Midnight Oil

[Powderworks] Mountains of Burma

Steve Murphy steve.murphy@anu.edu.au
Thu, 14 Mar 2002 10:13:30 +1000


Fellow OILS fans,
I'm new to the list - I joined because I love analysing OILS songs and I
was hoping to spark a few discussions teasing apart lyrics of the more
obscure. Before I do, I'll fish for a bit of street cred..... I've been a
fanatic since the mid 80s (Diesel & Dust - what an intro!); have seen them
live 6 times (Brisbane Entertainment Centre, The Spit on the Gold Coast,
Toowoomba pub, Workers Club in Lismore, ANU Bar in Canberra, Opening of
National Museum), a particular highlight of these (I have many) was at the
ANU bar; a small jam-packed venue; Rob Hirst was set high behind the rest
but was too close to the ceiling which was made of some sort of foam tiles.
During one explosive outburst, RH hit the tiles, bringing down a shower of
foam... he stood up ripped out a section of ceiling and played on harder
than ever. So cool.... Other highlights were seeing Charlie McMahon play
the didge during the Dead Heart at Toowoomba.... Pete G. stopping a song
(i.e. mid-song) to kick out two wankers slam dancing in the pit.... I could
go on......

I've thought about most OILS' songs and I think I can make a reasonable
guess about what many of them are about, perculiar references etc. There
are a few that I can't work out - one is Mountains of Burma. There are a
few lines I can have a guess at, particularly in the first verse (e.g. "The
heart of Kelly country cleared" - ref to land clearing in southern
AUstralia where bush ranger Ned Kelly roamed). But just when you think
you're picking up a theme, in bursts the references to Mountains of Burma.
What's that all about??? Am I missing something here?? The best I can do is
that they're trying to juxtapose all the BAD things that go on around the
place with somewhere unspoilt i.e. the mountains of Burma. Is it some sort
of shock, perspective tactic??

What d'ya reckon?