Midnight Oil

[Nonfatman]

I love this one from The Oils, off their "Breathe" album.



Lyrics here:

www.metrolyrics.com/star-of-hope-lyrics-midnight-oil.html

For best results, play loud.

Jeff

[Nonfatman]

Midnight Oil, like Tull, often wrote songs lamenting the destruction and depletion of the environment. In 1990, during the Exxon Valdez oil spill, The Oils were performing at Radio City Music Hall, not far from Exxon's main headquarters on Sixth Avenue.

The band decided, with the cooperation and assistance of their record company, to do an impromptu and unannounced protest concert the day before one of their shows, on the sidewalk in front of the Exxon building. The previous evening, they set up the stage and instruments on a trailer and rehearsed in a remote location by the Hudson River.

The next morning, the trailer -- and a prominent banner denouncing Exxon -- were put into place in front of Exxon's offices, and although the police department had apparently been paid off "in the correct way" by the record company, they were threatening to shut the whole thing down because of the traffic snarl it was causing, and so the band hurried down and started playing. They were told that they could only do one song, but the police and passersby liked it so much, that they were permitted to do another....and then another and another. They wound up playing 45 minutes while the Exxon bigwigs pulled down the shades and cowered inside.

I love this video, it is such a powerful song, and Peter Garrett sings it with such raw passion and anger. There's just a killer guitar intro to kick it off, with video images reminiscent of the recent BP oil spill.



The fascinating story, as told by members of the band:



The lyrics to River Runs Red, from the Blue Sky Mining album, can be found here:

www.musicsonglyrics.com/M/midnightoillyrics/midnightoilriverrunsredlyrics.htm

Jeff

[mothermonkey1]

Jeff-
That Oils gig at the Bowery Ballroom was insane!

[smallcigar]

Despite having the Album Diesel and Dust, I first really took notice of the band - and the rest of their back catalogue - when they appeared on 'Later with Jools Holland', singing 'My Country' and Truganini'.

I promptly went out and bought 'Earth and Sun and Moon', from which both tracks are taken.

Here are the official videos for the 2 tracks. I have never seen anyone dance like Peter Garrett, before or since.





Jon

[smallcigar]

For anyone not familiar with 'The Oils' These two tracks, both taken from their most successful album 'Diesel and Dust' are considered to be amongst their finest.

Beds are Burning




The Dead Heart - I personally love the dual guitars in this one




Jon

[derekpith]

did they get hit with some sort of plagiarism suit saying Land Down Under was to similar to child's song, the music to it.

[smallcigar]

Dec 25, 2010 21:26:18 GMT -5 @derekpith said:

did they get hit with some sort of plagiarism suit saying Land Down Under was to similar to child's song, the music to it.

Right continent, wrong band. The band who sang 'Down Under' was 'men at Work - from the album 'Business as Usual'



Yes there was a law suit this year, concerning the flute part being similar to a children's song 'Kookaburra'. The author got 5% of royalties, but only from 2002 - the song came out in 1982, but was used extensively during the 2004 Olympics.

ker-ching £££££/$$$$$.

Jon

[derekpith]

Ahh Thanks smallcigar, see what happens when you suffer from CRS. Welcome aboard,smallcigar I need someone like you to help fight my CRS, you can keep me on my toes. It is dreadful when you Can't Remember Sh*t

[smallcigar]

Dec 26, 2010 6:45:28 GMT -5 @derekpith said:

Ahh Thanks smallcigar, see what happens when you suffer from CRS. Welcome aboard,smallcigar I need someone like you to help fight my CRS, you can keep me on my toes. It is dreadful when you Can't Remember Sh*t

Thanks mate, I'll help where I can but I'm of an age where I'm going a bit 'Sea-lion', and sometimes can't remember 'Jack in the Green' either :)

Jon

[Geoff CB]

Good stuff.

[Nonfatman]

I'm glad we're starting to get a little traction on this Midnight Oil thread.

I think the reason they are my second favorite after Tull is because, like Tull, they are one of the most intelligent bands out there. Lyrically, they are just superb, I sometimes think that Peter Garrett is even equal to Ian in that regard.

The Oils were an important band. They were not afraid to show their anger at social and political injustice, and corporate greed. Redneck Wonderland is one of the most angry albums out there, but the songs are great.....tuneful heavy rock and acoustic ballads.

There are also some overlaps in their song subjects and Ian's, particularly in regard to their concern for the environment and sympathy for the blue collar laborer.

Both bands have also done a lot of benefit shows for worthy causes. You've got to love that protest concert that Midnight Oil did in front of Exxon's Manhattan headquarters after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. (Scroll up to the beginning of the thread for more info on that.)

I like how Peter Garrett put his money where his mouth was, he didn't just sing about these causes, he actually quit the music business to enter politics and try to do something about it. He is now Austrailia's Minister of the Environment.

Jeff

[smallcigar]

Here are the 2 tracks from Later with Jools Holland, shown on the BBC in 1993 - high energy stuff par excellence

Truganini




My Country



Happy memories

Jon

[Nonfatman]

Let's not forget this incredible song, which may be my favorite by them and is probably their biggest hit, but they have so many great ones.

The images unfortunately do not go with subject matter of the song, but the sound on this video was absolutely fantastic, so I went with it. I found it interesting that a youtube poster -- presumably from Australia -- accused Peter Garrett of hypocrisy in recently voting in favor of approving the doubling in size of an Australian uranium mine, but as is usually the case, there is probably another side to the story (I'm thinking, the creation of additional jobs in bleak economic times.) First time I ever heard his intergrity questioned.



This must-see video of Midnight Oil's beautiful song 'Antartica' was put together by a guy who visited Antartica and took video and photos of the scenery and wildlife and then set it to The Oils' song of the same name. I love the whole song, it almost sounds like a prayer (similar to Dun Ringill in some ways), and the piano outro and humming at the end is exquisite:



I love 'Put Down That Weapon' from Diesel and Dust, and this is a great live version:



Here's a rare instrumental from The Oils, from their under-rated Breathe album, it's got a very cool groove to it:



Jeff

[smallcigar]

Excellent video fro Antarctica, I'd forgotten how good the string arrangement was.

I feel inspired to dig out 'Breathe' and bang it on the hi-fi tonight.

In the meantime, another of my favourite Oils tracks, with Pete Garrett wearing his 'St Cleve Chronicle'-style overalls



Jon

[Geoff CB]

Dec 26, 2010 10:38:07 GMT -5 Nonfatman said:

I like how Peter Garrett put his money where his mouth was, he didn't just sing about these causes, he actually quit the music business to enter politics and try to do something about it. He is now Austrailia's Minister of the Environment.

Jeff

After the election (the government just got in as a minority) he is now Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth.
So what, I hear you say. Well, as the Australian Government is implemeting a national school curriculum, I suppose this means Peter Garrett is indirectly my boss!

FYI

Rob Hirst and two others from the Oils, along with Brian Ritchie (Violent Femmes bass) have formed a surf rock band called The Break.
What I've seen of them on tv has been good.

www.thebreak.net.au/

Geoff

[smallcigar]

Thanks for the link Geoff, I didn't know anything about The Break - I've enjoyed the tracks I've heard so far, though.

Jon

[Nonfatman]

I saw Midnight Oil last night at Webster Hall....it was their first tour in 15 years, but you wouldn't know it because they sounded better than ever.

It appears from youtube that they've rehearsed their entire catalog, because they are playing a different set every night on this tour.

Best show I've seen in the last 25 years.








Jeff