Beds Are Burning

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“Beds Are Burning”

Single by Midnight Oil from the album Diesel and Dust
Released	1987
Genre	Rock
Label	Columbia Records
Producer	Midnight Oil

"Beds Are Burning" is a 1987 hit single by Australian rock band Midnight Oil, the first track from their album Diesel and Dust. This song was not the first song from the album to be released as a single; the first to be released was "The Dead Heart."

It reached #1 in the South African charts, #3 in the Netherlands Top 40, #5 in the France Top 50, #6 in the UK charts, #11 in Ireland, #17 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and in Sweden.

It is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

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".^[1]

1 Meaning
2 Lyrics
3 Cover versions
4 External Links

[edit] Meaning

The song is a plea for the land rights of Indigenous Australians: "The time has come, to say fair's fair, to pay the rent, to pay our share." In 2000, the band performed the song at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in Sydney but under the title "The Time Has Come". The performance was notable due to the band wearing tracksuits emblazoned with the words "SORRY".

In 2006 the Australian Treasurer Peter Costello used the lyrics of this song in the Australian Parliament to make a point about public leasing of buildings by the opposition Australian Labor Party. This was designed to clearly make fun of Midnight Oil member turned Labor MP Peter Garrett and included a spoof of his trademark dancing style.

[edit] 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 fairs 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

[edit] Cover versions

In 2004, the German Eurodance group Novaspace covered this song. In 2006, Pearl Jam covered the song as a tag to their hit song "Daughter" during the Australian leg of their tour, in the same year a french band called "Black Bomb A" released their version of it in the album "One Sound Bite to React". In 2008, The Nightwatchman covered the song with Justin Sane and Chris #2 of Anti-Flag at the Sydney & Perth Big Day Out festival, and additionally Billy Bragg at the Adelaide Big Day Out festival in Australia. Also, Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde recently covered the song.