[Henry Longmore]

 }Found this in the post this morning. Just wanted to hear your
 }thoughts on this one since most if not all Oils fans have spoken
 }for themselves on this album...
 }
 }Washington Post reviewer Britt Robson wrote this about
 }"Capricornia," the new album by Midnight Oil:
   <snip>
 }Even on its own terms, however, "Capricornia," both musically and
 }lyrically, feels more unfocused and disengaged than the group's
 }previous high standards have led fans to expect. 
   <snip>
 }Leaving aside last year's tragedy, the international protests
 }against the World Trade Organization and the rise of a global
 }economy over the past few years would seem to provide fuel for
 }similar anthems.
   <snip>
 }Instead, "Capricornia" opts for vague allusions and, by the Oils'
 }standards, tame, impressionistic tales. Is the pervasive use of
 }sunshine as a metaphor for evil (most obviously on "Too Much
 }Sunshine") a description of a relentless everyday climate or a
 }metaphor for global warming? Is "Golden Age" -- punctuated by the
 }refrain, "It's time to claim that sweet release / let it go let it
 }go" -- meant to be literal or satirical? Is the often-harkened
 }desire for "a simple answer" on "Mosquito March" a good thing?
 }
 }Such lack of clarity sabotages the band's political potency. The
 }only unmistakably specific topical song, "Say Your Prayers," was
 }previously released on a 1999 benefit compilation record for the
 }disenfranchised people of East Timor.
   <snip>

Let's see, how does that song go... "These are not dispassionate words
of the cool, the critic still rules, the editor's a fool..."

If critics weren't so #@^% ignorant, they might be useful.  If this
critic had taken a few minutes to look at the official website, and
read about Capricornia, this critic might have learned the following:

  In 1995, [Jim] tried with limited success to convince the Oils
  to make a Pink Floyd/widescreen/atmospheric outback record based on
  the book that involved lots of playing, evocative instrumentals,
  dingo howling vocals, a characterful representation of the Oils
  reflective, tapping deep into the motherlode of our inspiration as
  people living in this country, not just the outback but in the
  cities as well. The subject was grand and the sweep wide: probably
  too wide. The book was over 500 pages long: each character had a
  song: even a film was mentioned as a companion piece.

  The alternative which developed in the ensuing years was to
  make a pop record, playing to the band strengths, quick pulse
  tempos, harmonies, an uncluttered sound full of character so the
  band decided, not surprisingly, to make such a 'pop' record. Not
  that we really know 'pop' any more in it's current form, a
  celebration of corporate tie ins and compulsory mid riff exposure,
  our idea of pop was more around Teenage Fanclub, the La's, Dwight
  Twilley, Skyhooks, joyful, guitar-ey and clear sounding. Needless to
  say management was both excited and relieved at the prospect!

The Oils weren't trying to weigh in on 9/11.  They weren't trying to
weigh in on any of the subjects the critic thought they should.  They
already have gone over global economy issues (One Country, Renaissance
Man, Common Ground, Bring on the Change).  Can't they do something
new?

As for Too Much Sunshine, my take on it is this (my interpretation for
me, not for what the band means):

Light a spark in the dark   ==>
   artificial light (e.g., not sunlight, but used like sunlight)

The trouble with you's been
you can sleep but you can't dream ==>
   I've been reading a book lately about sleep...the mind uses REM
sleep to organize memory, to keep the stuff needed, throw out the
junk, and randomly renew old paths to forgotten things.  During the
last hour or so of an 8-hour sleep is when the majority of REM sleep
occurs (anywhere from 20-60 minutes of it).  REM sleep is critical to
thinking clearly, being able to remember, etc.  I've been having a
hard time remembering things I need to lately (before I started
reading this book).  I also have been going to bed around 1-2 AM and
getting up at 7-8 AM.  This means I've been getting significantly less
REM sleep than I need to be getting.  So, the trouble with me has been
I've been using artificial light (sunshine) to stay up late, and thus
when I sleep, I can sleep but I can't dream.  That's what the trouble
with me has been.  MO lyrics don't always have to be like Stand In
Line or Beds are Burning to be meaningful, IMHO.

Henry K.
(Now I've got to get back to work, so I can work on my compilers
assignment, so taking the class will count towards grad school)