"US Forces" is the first single released from 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 ...

's fourth studio album, ''

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ''10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1'' is the fourth studio album by Midnight Oil, released in 1982 by Columbia Records. It hit number 3 on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart during 171 total weeks. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albu ...

''. The song, which denounces

US military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except th ...

intervention in foreign affairs, charted at no. 20 in Australia. The music video was filmed in the Central Coast of New South Wales at the

Vales Point Power Station Vales Point Power Station is one of two operating coal fired power stations on the shores of Lake Macquarie (New South Wales), Lake Macquarie, New South Wales. Vales Point is located on the southern shore of the lake, near the township of Manner ...

, Mannering Park. In January 2018, as part of

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 45 radio stations with flagship stations broadcasting a mainstream/classic rock music format in Sydney, Melbourne, and B ...

's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "US Forces" was ranked number 55.

Background

In 1983, for the "Stop The Drop" concert video,

Peter Garrett Peter Robert Garrett (born 16 April 1953) is an Australian musician, environmentalist, activist and former politician. In 1973, Garrett became the lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil. As a performer he is known for his sign ...

, the lead singer, explained the song to the audience:

"''Midnight Oil are here today because we're concerned about the issue of nuclear disarmament. And I think when we're in Europe, we realized how close people were to becoming to understand that, if the Russians or the Americans decided that they were actually going to set something off, they would be faced with the possibility that they may have nuclear warheads detonated in their backyard, or in their laundry. And so we became aware of the nuclear thing, and when we got back here we started to think about it, and get concerned about it. People in Australia are unaware that nuclear devices have been detonated here at Maralinga in the early fifties, and they're unaware of the facilities that the Americans have put here, which are used in their defence network and their attack network. And the Oils - we want to keep on making music, and we want people to keep on enjoying it, so, consequently, we think its very important to come and play and to dance and to learn and that's why we're here."''

In 2004, when lead singer

was in the process of being preselected a Labor candidate for the safe Labor seat of Kingsford-Smith in Sydney, then Foreign Minister

Alexander Downer Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United Ki ...

made comments in parliament that it could be controversial in relation to the Australia - US alliance. Mr Downer used the opening lyrics of "US Forces" to argue that if Mr Garrett became a federal Labor MP, it could be harmful to Australian-United States relations.

Track listing

# "US Forces" (Moginie, Hirst, Garrett, Rotsey, Gifford) - 3:50 # "Outside World" (Instrumental) (Moginie, Hirst, Garrett, Rotsey, Gifford) - 4:32

Compilations

"US Forces" was later released on '' 20,000 Watt R.S.L.'', which was released in 1997.

Charts

Chaser parody

The Australian

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

show, ''

The Chaser's War On Everything ''The Chaser's War on Everything'' is an Australian television satire, satirical comedy series broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) television station ABC1. It has won an Australian Film Institute Awards, Australian Film In ...

'', made a parody of "US Forces", named "US Bases", about Peter Garrett's alleged selling-out. "US Bases" is set to the tune of "US Forces". It was featured in Episode 17, Season Two. The song features

Andrew Hansen Andrew John Hansen (born 18 September 1974) is an Australian comedian, musician and author, best known for being a member of satirical team The Chaser. As a member of The Chaser, Hansen's television work includes co-writing and starring in A ...

as Peter Garrett.

References