THE BAND
“Down Under” is a song recorded by Australian rock band Men at Work. It was originally released in 1980 as the B-side to their first local single titled “Keypunch Operator”, released before the band signed with Columbia Records. Both early songs were written by the group’s co-founders, Colin Hay and Ron Strykert. The early version
of “Down Under” has a slightly different tempo and arrangement from the later Columbia release. The most well-known version was then released on Columbia in 1981 as the third single from their debut album Business as Usual (1981).
THE SONG
The lyrics to “Down Under” depict an Australian man travelling the globe, who meets people who are interested in his home country. The story is based in part on singer Colin Hay’s own experiences, including a prominent reference to a Vegemite sandwich (a popular snack in Australia), which derived from an encounter, during Hay’s travels abroad, with a baker who emigrated from Brunswick, Melbourne. Hay has also said that the lyrics were partly inspired by Barry Humphries’ character Barry McKenzie, a comically stereotypical Australian who tours abroad.
Slang and drug terms are featured in the lyrics. Speaking to Songfacts about the overall meaning of the lyrics, Hay remarked:
The chorus is really about the selling of Australia in many ways, the overdevelopment of the country. It was a song about the loss of spirit in that country. It’s really about the plundering of the country by greedy people. It is ultimately about celebrating the country, but not in a nationalistic way and not in a flag-waving sense. It’s really more than that.
THE LYRICS
Traveling in a fried-out kombie
On a hippie trail, head full of zombie
I met a strange lady, she made me nervous
She took me in and gave me breakfast
And she said,
“Do you come from a land down under?
Where women glow and men plunder?
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover.”
Buying bread from a man in Brussels
He was six foot four and full of muscles
I said, “Do you speak-a my language?”
He just smiled and gave me a vegemite
sandwich
And he said,
“I come from a land down under
Where beer does fl ow and men chunder
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover.”
Lying in a den in Bombay
With a slack jaw, and not much to say
I said to the man, “Are you trying to tempt me
Because I come from the land of plenty?”
And he said,
“Oh! Do you come from a land down under?
(Oh yeah, yeah!)
Where women glow and men plunder?
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover.”
‘Cause we are living in a land down under
Where women glow and men chunder
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover
Living in a land down under
Where women glow and men plunder
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover.
THE VIDEO
The promotional video comically plays out the events of the lyrics, showing Hay and other members of the band riding in a VW van, eating muesli with a ‘strange lady’, eating and drinking in a café, and lying in an opium den. The band are moved along at one point by a man in a shirt and tie who places a ‘Sold’ sign in the ground. The exterior shots for the music video were filmed at the Cronulla sand dunes in Sydney. The band are seen carrying a coffin across the dunes at the end. This, Hay has explained, was a warning to his fellow Australians that their country’s identity was dying as a result of overdevelopment and Americanization. Hay has also stated that the same ominous sentiment lies behind the choral line, Can’t you hear the thunder? You better run; you better take cover.
THE VOCABUALARY
down under. a colloquialism which is variously construed to refer to Australia
and New Zealand.
fried out. in Australian slang “fried-out” means overheated. head full of zombie. refers to the use of a type of marihuana. hippie trail. refers to a subcultural tourist route popular in 1960’s and 70’s which stretched from Western Europe to SouthEast Asia.
kombie. a VW van, very popular in the
late 70’s and early 80’s. Discontinued now.
plunder. to steal goods violently from a place, or from something, in an immoral or unnecessarily severe way.
vegemite. a highly concentrated superfood, created in Australia; laboratory tests
showed it has 600% more vitamins than any other substance on earth.
chunder. Australian slang for throwing up
or vomiting.
(to be) slack-jawed. with the mouth in an open position and the jaw hanging loosely, especially as indicating surprise, bewilderment or astonishment.
Alfredo E. Clark.