My former 8th grade 80's teenager can attest. At a school dance in 1983 the DJ played it and the local police came to the school and said the neighbors all around the school could hear us getting DOWN to that song. I remember the 2nd floor auditorium of our old brick building, built in the 1800's in a typical New England town, had wood floors and we were jumping up and down so hard that if you stood still the floor felt like it was going to give way. That was easily the biggest song of the year that year.
"Down Under" is what people often refer to Australia... where Men At Work were from. The song's lyrics are about how Australians experience people outside of Australia... The lady serving breakfast to an Australian tourist... The man selling bread in Brussells who turns out to be Australian himself... The den in Bombay... places and people the Australian tourist experiences. AC/DC was one of the first Australian acts to break big worldwide... The Easybeats were a 60's beat rock combo that were also popular (featuring George Young on guitar) ... In the 80's, we got more Australian bands - INXS, Men At Work, Little River Band, Midnight Oil, Ice House, Crowded House, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Silverchair, Jet, Wolfmother, etc.
Colin Hay says it about loss of spirit in Australia and the over development of it by greedy people. And a celebration of Australia. That's from an interview he gave at one point.
“The lyrics are really about my belief about what Australia was becoming,” Hay told Songfacts. “Really, the selling of Australia in many ways, none of them particularly pleasant, with the overdevelopment of the country. It was what I was feeling at that particular time. It was really a song about the loss of spirit of that country, because it’s truly an awesome place. It’s difficult to explain and it’s very hard for me to put into a sentence. It’s been a while since I’ve thought about this, but it’s just really about the plundering of the country by greedy people.”
Yes. apparently the coffin and 'funeral' at the end were meant to represent the death of the unspoiled Australia. 'Can't you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover' was Colin's warning about the direction the country was heading in.
BP, the line that they repeat in the song, "You better run, you better take cover" was something that Australian soldiers used to shout to the enemy during WWI to taunt them, letting them know that Australians were nearby! You should check out "It's a Mistake" by Men At Work. It came out during the height of the Cold War when Reagan was President and is about nuclear war. BTW, I'm 58 years old and LOVE your reactions. It's awesome to see you discovering all the incredible music that you missed out on. I think my generation was so lucky to have all that music make up the soundtrack of our lives! God Bless you and your family, Buddy! Be well.
Also, certain parts of Australia experience horrible dangerous thunderstorms, lightning strikes and flash flooding at times. The extreme weather used to be part of just about every conversation about Australia.
its more a case of being relevant to the greed and plundering of australias lands and resources and the need to escape the 80's mentality of self serving arrogance. they were indeed quite politicaly motivated. not sure about the war reference, it doesn't seem to come up amongst the interviews with the band members but i am no expert on australian history 😉
Everything I Need #47 1985 Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive #28 1983 It's A Mistake #6 1983 Overkill #3 1983 Down Under #1 1982 Who Can It Be Now? #1 1982 Also, "Be Good Johnny."
The lyrics were written by lead singer Colin Hay, who explained in his Songfacts interview: "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."
I thought I knew what it meant 45 years ago, then there were explanations of what the lyrics meant…protesting the use of the country and its people. Somewhere in ‘zombie land’ I just decided that the song was freakin’ great even if I didn’t ’speak the language’! ✌️ ✌️
If you were alive in 1983 you would have heard this song all over America, it was used as the anthem for the assault on the "America's Cup" yacht race that the crew of (the Yacht) "Australia 2" triumphed in, being the first ever non-American team to ever win that particular regatta and bring the trophy home to Australia. The crew of that boat played this song every day whilst leaving and entering the Harbour in Rhode Island, and seeing that it was a televised event, the song was heard on the news all the time.
A very tactically clever race by Dennis Conner. Dennis was from San Diego. The cup was in the New York Yacht Club , it was theirs and Dennis wanted it. So he lost to Alan Bond ,cup goes to Australia. Next Dennis wins and takes it to San Diego. Saying ha ha NYYC.
