Midnight Oil-Beds Are Burning (1987) Vale Rob Hirst
25th Of January Music Video Of The Day Long Time Gone-Vale Rob Hirst (3 September 1955 – 20 January 2026)
I met Rob Hirst within my first year here in Australia. He used to come to this apartment I was living in with my girlfriend and her friend Adrienne. Adrienne was a talented artist/photographer who worked with Midnight Oil.
Midnight Oil had not been part of my musical world, as I had just come from NYC, and it was 1984. Over the next 42 years, so much Australian music became part of my life. I interviewed Rob a couple of times when he was promoting The Backsliders and The Break, two side bands he played in. You shouldc heck them out if you get a chance.
I always found him funny and down to earth in conversation. He was an amazing drummer. I do not know how Rolling Stone left him off the top 100 list.
When Rob was sidelined with his pancreatic cancer, he auctioned his drumkit. This Ludwig kit he had used for every Midnight Oil gig. Allproceeds from the sale went to Support Act, Australia’s music industry charity, and to MusicNT’s Fix ‘Em Up Truck Campaign, which provides mobile music resources for First Nations communities. He raised over $77,000 dollars.
The time has come….
Out where the river broke
The blood-wood and the desert oak
Holden wrecks and boiling diesels
Steam in forty-five degrees
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
The time has come
To say fair's fair
To pay the rent
Now to pay our share
Four wheels scare the cockatoos
From Kintore East to Yuendemu
The western desert lives and breathes
In forty-five degrees
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
The time has come
To say fair's fair
To pay the rent now
To pay our share
The time has come
A fact's a fact
It belongs to them
We're gonna give it back
How can we dance
When our earth is turning
How do we sleep
While our beds are burning
Songwriters
Rob HirstJim Moginie Peter Garrett