Lyrics to
Powderworks

This version of Powderworks was released by Midnight Oil in 1978.

Our About Midnight Oil page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for Powderworks from 1978 as well as all of the other lyrics from Midnight Oil that we have in our lyrics database.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Midnight Oil or about the 1970s in general.

There’s a shit storm a’coming
I feel it coming soon
There’s a time and a place
And a moment in space
When the fat boys call the tune
There’s a bubble a bouncing
And it’s bouncing my way
There’s two sticks in the powderworks
I think it’s gonna blow today

There’s a shit storm a’coming
Somebody’s claiming some i.o.u.’s
Because the animal’s back
With the man intact
They had a gun at my head
And a knife at my back
Don’t wind me up too tight
I’ve been had by the balls all my life
I’m in no mood now
To stop dead and talk it over

I don’t need no fire and brimstone warning
I’ve been a long time punching bag
I won’t run no race where there ain’t no prize
Take a look at my face
Can’t you see this ain’t no lies

There’s a hit storm a coming
They’re getting in for one free bite
I was taken by surprise
By the glint in the eyes of a sweet campaign
Smelling strongly of lies
You’re the original Mr. Clean
But the closeups make you look awful mean
You’re just a con man raving saying nothing new

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Midnight Oil has released many songs over the years besides Powderworks. Midnight Oil released songs from 1978 to 2002 spanning across albums like Midnight Oil, Head Injuries, Bird Noises, Place Without A Postcard, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Red Sails In The Sunset, Species Deceases, Diesel And Dust, Blue Sky Mining, Earth And Sun And Moon, Breathe, Redneck Wonderland, and Capricornia. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Midnight Oil.

If you're a fan of the music of the 1970s looking for more songs from 1978 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Powderworks by Midnight Oil

The lyrics to Powderworks are the words, verses and chorus for the song released by Midnight Oil in 1978. Elements of the lyrics to Powderworks are both direct in meaning and also metaphorical with the real meanings of the song only known by Midnight Oil and any collaborating writers working on the lyrics for Powderworks back when it was created.

Some people have an interest in the etymology behind words and phrases. You can take apart the lyrics to Powderworks by Midnight Oil in a number of ways. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Powderworks" means the words set to the music of Powderworks, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Midnight Oil. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Powderworks and the lyrics to Powderworks are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Midnight Oil who came here looking just for the lyrics to Powderworks, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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