It means that no matter where you go you will bump into another travelling Aussie and that means family.. Aussies treat each other like long lost relatives. It's an Aussie anthem... we have a few. It's a small world.
The flute riff is an Australian nursery rhyme: "Kookabura sits in an old gum tree..." Men at Work had to pay 5% royalties for using that tune. Find a copy of the nursery song and you'll hear exactly the little tune.
@NoNameNoFace-7li We did too. Our Music/Art teacher was kind of a free spirit. I remember singing all kinds of music - Three Dog Night. Joy to the World and The Band The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, come to mind. He name was Mrs Clark. Good. memories.
On a hippy trail full of zombie refers to the 70s and 80s when young Australians would travel for a minimum of 6 months to years at a time cause the airfare was too expensive for a 2 or 4 week trip. They’d go to Bali and then Thailand and make their way to Europe. Hence hippy trail. Zombie refers to smoking dope.
Men at Work hit big in the summer of 1982 and through the next year had five Top 40 singles: "Who Can It Be Now?," "Down Under," "Overkill," "It's A Mistake" and "Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive." The first two, both from their debut album, vaulted all the way to #1 on the American charts and helped them win the Best New Artist Grammy Award. This was a huge worldwide hit. For two weeks, both the single and album were #1 in the US and UK. In their native Australia, the album stayed at #1 for nine weeks, and the single topped the chart for six.
A lot of the early Australian settlers were actually sent there from England as convicts. They served their sentences, mainly as laborers, then were left in Australia. Being sent 'down under' was a one-way trip. Most convicts were banned from ever returning to Britain. (which is where the shackles and whips symbolism comes from.)
They weren't banned from returning but most couldn't afford to pay the passage back and in any case, they realised that after they had served their sentence they were better off staying in Australia.
This song came out in 1981. It was played almost as the "theme" for Australia's victory over the US in the America's Cup ( international sailing race) in 1983. The song was huge! It topped the US billboard chart for 4 consecutive weeks.
I found this on an old forum, it's an excerpt from an interview made with Colin Hay back in 2008: Hay had been working as half of an acoustic duo with Ron Strykert, but they were yet to become Men At Work. "The idea was formed in Power St in Hawthorn in 1978," said Hay. "I was working with Ron, and he used to do little home tapes and he had a tape that had a little bass riff and percussion thing and it was really hypnotic. "And I had this thing in my head for a few weeks and all it was was (sings) 'living in a land down under'. "That was it. All I had. And one day I was playing this tape that Ron had and I connected the two and felt very excited and then went home the next day and wrote the whole thing out." That idea for the song was born as Hay drove down Power St, near the corner of Riversdale Rd. "The choruses were really about the death of the spirit of this place, my fear of the over-corporatisation of this country, which I think has happened and will continue to happen and is inevitable, perhaps," Hay says. "The desecration of coastlines, wood-chipping, cutting down old-growth forests, all that stuff which is happening now is really what that song is about. "Which is why we had to 'run and take cover'. "In the video clip film, when you see the end of it and you see us all walking along with what looks like a coffin, that's what that was."
My sister lived in Power St in Hawthorn and I lived in Auburn Rd, but a little later, 1979. Great to hear this story. This will always remind me of Australia winning the Americas Cup in sailing in 1983!! That was huge!
People who didn't live through the 80' can't grasp that we lived in the most easy, non-stressed existence and our music was mindless, fun, and no deep AT ALL. i wasn't just he music. I was truly last REALLY great time be alive. No hate. No anger. Just sunny days and good memories. I feel so sorry for kids today. They won't ever feel real JOY.
