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After Midnight Oil toured through the ] in 1986, playing to remote Aboriginal communities and seeing first hand the seriousness of the issues in health and living standards, ], ] and ] 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?"<ref>{{cite news|first= Kathy |last= McCabe |title= Peter Garrett reflects on Midnight Oil anthem Beds Are Burning as you decide the Best ARIA Song |website= ] |date= 14 November 2016 |access-date= 17 April 2020 |url= https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/peter-garrett-reflects-on-midnight-oil-anthem-beds-are-burning-as-you-decide-the-best-aria-song/news-story/bba8340130d10a6ca0f7391f08ca1d27}}</ref> There are specific references to certain Australian places and politics, such as ] and the town of ], vehicles produced by the ] company, the "]" slogan and the notion of "]".<ref>{{cite news|first= Andrew |last= Mueller |title= Australian anthems: Midnight Oil – Beds are Burning |newspaper= ] |date= 11 March 2014 |access-date= 17 April 2020 |url= https://www.theguardian.com/music/australia-culture-blog/2014/mar/11/midnight-oil-beds-are-burning-australian-anthems}}</ref>
After Midnight Oil toured through the ] in 1986, playing to remote Aboriginal communities and seeing first hand the seriousness of the issues in health and living standards, ], ] and ] 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?"<ref>{{cite news|first= Kathy |last= McCabe |title= Peter Garrett reflects on Midnight Oil anthem Beds Are Burning as you decide the Best ARIA Song |website= ] |date= 14 November 2016 |access-date= 17 April 2020 |url= https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/peter-garrett-reflects-on-midnight-oil-anthem-beds-are-burning-as-you-decide-the-best-aria-song/news-story/bba8340130d10a6ca0f7391f08ca1d27}}</ref> There are specific references to certain Australian places and politics, such as ] and the town of ], vehicles produced by the ] company, the "]" slogan and the notion of "]" The artist has also described that the song is a reflection of the 1963 forced removal from Mapoon in Northern Queensland.<ref>{{cite news|first= Andrew |last= Mueller |title= Australian anthems: Midnight Oil – Beds are Burning |newspaper= ] |date= 11 March 2014 |access-date= 17 April 2020 |url= https://www.theguardian.com/music/australia-culture-blog/2014/mar/11/midnight-oil-beds-are-burning-australian-anthems}}</ref>
In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Beds Are Burning" was ranked number 9.
Composition
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" The artist has also described that the song is a reflection of the 1963 forced removal from Mapoon in Northern Queensland.
In 2001, a cover of "Beds Are Burning" was included on the eponymous Underground Moon album, a one-off modern rock project by former War & Peace band mates, Jeff Pilson (Foreigner, Dokken), using the pseudonym Dominic Moon, and Tommy Henriksen (Alice Cooper, Warlock).
On 18 February 2020, Australian Julia Stone released a version of the song. The song is the lead single from the 2020 various artists compilation album Songs for Australia.
Australian seven-inch vinyl single
Live Maxi-Single
