Pop Song 640 of 1000 'Beds are burning' Midnight Oil 1987

Pop Song 640 of 1000 'Beds are burning' Midnight Oil 1987

MV    • Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning  

After Midnight Oil toured through the Outback in 1986, playing to remote Aboriginal communities and seeing first-hand the seriousness of the issues in health and living standards, Peter Garrett, Jim Moginie and Rob Hirst wrote "Beds Are Burning" to criticize how said populations were often forcibly removed from their lands, highlighted by the pre-chorus lines "it belongs to them, let's give it back". Considering such a local affair inspired a worldwide hit, Garrett commented "Who would have thought an Aboriginal land rights song would travel that far?"There are specific references to certain Australian places and politics, such as Kintore Ranges and the town of Yuendumu, vehicles produced by the Holden company, the "It's Time" slogan and the notion of "fair go".

In an interview with British website and publication Songwriting Magazine, Rob Hirst discussed how Midnight Oil were determined to be seen as an Australian band. In the same conversation he stated, "Land rights are something that appear in so many countries around the world, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, but we were determined that Midnight Oil wouldn't be seen as one of those international bands, writing songs that could have come from anywhere. We were determined to put place names and other specific bits and pieces in all our songs."