| Midnight Oil – River Runs Red Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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first comment River Runs Red by Midnight Oil is a song with very strong messages towards Australia’s environmental issues. “River Runs Red” is used to describe nature (the river) and how humans are destroying it. The river running “red” is portraying blood, in this case the blood of nature, when people think of blood, it is usually linked to a death. The underlying meaning of the title is that nature and the environment is slowly but surely being killed by humans. “River Runs Red” is a very slow moving song, the fact that the introduction takes one minute twenty before the vocals to start is truly a clever way in which Peter Garrett, the song writer, has been able to create the mood for the song before any words have been sung. The mood created is one of lonesomeness, sorrow and even sadness. This also prompts listeners to visualise a clear and concise image of what he is singing about when the words do start. When the first stanza begins Peter gets straight to the point whilst still keeping the same mood, “So you cut all the tall trees down, you poisoned the sky and the sea you’ve taken what's good from the ground,” this gives listeners images of companies levelling forest’s, filling the air and sea with industrial waste and litter and digging huge holes in into the earth for mining purposes. It also explains that people are destroying nature as we know it. “But you’ve left precious little for me” is a very strong line meaning so many people seeking wealth have taken everything from the land, the children(tomorrow’s generation) have nothing to respect or admire about the environment. “You remember the flood and the fall, we remember the light on the hill” is again showing the comparison between the two generations. The Adults (today’s generation) remember spectacular sights and amazing highlights of nature and the children remember city lights and technology. “There should be enough for us all, but the dollar is driving us still” informs us if we were all to live within our means and take what we need from the environment, Australia would not be having these issues, but due to consumerism and greed, individuals are destroying the environment for their own personal gain. During the last line the singer’s attitude becomes slightly heated as he is angry with people wiping out the environment. Throughout the chorus the singer uses a similar attitude of that towards the end of the first stanza to promote certain feelings. In combination with the lyrics and higher tempo, feelings of darkness, sadness and evil are produced. “River runs red” is reinforcing the message behind the title and that we are destroying the environment. “Back rain falls” are the lyrics used to create the feelings of darkness, sadness and evil. The words “dust” and “bleeding land” in particular create an image of what the environment is turning into, which is unfertile, useless and nothing. Repetition is used to reinforce that what is been said in the chorus contains crucial points about what in happening to the Australian environment. The second stanza reverts back to a slow tempo and non aggressive attitude. This again changes the mood to lonesomeness and sorrow one. The environment is not exclusive to just those from a high social class, it caters for everyone. For this reason any person can take what they want from the environment. This is explained in the first lines of this stanza “So we came and we conquered and found, Riches of commons and kings.” They all “strangled and wrestled” with the terrain whether it be for logs, valuable ore or anything else. “But they never put back anything” which means the environment which they have benefited from is just left to pass away. The singer refers to himself as being “trapped like a dog in a cage… Wherever the truth is pursued,” the mood contributes to listeners understanding that because he is alone, no matter how hard he tries everyone is to wound up in getting rich and no one person listens to what he has to say. He feels that he is the only on who cares what is actually happening to the environment. “It must be the curse of the age what’s taken is never renewed.” Is a very powerful line to finish the song. The singer is saying the environment that is destroyed for its goods, is only left to die no effort is used in trying to preserve or restore it. He has tried to get the message out in the open with no success. The bottom line, There is no hope. All through “River Runs Red” the main focus is humans demolishing the environment. However the first stanza, second stanza and the chorus each spotlight a different subject. The first stanza focuses on the beauty of nature, today’s generation will always have memories, but tomorrow’s generation will have nothing and probably won’t even wonder about the possibilities which the natural world once beheld. The chorus targets on educating people what the environment is becoming, a land that is worthless, unfertile and one filled by darkness and evil. The second stanza is the most meaningful in the song; it influences people in an enormous way and makes them appreciate that if action is taken towards the problem, people will continue killing the environment until there is nothing left to kill. Swish number 2 |
