Song · Midnight Oil
“Kosciusko” by Midnight Oil
From the album Red Sails in the Sunset (1984)
“Kosciusko” by Midnight Oil appears on 4 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 1985 and 2023. It was first released in 1984 on the album Red Sails in the Sunset. Its best result is #26 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1985. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #70 alternative song of 1985 and #7,514 alternative song of all time.
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On Red Sails in the Sunset, Midnight Oil's fifth album from October 1984, "Kosciusko" is one of just two Oils songs ever sung by drummer Rob Hirst, the other being "When the Generals Talk". Hirst wrote it with Jim Moginie, and the band made it a long way from home, recording and producing in Tokyo alongside Nick Launay, who also engineered and mixed the track.
The record around it runs on dread: Tsunehisa Kimura's cover pictures Sydney Harbour after an imagined nuclear strike, and the album became the band's first to reach number one in Australia. Hirst stepping out from behind the kit gives this one a different grain from the rest, a change of voice in the middle of a record that never stops sounding the alarm.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 26 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1985 | 107 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 493 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) | 500 |
| 1999 | 1968 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 2000 |
| 2023 | 441 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places | 800 |
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