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About This Track
“Down Under” (also known as “Land Down Under”) is a pop song recorded by Men at Work for their debut album Business as Usual (1981). The song went to #1 on American, British, and Australian charts.
It was reissued in 1982, and is the only Men at Work song to go to #1 in the United Kingdom, and their only single to make the UK top 20. It has become a popular and patriotic song in Australia.
The lyrics are about an Australian traveller circling the globe, proud of his nationality, and about his interactions with people he meets on his travels who are interested in his home country.
One of the verses refers to Vegemite (an Australian food product) sandwiches, among other things; the particular lyric “He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich” has become a well-known phrase.
Colin Hay told Songfacts: “The chorus is really about the selling of Australia in many ways, the over-development 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.”
Slang and drug terms are used in the lyrics:
Travelling in a fried-out Kombi, on a hippy trail, head full of zombie.
It was reissued in 1982, and is the only Men at Work song to go to #1 in the United Kingdom, and their only single to make the UK top 20. It has become a popular and patriotic song in Australia.
The lyrics are about an Australian traveller circling the globe, proud of his nationality, and about his interactions with people he meets on his travels who are interested in his home country.
One of the verses refers to Vegemite (an Australian food product) sandwiches, among other things; the particular lyric “He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich” has become a well-known phrase.
Colin Hay told Songfacts: “The chorus is really about the selling of Australia in many ways, the over-development 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.”
Slang and drug terms are used in the lyrics:
Travelling in a fried-out Kombi, on a hippy trail, head full of zombie.
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Albums featuring this track
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Business As Usual
Men at Work
Buy- Download Album
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Shouts
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lzcool wrote:
Um dos maiores clássicos dos 80's.
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hotterthanjuly wrote:
An absolute classic.
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ParadiseCove wrote:
Aaacchhhh.... ! ;O
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OldAcquaintance wrote:
lying in a den in bombay, with a slack jaw and not much to say.....
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pharmman52 wrote:
still a good song
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maxlharris wrote:
I said to the man are you trying to tempt me... because I come from the land of plenty. How would the slack jawed guy in Bombay tempt him?
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EuReKa2929 wrote:
GREAT SONG
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jupiazza wrote:
Love it... makes me smile every sigle time!!!
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blustarent wrote:
fucking love this song !!! but i ctfu everytime i think of peter from family guy singing it
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oldiesfanjohn wrote:
wasn`t shit without the video
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punkradzius wrote:
Jawoll, soundtrack of my life!
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KingFahtah wrote:
Vegemite...and acquired taste...but I like
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Bizchelle wrote:
I have eaten Vegemite. It is made by Kraft. It is good and terrible all at once. Thank you to the Cap'n!
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musykfreekx10 wrote:
HAHA This song.
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nasacar wrote:
Bwhahaha! Oh, last.fm you know me to well.
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MrsDotCotton wrote:
reminds me of my dad, and his best pal blacky that died when he was young. Love it soo much ! how can it not make you smile??
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Bandit17C wrote:
Has anyone here ever eaten vegamite? Is it good?
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de_Liz wrote:
desert song hahah
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lottadogs wrote:
such a great song..haven't heard it for a while
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racj69 wrote:
this song just rocks !!!!!!!
Track Stats
1,653,611 Scrobbles
343,070 Listeners
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Recent Activity
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sliverdragon1 loved Men at Work – Down Under. 4 hours ago
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emilioleslie, FriskyWolf, Vanessaaaaaa and 8 other people loved Men at Work – Down Under. 5 hours ago
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royhndrsn added Down Under to the playlist. yesterday afternoon
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HayleighRayment tagged Down Under with ‘i want skype so i can speak to perfect and wheach and robin and jim’. yesterday afternoon
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magdatsif added Down Under to the playlist Ult.. yesterday afternoon
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ozeloterp, Br0mmy, g0_7o_h31l and 16 other people loved Men at Work – Down Under. yesterday afternoon
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mw0208 added Down Under to mw0208’s library. Saturday morning
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mw0208 added Down Under to the playlist. Saturday morning
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ario67, iLoveAmberLeigh, olson71 and 3 other people loved Men at Work – Down Under. Saturday morning
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staklee2002mj added Down Under to staklee2002mj’s library. Friday evening
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