Blue Sky Mine
Blue Sky Mine is a song by Australian rock band Midnight Oil. It was released on 29 January 1990 as the first single from their seventh album, Blue Sky Mining. The track runs 4 minutes 18 seconds. It was written by Rob Hirst, Jim Moginie, Peter Garrett, Martin Rotsey, and Bones Hillman, and produced by Midnight Oil and Warne Livesey. B-sides include "You May Not Be Released," "Wedding Cake Island," and "Blossom and Blood."
The song was inspired by workers at the Wittenoom asbestos mines and the diseases they faced. The word "blue" refers to blue asbestos, and a line in the lyrics mentions the Colonial Sugar Refining Company Ltd, the owner of the mines.
Chart success was strong: it reached No. 8 in Australia, No. 47 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and No. 7 on the Canadian RPM 100 Singles chart. It topped the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks charts. In New Zealand, it peaked at No. 2 for two weeks in March 1990.
The music video, directed by Claudia Castle, won the ARIA Award for Best Video in 1991. The song has remained influential, being named by Double J as one of the top 50 Australian songs of the 1990s. In 2018, Triple M’s Ozzest 100 ranked it as the 39th most Australian song of all time, and Triple J’s Hottest 100 of Australian Songs placed it at No. 99.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 19:27 (CET).