By Michael Baginski/ Rob Hirst, the drummer for Midnight Oil, died this week at age 70, but the great Aussie band had already been in the back of my mind for awhile now. In these crazy days of Trump, wars, kidnappings, wild weather and “cats and dogs living together” (as Bill Murray said in “Ghostbusters”), it really does seem like our “beds are burning.”
Released in 1987, the song – performed stridently by Peter Garrett – originally addressed aboriginal and environment issues in Australia, but became, and sadly still is, an iconic rallying cry for (against) our times in general.
Indeed, now more than ever, how can we dance when our earth is turning, and sleep when our 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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