of their songs, and they also performed it at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, so there's every chance you heard it on the radio or saw it at those Olympics.
The video footage is all Australian, but the sound effect of the squeaky windmill is from the beginning of the Sergio Leone film "Once Upon A time In The West", a really great film you should check out. Lead Singer Peter Garrett, all 6'6" of him, eventually wound up being a member of the Australian government, and was instrumental in trying to restore tribal lands and rights to the Aboriginal tribes of the Australian Outback. Always trying to do the right thing.
What this song is talking about is the that time when the Australian government wanted to conduct nuclear experiments from 1952 to 1963 and decided that the outback would do nicely, thank you very much. The problem was that there were indigenous people living there, people who were forcibly relocated and had not only to abandon the grounds where they lived for eons but also many sacred grounds where they could never return to. Of course, they were never compensated for the relocation and the loss of their heritage. THAT'S what this song is about.
I think you missed/misinterpreted the meaning of the song. It's about a few things but native land title is the main. Compensation. Aboriginal Australian communities back in the day were forcibly removed from their land in Western Australia to make way for mining. "The time has come to say fairs fair, to pay the rent, to pay our share. The time has come a facts a fact...it belongs to them... we're gonna give it back". You can see Indigenous Australians throughout the video clip too. The lyric "45 degrees" is in celsius, so that's 113F for context 🔥☀️
Mr Garret there is 6'8" tall, has alopecia, is extremely intelligent, ran for public office in Australia and was successful, I think. I could be wrong about that last one, I can't remember. Interesting man, very good and interesting band. Good reaction guys.
The first time I saw this band, it cost me a whole $1.50, and I sat at the bar and had a beer before the show and Peter was sitting at the bar having a beer, and we talked for a while. The rest of the band came on stage, and he said he had to go and walk up on stage. Twenty years later I got to do security at one of their show here. Should check out power and passion(the best drummer I have seen live going off big time), short memory would be my next greatest song, shame it's so short
This song always brings me back to summers in Oklahoma in the 80's. I had a jeep back then, kinda felt like I lived in a MO video. We could even get Castlemaine XXXX and Foster's Lager at a Drive-thru Liquor store in town. (We could get domestic kegs through the drive-thru, had to go in for imports). So fun.
This is one of greatest songs ever. It has been embedded in my mind since the first time I heard it. Great job!! Thanks for sharing it, loved seeing you moving to a beat!!! ❤ 🔥
You must have heard the original of BEDS ARE BURNING because it has been played around the world for 100 years..... almost :-) It is a world-famous song that is still played on the radio occasionally. 
These ‘reaction’ videos are fun to watch just for the inane comments by the hosts. Totally void of insight, knowledge, awareness. But they enjoy themselves. 😊
I think I was in 7th or 8th grade when this came out, but this sort of music led me to look into what they were talking about. It made me care about people on the other side of the world. Most importantly, it presented a counter narrative. I think that this shows that activism and music do go together. The fact that it posed that question of how can we act like it's all good when it clearly isn't? It made me think outside myself at a very young age, and it shaped my thinking for life. No joke.
When i arrived in Melbourne in 1995 from cork and was impressed with the live music scene especially in the pub scene,,Australia has this habbit of producing great musicians and groups,
I had a chance to meet and talk to him at the Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company in the late 90's when they played the Catalyst in Santa Cruz. I was in the Conservation Corp and we talked for about 20 minutes, he was engaging and interested. Seemed like a really great guy.
Watch the video of the Oils doing the song at Ellis Park in South Africa in 1994...It will blow your socks off ...Same song but with heaps more components to it ....
Is it possible that while looking for Concrete Blonde videos you’ve stumbled upon Johnette Napolitano’s (frontwoman) semi-ish-recent cover of Beds Are Burning? Hers is actually so incredible, she basically changed it up just enough to be about the North American indigenous people.
this is a song full of deep meaning. Its about land rights for australian indigenous who lost lands to a false claim by captain james cook who declared australia as terra nullius, NO MANS LAND. And how modern australia STILL denies indigenous people their rights and land. In the 1980s and 1990s a landmark high court decision found that not only was there prior occupation of australia but also prior ownership. Some 2 months after this ruling the federal government changed and enacted into law which denied indigenous asutralian their lawful rights. Since then australian schools still fail to teach these facts. What you see of australia from overseas is false, australia is as racist as any other country
This was the one song that broke them into the States, but in the States The Oils are considered One Hit Wonders, which just blows our mind in Australia. So glad you guys listened to some earlier Oils before getting to this. I really miss Hirsty's drumming style from their earlier music. Oils are just not the same for me with Hirsty thrashing around in the background (and foreground!)
You need to give some of their other stuff a listen: "King of the Mountain" , "Back on the Borderline" are a couple that are worthy. My band supported Midnight Oil back in the 70's when they played at our Leagues Club on the Southeast Coast of NSW. I won't go into the geography, suffice to say that it was an absolutely great night to be able to start the night and finish the night while watching these legends and not having to pay for a ticket!
How can we dance while the earth is turning? To me it means as people struggle, how can the rest of us carry on, partying? The best way to explain this to Americans would be how about some compensation for native Americans? Yes, they do make it sound fun, and I love that driving bass line, great song.
always liked this song from the 80's. How come you don't do any more reactions to VoicePlay???? Your reactions were always great. They have gotten better.
Sorry if this has been posted before. The band played this song at the Sydney 2000 Olympics closing ceremony. They were back stage in overalls then stripped them off to reveal "Sorry Suits"...Sorry for the treatment of Australian Indigenous peoples.
