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Power and the Passion Lyrics

Artist: Midnight Oil
Album: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

People, wasting away in paradise
Going backward, once in a while
Moving ahead, falling behind
What do you believe, what do you believe
What do you believe is true
Nothing they say makes a difference this way
Nothing they say will do

Take all the trouble that you can afford
At least you won't have time to be bored

Oh the power and the passion, oh the temper of the time
Oh the power and the passion
Sometimes you've got to take the hardest line

Sunburnt faces around, with skin so brown
Smiling zinc cream and crowds, Sundays the beach never a cloud
Breathing eucalypt, pushing panel vans
Stuff and munch junk food
Laughing at the truth, cos Gough was tough til he hit the rough
Uncle Sam and John were quite enough

Too much of sunshine too much of sky
It's enough to make you want to cry

Oh the power...

I see buildings, clothing the sky, in paradise
Sydney, nights are warm
Daytime telly, blue rinse dawn
Dad's so bad he lives in the pub, it's a underarms and football clubs
Flat chat, Pine Gap, in every home a Big Mac
And no one goes outback, that's that
You take what you get and get what you please
It's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees

Oh the power...

(Hirst/Moginie/Garrett)

Comments/Interpretations

by dylan on 5/14/2008 6:23pm
what is this song about?

by Bluey on 5/28/2008 12:45pm
It's distinctly Australian, to start with, as well as rooted in the concerns of the time (1983), so it may not make much sense in the US in 2008.

But it is about concerns with Australia being 'taken over' economically and culturally by outsiders, and corporations in particular, but more especially the apathy that went with it.

Check out the YouTube video to see the kinds of images that went with it.

by Alistair on 7/21/2008 5:30pm
This song also made a big impression in New Zealand which has the same concerns.
'Gough was tough' refers to Labor (lightly socialist) Prime Minister Gough Whitlam's government, which was dismissed by the Governor-General in favour of the conservative John Fraser. Debate still rages about the democracy/fairness of this and the US involvement.
'Pine Gap' is a US spy base on Aussie soil.