10 Best Midnight Oil Songs

Drummer Rob Hirst, bassist Andrew James, and guitarist Jim Moginie started performing together in Sydney in 1971, covering Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Led Zeppelin. They eventually added towering vocalist Peter Garrett and guitarist Martin Rotsey. The name Midnight Oil was inspired by Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Burning of the Midnight Lamp’.

Midnight Oil were surprisingly diverse, with influences from surf-rock and progressive-rock. But they’re best known for hard-driving rock, with political themes. Unlike many political bands, they never compromise on musicality, backing their screeds on justice and environmentalism with memorable tunes and pretty harmonies.

The band peaked commercially with 1987’s Diesel and Dust, but their most fascinating album is 1982’s 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, which blended early 1980s synths and sequencers with a tough punk sound.

Drummer, songwriter, and occasional vocalist Rob Hirst recently passed away – it’s a great opportunity to revisit their catalogue. There are a lot of terrific songs in Midnight Oil’s back catalogue. Enjoy this grab bag of big hits, forgotten singles, and deep cuts.

10 Best Midnight Oil Songs

#10 Nobody’s Child

from Resist, 2022
Most of Midnight Oil’s later albums experiment with different sounds, like the aggression of Redneck Wonderland and the stripped-back Breathe. But 2022’s Resist feels like a grand summary of their career, returning to their anthemic, jangly 1980s sound.

Jim Moginie recently released the memoir Silver River: A Memoir of Family — Lost, Made and Found. ‘Nobody’s Child’ seems to also tell the story of Moginie’s adoption.

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#9 Forgotten Years

from Blue Sky Mining, 1990
On Blue Sky Mining, Midnight Oil adopt a serious adult-contemporary sound, with long track times and foreboding strings on tracks like ‘Mountains of Burma’. But ‘Forgotten Years’ is a jangly, energetic rocker that could have come from Diesel and Dust.

Rob Hirst wrote the lyrics for ‘Forgotten Years’. His father and grandfather’s experience of war inspired the lyrics. They encourage future generations to avoid wars, and to remember the horrors of war.

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#8 Feeding Frenzy

from Earth and Sun and Moon, 1993
Midnight Oil embrace a warm and jangly sound on Earth and Sun and Moon. ‘Feeding Frenzy’ sounds straight from the 1960s Nuggets boxset, with a retro organ sound.

The song portray society’s consumption, with Garrett singing of “cyclone fences in the cybernetic orchard”.

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#7 Maralinga

from 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1982
After three surprisingly eclectic albums, Midnight Oil found their groove with 1982’s 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. They embraced modern technology, incorporating sequencers and synthesisers into their sound. It coincides with a leap in their songwriting – their songs are more tuneful and more political than before.

I’ve always loved the deep cut ‘Maralinga’, with its odd loping riff. Between 1956 and 1963, the United Kingdom conducted seven nuclear tests at Maralinga in South Australia. The site was contaminated with nuclear waste, and the Australian government paid $13.5 million compensation to the Maralinga Tjarutja people in 1994. 

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#6 Put Down That Weapon

from Diesel and Dust, 1987
In 1985, New Zealand’s government blocked the nuclear-capable USS Buchanan from arriving in New Zealand. On the menacing ‘Put Down That Weapon’, Garrett pushes for Australia to take the same stance

It feels arbitrary choosing favourites from Diesel and Dust. It’s a strong record, and I would have also liked to have included ‘Gunbarrel Highway’ (not included on the US version of the album due to the line “shit falls like rain on a world that is brown”), ‘The Dead Heart’, and ‘Dreamworld’.

And if the sea goes boiling black
Can you tell me what you’ll do about that?

Put Down That Weapon

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#5 Power and the Passion

from 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1982
‘Power and the Passion’ opens with the terrific line “People, wasting away in paradise”.

‘Power and the Passion’ also features one of the most worthwhile drum solos in the history of rock music.

In 2018, ‘Power and the Passion’ was voted the 29th most Australian song of all time, in Triple M’s “Ozzest 100”.

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#4 Hercules

from Species Deceases (EP), 1985
Many bands use EPs as clearing houses for leftovers, but MIdnight Oil’s Species Deceases is one of their strongest works. Australian rock historian Ian MacFarlane wrote “In terms of sheer sonic firepower, it was one of the band’s hardest hitting works”. ‘Hercules’ is the standout track, singing of nuclear testing and foreign interference in the south Pacific.

“Here come the Hercules
Here come the submarines
Sinking south pacific dreams”

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#3 Kosciusko

from Red Sails in the Sunset, 1984
Red Sails in the Sunset is Midnight Oil’s most ambitious album. It’s beloved by fans, although I find it uneven. But ‘Kosciuszko’, named for Australia’s highest mountain, is a standout. Like the band’s best songs, it’s driving, jangly, and politically charged.

‘Kosciusko’ is one of only two Midnight Oil songs with lead vocals from drummer Rob Hirst.

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#2 Stars of Warburton

from Blue Sky Mining, 1990
‘Stars of Warburton’ is a rare non-political song from Midnight Oil – it’s about the urge to return to Australia after a long US tour. It’s jangly and inviting, with a harmonised, joyful chorus.

It’s named for Warburton, a town with a population of 576 in Western Australia. According to Matt Okie, Garrett declared Warburton “an unrivalled place to sleep under the stars”.

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#1 Beds are Burning

from Diesel and Dust, 1987
Spin magazine apparently reported a story where a US fan stopped the band in the street. The fan told Midnight Oil that he loved their song about really hot sex. When they looked bemused, the fan explained he was talking about ‘Beds Are Burning’.

It’s hard to mistake the song’s intentions – the song’s key line is “it belongs to them – let’s give it back”. The song originated from the band’s 1986 outback tour. The band visited remote Aboriginal communities, and saw the seriousness of the issues in health and living standards.

Did I miss your favourite Midnight Oil song?

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