13: It Belongs to Them (Let's Give It Back)

13. "Beds Are Burning" by Midnight Oil {#17; 4/88} [Video: Beds Are Burning.]

You know, I'm sure a lot of people think of Midnight Oil as a "one hit wonder." That's too bad, because they had several good albums before this song on the "Diesel and Dust" album, and they had several good albums after this song, too.

But, when you think of Midnight Oil, this is the song you think of, and rightfully so. It's a fantastic song. Before it, I had never heard anyone with a voice quite like that of Peter Garrett's. (I had also never seen a dancing style quite like Peter Garrett's, either.)

How can we dance?

During my first year at Idaho State University, I played me some church basketball. I was the backup center on a really good team. We didn't lose a single game in the regular season, didn't lose a single game in the stake tournament, and didn't lose a single game in the regional tournament, until the championship game, when we lost by about 20 points. I didn't play much, but I did get out on the floor for a several minutes every game. Before every game I would get myself pumped up by listening to "Beds Are Burning." (I'm sure that's how the guys from Midnight Oil intended their song to be used.)

(Actually, looking back, I'm not too proud of my time on that particular church ball team. I found out later from a good source, the stake athletic director, (my brother John), that after one of our games some of my teammates made some disparaging racist remarks to a black guy on the other team. I didn't play organized church ball again for about 15 years.)

One of the things about this song that particularly stands out to me is the use of the trombone. As someone who played (or attempted to play) the trombone in high school, the fact that the song has a couple of great trombone slides in it, including one at the very end of the song, is absolutely incredible!

As trombone players we were always trying to insert trombone slides into any and/or all of the songs we played. We finally succeeded in getting one in when we played the "NFL Today" Theme. It was a great triumph for the trombone section. We really thought all songs could be improved by a trombone slide here or there. "Beds Are Burning" certainly goes a long way at proving us right!


COMING UP NEXT: Back in the USSR!