3rd track on the Midnight Oil album Diesel and Dust. As with most of the tracks on D & D, Dreamworld is concerned with environmentalism and aboriginal land rights. The focus of the song is on the disappearance of nature, and the consequences of that disappearance. The message, as seen in the chorus and elsewhere, is interestingly double-edged; it speaks not only of the death of the natural world of the aborigine (the end of "the Dreaming"), but also of the collapse of industrial society in the face of ecological rule- the end of a dreamworld where humanity can act without fear of consequences, knowing that the regenerative capacities of the Earth can redeem their missteps.
The song itself is one of the most fast-paced and energetic tracks on the album, easily matching and exceeding the energy of the more well-known Beds Are Burning. Like Beds Are Burning, Dreamworld was released as a single, but did not receive the same attention and radio play. A video was shot for the song, which features the members of the band on a beach in Australia. From my (admittedly many year old) recollection of the video, it may have in fact been shot at the Dreamworld amusement park in Queensland- the band is clearly in the vicinity of some sort of boardwalk or other beachfront attraction. The Breakfast Creek Hotel, which is mentioned in the song, is a popular Brisbane eatery and historical attraction, known to its patrons as the Brekkie Creek. Yet another example of Midnight Oil's commitment to local color.
Lyrics
the
Breakfast Creek Hotel is up for sale
Last square mile of
terra firma gaveled in the mail
so farewell to the
Norfolk Island pines
no amount of
make believe can help this
heart of mine
Chorus:
end- your dreamworld is just about to end
fall- your dreamworld is just about to fall
your dreamworld will fall
so shut that
buckle and turn that key again
take me to a place they say the
dreaming never ends
open wide, drive that
mystery road
walk through
Eden's Garden and then wonder as you go
Chorus
sign says
honeymoon to rent
cloudland into
dreamland turns
the
sun comes up and we all learn
those wheels must turn
Chorus
CST Approved