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This was one of the best albums ever.
One of the moments when I knew my office spouse and her man were amigos por vida was when we hauled ass into SF on a weekday night to see Midnight Oil. These guys had apparently not aged a minute, say the least of a day since the 80’s! And he had a stage presence that could bust right through the audience and out of Warfield altogether. That man tearing up a stage and a mic could be the very definition of "intense".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_JpJeHN3ds
(Ok, so just overlook the fact that Peter Garrett is dressed somewhat reminiscent of Freddy Krueger in this video!)
This tune stirs up the anti-colonialism/capitalism ire in me like no other. I have grown to love this album more and more over the years. Sadly, that is because its message is ever increasingly relevant to our ever messier little world.
The video is depicting all those tourists that traipse up and down the sacred site at Ayers rock, not minding one whit that its gravely disrespectful of the aboriginal beliefs. I’ll let our buds at Wikipedia explain (having not ever been there, I am no expert):
Restrictions for tourists:
[edit] Climbing Uluru
Climbers and warning sign
The local Anangu do not climb Uluru because of its great spiritual significance. They request that visitors not climb the rock, partly due to the path crossing a sacred traditional dreaming track, and also a sense of responsibility for the safety of visitors to their land. The Anangu have a spiritual connection to Uluru, and feel great sadness when a person dies or is injured whilst climbing. In 1983, then Prime Minister of Australia Bob Hawke promised to forbid climbing, but access to climb Uluru was made a condition before title was officially given back to the traditional owners.
Climbing Uluru is a popular attraction for visitors. A chain handhold added in 1964 and extended in 1976 makes the hour long climb easier, but it is still a long and steep hike to the top. An above average level of fitness, and a high tolerance to the extreme hot desert conditions is required. Over the years there have been at least forty deaths, mainly due to heart failure whilst climbing Uluru, as well as non-fatal heart attacks and other injuries.
[edit] Photographing Uluru
The Anangu also request that visitors not photograph certain sections of Uluru, for reasons related to traditional beliefs (called tjukurpa). These sections are the sites of gender-linked rituals, and are forbidden ground for Anangu of the opposite sex of those participating in the rituals in question. The photographic ban is intended to prevent Anangu from inadvertently violating this taboo by encountering photographs of the forbidden sites in the outside world.
Historical photographs of these formations continue to circulate through the world population at large. Signs have been posted around the restricted areas, to ensure that visitors will not violate the ban by mistake. [4]
[edit] Superstitions
It is often reported that those who take rocks from the area will be cursed and suffer misfortune. [1]
All I have to say is that Anangu are better souls than given the "great sadness" they feel when these climbers kick the bucket.
Sorry, but if we told ya not to climb a giant sacred rock in the middle of a desert & you go ahead…maybe that’s cosmic karma kicking in. I just chalk those folks up for a series of Darwin Awards.
Citizens of the world, who needs arbitrary geopolitical definitions?
"We carry in our hearts the true country…" Just goes to show how the right musical talent can make a rousing song out of aberrations in human history. Sort of like how I love how Janet Jackson’s tribute song to friends who have passed on of HIV is not a sad and gloomy tune, but brims with love and energy.
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