This is my favorite song from Species and one of my favorite Oils songs ever. It's just so tightly wound and different from anything else in their catalog to me, yet it still sounds like Midnight Oil. I wish there had been a few more like this one over the course of their career. Glad they played it a few times during the tour last year, unfortunately not the show I attended.
Diesel and Dust is a record I got so burned out on in the 80s that I actively avoided it for around 25 years. When I started my Oils renaissance around 3 years ago I finally gave it another listen. And it's much better than I remembered. Sure, the production is slick and a bit cheesy in places (nowhere more than on Beds Are Burning, musically my least favorite on this album), but almost all of the songs are really strong. The bridge in Put Down That Weapon is brilliant in it's simplicity and power. Arctic World was not a standout song for me back in the old days, but now I love it. Bullroarer is terrific, and the only problem with Sometimes is that it's played too slow. You can't have heard the live version of Sometimes and then not be a little let down by studio version. Can't say that I've found anything to disagree with in the lyrics. I've always thought that Midnight Oil lyrics were generally the opposite of goofy, trite, utopic lyrics. They seemed to be saying "we all deserve a better world and this is what we think we should do to get there". I always really appreciated their specificity. Left less room for misinterpretation. There were other bands, whom the Oils were occasionally grouped with, whose lyrics were so vague that anyone could invest them with any meaning they wanted. One way to sell more records I suppose. All in all a pretty great album and I can see why it's their biggest selling album worldwide, even if I still prefer the slightly more experimental Oils that preceded D&D.
Beds Are Burning The song that appeared to launch the bands international career. This is a very tightly written song and well structured. "Beds Are Burning" is a 1987 song by the Australian rock band Midnight Oil, the first track from their album Diesel and Dust. This song was the second from the album to be released as a single, and is among the band's best-known songs outside Australia. It reached No. 1 in New Zealand, South Africa and Canada, No. 3 in the Netherlands, No. 5 in France, No. 6 in the United Kingdom and Australia, No. 11 in Ireland and No. 17 in the United States and Sweden. It is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. It was named number 95 on VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s and number 97 by the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time in 2009. In May 2001, Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) celebrated its 75th anniversary by naming the Best Australian Songs of all time, as decided by a 100 strong industry panel. "Beds Are Burning" was declared third behind the Easybeats' "Friday on My Mind" and Daddy Cool's "Eagle Rock". "Beds Are Burning" is a protest song in support of 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 a community with a population of about 400. Kintore and the town of Yuendumu are mentioned by name in the lyrics, as are vehicles produced by the Holden company. 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 Four wheels scare the cockatoos From Kintore East to Yuendemu The western desert lives and breathes In forty five degrees
Put Down That Weapon Another very well written song about war and its side effects. Lyrics Under the waterline No place to retire To another time The eyes of the world now turn And if we think about it And if we talk about it And if the skies go dark with rain Can you tell me will our freedom remain Put down that weapon or we'll all be gone You can't hide nowhere with the torchlight on And it happens to be an emergency Some things aren't meant to be Some things don't come for free Above the waterline Point the finger yeah point the bone It's the harbour towns That the grey metal ships call home And if we think about it And if we talk about it And if the seas go boiling black Can you tell me what you'll do about that Put down that weapon or we'll all be gone I must know something to know it's so wrong And it happens to be an emergency Some things aren't meant to be Some things don't come for free They keep talking about it They keep talking... Put down that weapon or we'll all be gone You must be crazy if you think you're strong
D&D is slickly produced, but I love the big fat bass lines. Really, I love the sound of this album! Blue Sky Mining went too far and robbed the songs of some of their power, and their earlier albums were so taut and stripped. For me, this production was the sweet spot. As much as I like 10,9,8... this album is the one I’ve listened to from start to finish the most times. I was shocked to find out that a song had been dropped for the US edition. “Sometimes” is such a great finishing track that it seems odd to hear “ Gunbarrel Highway” as the proper end now.
I saw them live, in support of D&D, at a 1000-2000 seat auditorium usually used for history lectures at the University of Illinois (Champaign) and they put on a great show, ending with a cover of “What’s So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding”.
it is bizarre some of the changes they make to albums. to me if it is done, it's how it should be ... barring remix/remaster editions and noted bonus tracks
I can't remember where I read it now, but there is definitely going to be a live DVD and album later this year.
Dreamworld Probably my favourite song of this album. Nice structure and melody, with some strong riffs linking things together. The song laments the loss of much of Queensland's built heritage — including the Cloudland Dance Hall, where Midnight Oil had frequently performed[1] — which was demolished under the then-ruling Joh Bjelke-Petersen state government.[2][3][4] The Dreamworld theme park, which inspired the song's name, is briefly shown in the music video. Lyrics The Breakfast Creek hotel is up for sale, The last square mile of terra firma gavelled in the mail, So farewell to the Norfolk Island pines, No amount of make believe can help this heart of mine. End, your dreamworld is just about to end. Fall, your dreamworld is just about to fall, Your dreamworld will fall. So shut that buckle and turn that key again, Take me to a place they say the dreaming never ends, Open wide drive that mystery road, Walk through eden´s garden and then wonder as you go. Sign says honeymoon to rent Cloud-land into dreamland turns, The sun comes up and we all learn Those wheels must turn.
Arctic World Nice mellow ballad to balance things out. Of course this isn't a boy meets girl kind of ballad, I'm not sure the Oils ever did a song like that lol Lyrics I don't want to grow anything in my heart I don't want to write all these things in the sand I don't want to listen and not understand I don't want to tramp up the footpath of stars Don't want to be an advocate Don't want to be a monument There is nothing that grows in your arctic world I don't want to breathe that Smithsonian air I don't want to listen when they toll the bell ''cause I can't take another industrial feast On the ground, on my back, out there I want to meet the president Of a country without sense There is nothing that grows in his arctic world There is nothing that grows in your arctic world There is nothing that grows in this arctic world
Warakuma This songs starts with a nice little arpeggio guitar and some synth wash. The song comes in as a very well and has a more soothing sound and feel to it. Lyrics There is enough for everyone In Redfern as there is in Alice This is not the Buckingham Palace This the crown land This is the brown land This is not our land Some folks live in water tanks Some folks live in red brick flats There is enough, the law is carved in granite It's been shaped by wind and rain White law could be wrong Black law could be strong Warakurna, cars will roll Don't drink by the water hole Court fines on the shopfront wall Beat the grog and save your soul Some people laugh, some never learn This land must change or land must burn Some people sleep, some people yearn This land must change or land must burn Diesel and dust is what we breathe This land don't change and we don't leave Some people live, some never die This land don't change this land must lie Some people leave, always return This land must change or land must burn Warakurna, camels roam Fires are warm and dogs are cold Not since Lassiter was here Black man's got a lot to fear Some people laugh, some never learn This land must change or land must burn Some people leave, always return This land must change or land must burn
The Dead Heart For me this is probably the best song on the album, but the radio absolutely flogged this song to death back in the late eighties. Lyrics We don't serve your country Don't serve your king Know your custom don't speak your tongue White man came took everyone We don't serve your country Don't serve your king White man listen to the songs we sing White man came took everything We carry in our hearts the true country And that cannot be stolen We follow in the steps of our ancestry And that cannot be broken We don't need protection Don't need your land Keep your promise on where we stand We will listen we'll understand Mining companies, pastoral companies Uranium companies Collected companies Got more right than people Got more say than people Forty thousand years can make a difference to the state of things The dead heart lives here
“The Dead Heart” - when the song kicks into the last couple minutes, it swells up and goes next-level. A true career highlight for this group.
