Midnight Oil Beds Are Burning 2 chords

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Midnight Oil Beds Are Burning 2 chords

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***********************************              Midnight Oil              ***********************************
***********************************            Beds Are Burning            ***********************************
***********************************            Diesel and Dust             ***********************************
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Artist's Name       -       Midnight Oil
                                     Song Title       -       Beds Are Burning
                                          Album       -       Diesel and Dust
                        Approximate Song Length       -       4 min 16 sec
                                   Release Date       -       August 1987

The Story Behind the Tab:

One's taste in music is as ecclectic or limited as one's exposures. The rythmic aesthetics of melody
rest upon the edge of a blade, falling towards many genres and musical styles, from Progressive Rock to Jazz
to Classical and even Pop. Hell, sometimes genres are split, left with no other option than to multiply and
spawn bastard children, such as Frank Zappa (No disrespect intended; I love Zappa)! What I mean to say,
without a vague metaphor, is that it is not an easy thing to find another person who has the same musical
preferences as you. Most often, like ideas and beliefs, the love for a sound is introduced, rather than
discovered. That is how I came across Midnight Oil. A friend of mine, who just happened to be from
Australia, noticed my collection of AC/DC songs and... well, what can I say. We made a connection, lightbulbs
flipped on in her head, and here I am! Writing this tab for you, the curious musician.

Notes:

Technically, this song relies heavily on at least two major elements: Peter Gifford's driving bassline
and Robert Hirst's intense drums. Having listened to the song, you should immediately notice the repetitive
bassline. I will provide it below:

G ----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
                D ----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
                A ----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
                E 0---0---6---7---|0---0---6---7---|0---0---4---5---|0---0---3---2---|

Now, for those of you who aren't familiar with the bass, guess what? It's tuned exactly the same way as the
standard tuning for any six string guitar, except for the fact that it is one octave lower and is missing the
top two stings. Got that? Good! So you can play the bassline on your guitar and it will sound perfect. Maybe
a little too high in terms of pitch, but at least you'll have the right note! I've included the bass informat-
ion because much of the song should, in my opinion, be played as it would be played on a bass. Much of
the song can't be defined by an omnipresent chord, which is marked below as "N.C." or "No Chord," so playing
the driving bassline should compensate for that. Keep in mind that this is just my personal preference. Play
it however you like. That's what music is all about, anyways. So, whenever you see a "N.C." it means to either
play the bassline, or that there is some type of wild percussion which can't be reproduced on a guitar (Un-
less you want your guitar to look like Willie Nelson's...). There is another important riff which, I believe,
is created using a synthesizer. However, for the sake of simplicity, I will simply transpose it to the bass:

G ----------------|
                D ----------------|
                A ------0---------|
                E 3-----------3-2-|

This riff appears after the second line of every refrain, where I have placed (Riff 2). Again, this is just to
fill in those empty gaps in the song. This is how I like to play it, but you can and should play it how you
hear it. Other than that, there are a few minor issues that I should address. The second E5 in the intro grad-
ually fades in, and just sounds like white noise at first. A few of the chords in the song are fairly strange,
so if you don't know them, which is probably likely, you can find them at any chord dictionary site. I made
certain to disclude the chord positions because you may find a positioning of the chord that works for you
better than the one that I have listed. Remember, it's all about how youperceive the song. Other than
that, there are a few other interesting facts that should be mentioned. Written by Robert Hirst, James Moginie
and Peter Garrett, Beds Are Burning is a great example of a song that is both pleasing to listen to and
politically conscious. It possesses depth. From the album Diesel and Dust, Beds Are Burning makes a plea
for the returning of the Aboriginal Australians' land rights. In fact, this album--a concept album based on
the struggles of the Aborigines combined with various environmental causes--follows the Black Fella White
Fella tour of remote indigenous communities with the Warumpi Band. The rhythm of Beds are Burning is
said to be inspired by the noise of their vehicles'wheels on the corrugated dirt roads in the region. This
song has at least been covered once by German EUrogroup, Novaspace in 2004. It is also one of The Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Feel free to contact me with any comments!

Transcribed By: Nathan Bartman
E-mail Address: NateBartman@yahoo.com
AIM Name: Nate Bartman

Intro           E5      G5      A5       E5

N.C.

Verse I         N.C.

Out where the river broke

N.C.

The bloodwood and the desert oak

N.C.

Holden wrecks and Boilin' Diesels

N.C.

Steam in forty-five degrees

Bridge              E5

The time has come

E7(11)

To say fair's fair

E(11/13)

To pay the rent

To pay our share

The time has come

E7(11)

A fact's a fact

E(11/13)

It belongs to them

Let's give it back

E5       G5       A5       N.C.

Chorus          Em                        C                       G       (Riff 2)

How can we dance when our Earth is turnin'?

(Em)                      C                       D       D#m(#5)

How do we sleep while our beds are burnin'?

Em                        C                       G       (Riff 2)

How can we dance when our Earth is turnin'?

(Em)                      C                       D

How do we sleep while our beds are burnin'?

The time has come

To say fair's fair

To pay the rent, now

To pay our share

N.C.

Verse II	N.c.

Four wheels scare the cockatoos

N.C.

From Kintore East to Yuendemu

N.C.

The western desert lives and breathes

N.C.

In forty five degrees

Bridge              E5

The time has come

E7(11)

To say fair's fair

E(11/13)

To pay the rent

To pay our share

The time has come

E7(11)

A fact's a fact

E(11/13)

It belongs to them

N.C.

Let's give it back

E5       G5       A5       N.C.

Chorus          Em                        C                       G       (Riff 2)

How can we dance when our Earth is turnin'?

(Em)                      C                       D       D#m(#5)

How do we sleep while our beds are burnin'?

Em                        C                       G       (Riff 2)

How can we dance when our Earth is turnin'?

(Em)                      C                       D

How do we sleep while our beds are burnin'?

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

Outtro          Em                        C                       G       (Riff 2)

How can we dance when our Earth is turnin'?

(Em)                      C                       D

How do we sleep while our beds are burnin'?

Em       C       G       D

E5       G5       A5       N.C.

E5       G5       A5

"I haven't understood a bar of music in my life, but I have felt it."

- Igor Stravinsky

Submitted by NateBartman on 5.8.2006

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