Beds Are Burning
"Beds Are Burning" is a 1987 song by the Australian rock band Midnight Oil, the first track from their album Diesel and Dust. This song was released as the second single from the album.
It reached No. 1 in New Zealand, South Africa and Canada, No. 3 in the Netherlands, No. 5 in France, No. 6 in the United Kingdom,  Australia and Ireland, No. 17 in the United States and Sweden.

It is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and it was named number 95 on VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s and number 97 by the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time in 2009.

In May 2001, Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) celebrated its 75th anniversary by naming the Best Australian Songs of all time, as decided by a 100 strong industry panel. "Beds Are Burning" was declared third behind the Easybeats' "Friday on My Mind" and Daddy Cool's "Eagle Rock".

In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "Beds Are Burning" was ranked number 9.

Lyrics
The Kintore Ranges and the town of Yuendumu are mentioned by name in the lyrics, as are vehicles produced by the Holden company.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Performances
Midnight Oil performed the song in front of a world audience of millions at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Prime Minister John Howard had triggered controversy that year with his refusal to embrace symbolic reconciliation and apologise to Indigenous Australians and members of the Stolen Generations. But he had also claimed that the reconciliation-themed "Beds Are Burning" was his favorite Midnight Oil song. The band played it dressed in black, with the word "Sorry" printed conspicuously all over their clothes, as a popular apology to indigenous people and to highlight the issue to Howard, who was in the audience as the ranking Olympic host.

Other appearances
Live at the World Café: Handcrafted (2002, World Café)

Cover versions
On 2 October 2009, 60 musicians and celebrities from around the world released a free reworked version to highlight climate change issues before the United Nations' talks in Copenhagen. Singers included Lily Allen, Klaus Meine of the Scorpions, Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran, Tyson Ritter of The All-American Rejects and Bob Geldof. The former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the French actress Marion Cotillard also added their voices to the cover version. The song is part of Global Humanitarian Forum TckTckTck Time for Climate justice campaign and is a part of the greater "TckTckTck" project, which aims to draw attention to the urgency of the global warming crisis, by signing a "musical petition" with each download.
On 18 February 2020, US musician Amanda Palmer released a version of the song, as the lead single from her album Forty-Five Degrees - A Bushfire Charity Flash Record. Palmer's version features Missy Higgins, Brian Viglione and Jherek Bischoff.
On 18 February 2020, Australian Julia Stone released a version of the song as well. The song is lead single from the forthcoming album Songs for Australia.