Down Under - Men At Work

Artist: Men At Work
Song: Down Under
Year: 1981
Album: Business As Usual

I can remember my mom tracking down this album when "Down Under" hit big in the states. The whole album was pretty decent, but the two songs that are heavily played are the most remembered today.

I used to stare at that yellow album cover for hours, trying to see every little detail. I wondered if the answers to many questions were in there. What was a Vegemite sandwich? What was he singing after the tempt me line? Was it the land of lemply? Who or what was lemply?

As I grew older, I found out the answers to those questions and more. I came to appreciate just how special songs like this truly are. It's not often that every member in a household likes a song, but that was the case with this one. There was something that was infectious with the song. It got a hold of you and wouldn't let go for awhile.

The video is the most memorable part of the song for me. It was played over and over again on MTV, in the early eighties. I appreciated the tongue in cheek way of the video, even as a kid. The characters seemed a little over the top, but not overdone. I was hooked from the time the van stopped in the desert.

Lyrics:
Traveling in a fried-out Kombi
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 muscle
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 flow 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
Slack jaw, 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."