First Nations Midnight Oil returns to Gadigal land

Midnight Oil returns to Gadigal land Following their The Great Circle world tour of 2017, Australia’s iconic rock band, Midnight Oil have released their first new music since 2003. The song, “Gadigal Land” – the title acknowledges the traditional owners south and west of Sydney Harbour – is from The Makarrata Project, an Indigenous rights-themed mini-album, made in collaboration with more First Nations’ musicians and set for release in October. A new studio album is also due in 2021, their first since 2002’s Capricornia. Midnight Oil has promised to donate any proceeds from “Gadigal Land” to The Uluru Statement From The Heart – a call from First Nations people for greater representation and autonomy in government affairs – and other Indigenous reconciliation organisations. Sony Music Entertainment Australia has also promised to match any artist contribution. “Makarrata” is a Yolngu word for a process of truth-telling, resolution and justice. “We feel that the country needs to make some progress on that,” lead singer Peter Garrett – former Minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments – told radio station Triple M recently. “We’re not coming back with another ‘great big Midnight Oil song’ necessarily, we’re coming back with something we need to care about and we feel that needs to be said.” The band is joined on the song by First Nations collaborators Dan Sultan, the Stiff Gins’ Kaleena Briggs and co-writers Bunna Lawrie and Gadigal poet Joel Davison. The song ends on a climactic shout-out to their various homelands: Arrernte, Gurindji, Wiradjuri, Yorta Yorta, Mirning and Gadigal. Midnight Oil have long displayed their support and advocacy for Indigenous rights. Alongside nuclear, environmental and other power balance issues, a curiosity about Australian Indigenous history had been gnawing at the band’s conscience for years, but their Blackfella/Whitefella outback tour with the Warumpi Band galvanised their Diesel and Dust album’s theme in 1987. “Beds Are Burning” remains their signature hit: The time has come to say fair’s fair To pay the rent, to pay our share The time has come, a fact’s a fact It belongs to them, let’s give it back

How can we dance when our earth is turning? How do we sleep while our beds are burning? How can we dance when our earth is turning? How do we sleep while our beds are burning? At the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, they performed the song in black uniforms bearing the white slogan, “sorry”. Midnight Oil drummer, Rob Hirst, recently told Koori Radio, “hopefully ‘Gadigal Land’ will spread the Gadigal name a bit further and people will start to understand that the Gadigal people, part of the larger Aboriginal Nations, are the original Australians here and we’ve got to pay more attention to that.” “It’s dedicated to a greater awareness of what is contained in the Uluru Statement From the Heart. We really need to get behind it, especially the ‘makarrata’ part of it,” he said, referring to the Yolngu concept of truth-telling, resolving conflict and moving forward. So welcome to Gadigal land Wenyo wenyo wenyo! Welcome to Wiradjuri land Welcome to Yorta Yorta land Welcome to Arrernte land Welcome to Mirning land Welcome to Gurindji land All of the lands Welcome! * * * “Beds Are Burning”, 2000 Sydney Olympic Games: https://bit.ly/31Ajb9t “Gadigal Land”: https://bit.ly/31vfVMA