submissions
| Midnight Oil – Quinella Holiday Lyrics
| 12 years ago
|
Another pretty literal Oils song. A "quinella" is a type of horse-racing bet. To my knowledge the term is only used in Australia and New Zealand. Off-track betting is really big in Australia; much bigger than in North America, I think.
Song is actually quite depressing. |
submissions
| Midnight Oil – Section 5 (Bus To Bondi) Lyrics
| 12 years ago
|
I didn't understand the "Section 5" reference until one day soon after I moved to Australia, I was taking a bus to Bondi Beach (Sydney) and looked at my ticket stub and read "Section 5". It refers to specific transportation zones where your ticket cost is relative to the distance from the destination.
Great change in time signature at mid-bridge, super fun for drummers to play. |
submissions
| Midnight Oil – Knife's Edge Lyrics
| 12 years ago
|
|
I actually have no idea what this song means, but it is one of their best ever, while also being one of their least known, from the hardest to find album "Bird Noises". Has one of the best dual-guitar sections of any song, anywhere. |
submissions
| Midnight Oil – Stand In Line Lyrics
| 12 years ago
|
Wow, no comments yet on one of the greatest songs of all time? Do yourself a favour and Youtube the live performance from Goat Island/JJJ anniversary. You'll see why the song is so great, but also why the Oils were the best live band ever.
The song is not exactly deep in meaning: a rebellious anthem against the status quo, and how so many are frustrated with it, but do nothing about it. |
submissions
| Midnight Oil – Surfing With A Spoon Lyrics
| 12 years ago
|
|
Actually "surfing with a spoon" is a euphemistic Australian analogy for shooting heroin (typically the powder is mixed with water in a spoon, then heated, then injected). The song is about being stuck in a city, desperately wanting to leave and go surfing, but compensating with the self-destructive alternative: heroin. About the day-to-day drudgery of a 9-5 job keeping him from what he really wants to be doing, and what he does to get to a time when he CAN do what he wants. Some believe "surfing with a spoon" should be interpreted more literally as guys wishing their were surfing and thinking about it while using spoons to play-surf in soup/cereal/coffee, whatever (hey, I do this), but I lived in Australia and don't believe they would have used a heroin metaphor if they didn't mean it. |
submissions
| Midnight Oil – I'm The Cure Lyrics
| 12 years ago
|
|
When and where this song was written heroin was all the rage. While it is common to misinterpret many songs as "being about drugs", this song is definitely about using/abusing heroin. When it was released there was quit a bit of controversy since it does seem to be so pro-heroin. Note the album this song is on was recorded in Byron Bay. I learned my information from a long stay in that hippie-druggie-surfing-tourist town. See also "Surfing With a Spoon" |
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.
