Kitch's Top 10 Classic Australian Rock Songs - #7 "Blue Sky Mine"

"Blue Sky Mine" – Midnight Oil

Writer(s): Midnight Oil

Album: Blue Sky Mining

Released: 1989

Peak Chart Position: #8

The opening guitar riff melds into the epic mouth organ solo that front man peter Garrett plays so epically in the video clip, is one of the most recognisable song beginnings in Australian music history.

Upbeat musically, ‘Blue Sky Mine’ is an intensely political song from, arguably, Australia’s most politically-driven band, Midnight Oil. There’s a strong message in everything that the Oils do. It was their stock-in-trade. Especially here, where everything came together perfectly, and Peter Garrett’s men crafted a memorable song inspired by the experiences of workers at the Wittenoom asbestos mines in Western Australia, which were owned by Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR), who are unmistakably referenced in the song.

Interestingly, although it only peaked at #8 on the ARIA Charts, ‘Blue Sky Mine’ hit the top of America’s Billboard Modern Rock Tracks.