Uploaded January 2020 | Updated September 2026, 50 minutes ago

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Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard), Martin Rotsey (guitar) and Bones Hillman (bass guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by Hirst.

lyrics :

So you cut all the tall trees down
You poisoned the sky and the sea
You've taken what's good from the ground
But you've left precious little for me

You remember the flood and the fall
We remember the light on the hill
There should be enough for us all
But the dollar is driving us still

The river runs red, black rain falls
Dust in my hand
River runs red, black rain falls
On my bleeding land

So we came and conquered, and found
Riches of commons and kings
Who strangled and wrestled the ground
But they never put back anything

Now I'm trapped like a dog in a cage
Wherever the truth is pursued
It must be the curse of the age
What's taken is never renewed

The river runs red, black rain falls
Dust in my hand
River runs red, black rain falls
On my bleeding land, oh yeah

The river runs red, black rain falls
Dust in my hand
A river runs red, black rain falls
On my bleeding land

Land, land, land, land
(On my bleeding land)
Land, land

The river runs red, black rain falls
Dust in my hand
(My hand)
The river runs red, black rain falls
On my bleeding land

The river runs red, the black rain falls
(The river runs red, the black rain falls)
Dust in my hand
(My hand)
The river runs red, black rain falls
On my bleeding land

Land, land, land, land
Land, land, land, land