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| Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mine Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Blue Sky Mine by Midnight Oil is a song protesting a tragedy which occurred in Wittenoom, Western Australia. In 1938 Mr. Lang Hancock initiated the mining of blue asbestos in Wittenoom. However, because of the war in 1943, there was not enough asbestos fibre imports which were needed in the asbestos manufacturing business. This left Hancock no choice but to sell the mining operations to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) who became one of the main miners of blue asbestos in Australia. The CSR made no effort in making the miners working conditions up to standard. The miners had to crawl around on their knees scratching for blue asbestos. It wasn’t until 20 years later that the CSR actually built vents so that miners could breathe fresh air. This was described as the “greatest industrial disaster in Australia” by the Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia. Thousands of miners and their families, travellers, visitors, consultants and Government officials were all exposed to deadly levels of blue asbestos. It is proven that the CSR knew that blue asbestos could cause asbestosis and cancer, especially under the circumstances they endorsed but no effort was made to minimise the risks. The title, “Blue Sky Mine” has two meanings. It describes the blue asbestos mine at Wittenoom, and is used in an ironic way to illustrate that there is no blue sky in a mine but rather darkness and dust, also metaphorically speaking, when people think of a blue sky it generally gives them a felling of freedom and lack of restriction, whereas in a mine these feelings are hardly evident. The mood for Blue Sky Mine is created as soon as the song begins. The fast passed and rhythmic introduction creates an enthusiastic and ecstatic mood. The first stanzas lyrics with the help of the mood that has been set show the way which the Wittenoom Mining Company sent subliminal messages to Australians attempting to brainwash them into thinking mining is an easy way to get rich. “Hey, hey-hey hey There'll be food on the table tonight Hey, hey-hey hey There'll be pay in your pocket tonight.” The second stanza undergoes a shift in the singer’s mood to portray feelings of both pain and confusion. Since the lyrics of this stanza are from a miner’s point of view, listeners take a lot more notice to what is being said and can get a good perspective of what life was like working in the mine. “My gut is wrenched out it is crunched up and broken, A life that is led is no more than a token” signifies that the miners are exhausted and injured from working and that the lives they are living are insignificant. The minors are kept in the dark about what’s go on “who will strike the flint upon the stone and tell me why,” asking questions but no one is answering “If I yell out at night there's a reply of bruised silence,” this is reinforcing insignificance of their working lives. The third stanza is again from a miner’s point of view. The words are similar to the first stanza but a lot more meaningful. The miner “works all day” to provide for his family. Although he is making a living, the Mining Companies are the ones who really have “food on the table and pay in their pocket.” The fourth stanza contains the most insightful lyrics throughout the song. The first three lines explain how the company’s top priority is money. From the forth line down the lyrics become very deep when the singers tone symbolise compassion towards the miners and appreciates what they had to go through. “So I'm caught at the junction still waiting for medicine,” the miner is becoming aware that asbestos is very harmful and finds himself waiting in line for a cure. The next lines “The sweat of my brow keeps on feeding the engine, Hope the crumbs in my pocket can keep me for another night” shows listeners that the miner is pretty much giving his bodily fluids and performing backbreaking labour for the good and economical benefit of the company but receiving almost nothing in return symbolised by the crumbs in his pocket. The stanza finishes with “who's gonna save me?” as if the miner has no confidence left. The sixth stanza starts with “some have sailed from a distant shore” explaining that people from all over the world have come to mine asbestos. This is followed by the line “The company takes what the company wants,” and is dominant over the mine therefore it gets a hold on most of the profits and only a small amount is set aside for miners. The last words in this stanza are the most important in the song, “And NOTHING’S as precious, as a hole in the ground,” this clarifies that the Mining company is practically sacrificing human lives in order to gain the most economically which is really unacceptable. The last stanza begins with a worrying mood as created by the lyrics “Who's gonna save me?” and “I pray that sense and reason brings us in” once more reminding listeners that confidence is running out and miners are preying that the company comes to its senses. This mood is soon changed as “we've got nothing to fear, in the end the rain comes down and washes clean, the streets of a blue sky town” is sung. These last lines provide a sense of hope, revealing that tomorrow is a new beginning and another day. The main theme throughout Blue Sky Mine is offcourse workers rights, no one should have to work in the conditions that the CSR provided, unfortunately for most, it was there only choice any they had nowhere else to go. Another equally important environmental issue is also addressed in blue sky mine. This is asbestos being released into the air, although is not mentioned all the way through the song like workers rights, asbestos released into the atmosphere has the potential to cause a lot of damage to both humans and animals who inhale its fibres. Swish |
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