[Jim Macdonald]

>A few years ago, my congregation had a student minister who really liked Midnight
Oil but had no idea the band was still producing albums (this was around the time RW
came out in Australia). Multiply that by all the people who liked/bought D&D. They
ARE out there ... I feel it in my bones.... 

Back to lurking, but keep in touch! 

Peace, 
>Patty in Maryland 

*****

Hi Patty.  I've had similar experiences.  Those who have heard of Midnight Oil
thought they went away about 10 years ago.  Most people I know don't really even
know who they are.  I mean, they were never really played on the radio, even in
their prime in the U.S.  Perhaps, their tactical mistake from a pop standpoint was
releasing the single Truganini, an awesome song, but one I don't think comes off as
anything more than bizarre to the uninformed American public.  I remember I was in
Yellowstone that summer, and we drove 70 miles to Jackson, where there was a K-Mart.
 They had a video screen, and I was so excited that Midnight Oil had a new album. 
As excited as I was, I sensed that the video for Truganini wasn't going to do much
for them over here.  And, I suspect that's when they began fading from memory
gradually.

But, I've loved everything they ever made.  And, if I didn't love it at first, it
usually grew on me.  I love the early raw sounds, the more polished pop phase, the
atmospheric sounds of breathe, the angst of Redneck Wonderland, the mature beauty of
Capricornia.  

In Yellowstone in 1998, I spent the summer working with my wife, and we were
newlyweds.  We spent half of our time listening to the "Breathe" album.  The album
was so beautiful in this wonderland of reminding us of the concrete goddesses we
didn't want to be a part of, the wonder of the rain, the natural environment, the
change of culture we were living, the sense of a true "home."  There was the
deconstruction of a decadent culture with the reconstruction of a more spiritual
alternative.  Yellowstone, likewise, was an anomaly in the American experience, a
reconstructed spiritual place, always threatened from all sides by the forces that
shaped the dominant American culture.  What's more, it was wondrous and truly
magical.

Now, I see you are in Maryland, and I live in DC (and lived in Montgomery County for
a year before deciding that I really couldn't stand suburban life), and we are among
the ministers of concrete, the bishops of hot air, and I feel more the
deconstructive rage in me.  It's been an important time of my life, and I've been
involved in many things.  But, I've discovered that the American left is simply a
chaotic coalition without a spiritual center.  It died with Martin Luther King. 
There are many good causes, but no dialogue bringing it together, no greater spirit,
no sense of how these many causes fit together as part of a moral vision.  (Go to an
anti-war rally like they'll have next month here and see if you feel any great sense
of purpose--I don't think you will).  Midnight Oil have given Australians that
purpose, even if they are often quite unsuccessful in the greater sense.  In the
smaller sense, people feel as though they have a genuine alternative.

I think that's what we should be working toward.  It would help (even if it's not
absolutely necessary) for us to rally here in that way.  It would be nice if we
could organize toward that.  I sense that longing from many posts I read here.

In Washington, I can take the Metro to Tenleytown; that will never sound as
meaningful to me as the Bus to Bondi.  I don't think we are ever going to overcome
the greater American materialism.  However, it would be nice if we could help
develop a better alternative, and we should use a band as the Oils as a kind of
spiritual guide for our own quest.

Thanks for sharing your post,

Jim
http://www.yellowstone-online.com

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo!
http://sbc.yahoo.com