August 2nd 2008.
"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 that went to #1 in the UK. 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 sandwiches, among other things, and this particular lyric 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."
The flute part in the song was based around the tune of "Kookaburra", a well-known Australian children's rhyme. Originally, "Down Under" was released as the B-side to "Keypunch Operator", a rare custom-pressed single by Men at Work - some of the guitar melodies from that version were further developed into flute parts on the later release. The video also features several litre-size cans of what appear to be Foster's Lager (although the brand is removed), a beer drunk mainly outside Australia while being marketed as Australian.
The song is a perennial favourite on Australian radio and television, and topped the charts in the U.S. and U.K. simultaneously in early 1983. It was later used as a theme song by the crew of Australia II in their successful bid to win the America's Cup in 1983. Men at Work played this song in the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, alongside other Australian artists. The song was played extensively during the September 2009 One-Day International cricket series between England and Australia, which Australia took by six matches to one.
