"Forgotten Years" is a song by Australian rock band

Midnight Oil 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) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by H ...

, released in April 1990 as the second single from their seventh studio album, ''

Blue Sky Mining ''Blue Sky Mining'' is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band Midnight Oil, released on 9 February 1990 under the Columbia Records label. It received high ratings from critics. In March of that year, the album peaked at number one on th ...

'' (1990). The song peaked at 26 on the

Australian Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

, No. 1 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Modern Rock Chart and No. 11 on the ''Billboard'' Album Rock Chart. The song was inspired by drummer

Rob Hirst Robert George Hirst (born 3 September 1955) is an Australian musician from Camden, New South Wales. He is a founding member of rock band Midnight Oil on drums, percussion and backing vocals (sometimes lead vocals) from the 1970s until the band ...

's grandfather and father's experience of war and how they said it was up to

future generations Future generations are Cohort (statistics), cohorts of hypothetical people not yet born. Future generations are contrasted with current and past generations and evoked in order to encourage thinking about intergenerational equity. The Moral agenc ...

to avoid wars in the future and not to forget how horrible wars are. The music video was filmed in Douaumont Ossuary, France.

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References