Wrong. There’s always a deeper meaning for those who have ears to hear and eyes to see. Depth in life brings quality to life. Most of us don’t get this until we’re older, though. I use to not give AF about deep shit either
@@Ontheroxxwithsaltthe lyrics were deep. You were not. You feel more comfortable not thinking about it, as you did not think about it then. It’s easier for you if other people act that shallow too, lest *you* have to notice and put thought into it and have to introspect in the slightest I’m sorry having to change your mind scares you that much, but you have to know how pathetic that makes you look, since you’re trying so hard to justify it. You could just…change and not look bad, instead of needing to posture all the time. Your life sounds exhausting ngl
When this came out in '81, you couldn't turn on the radio without hearing it or go into any club and not see a full dancefloor here in the U.K. it was huge, one of their other big hits was 'Who Can It Be Now', lead singer Colin Hay has an amazing and distinctive voice, I suggest you check out another Australian star, the beautiful Tina Arena, with her massive hit Sorrento Moon 🇬🇧
Had to scroll down a ways to see if anyone else mentioned it. "Down Under" was the theme song of the Australian team that challenged for the America's Cup in 1983. That song was playing constantly in reports on the Aussie's progress in the competition. The Aussies made history that year: the first challenger ever to win the Cup away from the American defending team, in 130 years of competition.
As a preteen and teen when Men At Work were popular, I didn’t care what the songs were about; I just liked them. Other great songs from them- Who Can It Be Now, It’s A Mistake, Be Good Johnny, and Overkill, just to name a few. The 80s were full of great music from all genres; there will never be another decade like it!
Fried-out Kombi - A broken-down van. The lyrics are often translated as "Combie," but the correct spelling is Kombi. It comes from the VW Kombivan, which was very popular in the '60s and early '70s, especially with surfers and hippies. Head full of Zombie - Zombie was a particularly strong batch of marijuana that was floating around Australia for a long time. People called it "Zombie Grass." Where beer does flow, and men chunder - "Chunder" is Aussie slang meaning to vomit.
From Google: "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."
Ahhh the Australia craze (Oh Olivia Newton John you minx)! Swept America in the early 80s. Colin Hay is still touring and is an amazing story teller. Also, super nice guy.
This is basically a statement of .... Hey Aussies are everywhere man and what we want more than anything is to have a good time with YOU... and believe me we know how to have a good time.
I wish we could all get together and give you a crash course in 80s music. There are a number of things you have to know about Australia to get this song.
Classic Aussie song! Colin Hay has an amazing voice. Now you need to watch ‘Who can it be now’ also by Men At Work and includes amazing 80s saxophone 🎷
imdb: "In the video, the band carries a coffin. According to Colin Hay, this was meant as a warning to their fellow Australians about what he perceived as their country losing their identity." -- So the coffin would represent the death of the Australia they knew.
13:37 "Yeah, He Didn't Say Where She Was From" One the front of the Volkswagen Bus (The Kombi) it had the destination of them going to Tannlorn, which is basically the Australian version of Woodstock
The kombi is an iconic van-type vehicle, originally produced by VW. They were an instant hit around the world, but especially in the southern hemisphere - so useful for just about anything, from toting hay bales to camping out, to carrying bands and their equipment, or for family jaunts, beach trips, etc. They were also nicknamed "passion wagons" for obvious reasons. They evolved into camper vans and mini-taxis, ice cream vans... and Toyota and then others also began making them. Nowadays a visit to just about any African country will demonstrate their popularity, and the taxi ranks are filled with them. But there's nothing like the good old '70s versions by VW! Google images to see the huge variety!
Men at Work were an amazing band! I love their music and have been a fan since they debuted in the USA. If you haven't seen their concert Men At Work - Live in San Francisco...or was it Berkeley? 1983 be sure and check it out. They are awesome gifted performers!! Colin Hay is phenomenal and I wish I could have seen them live in concert! Colin Hay is the lead singer/songwriter/guitarist and he is from Scotland originally. His family moved to Australia when he was young. You should definitely check out more tunes! I love "Who Can it Be Now" "Overkill" "I Can See it in Your Eyes" "Blue for You" "Down by the Sea" is especially amazing and beautiful. "It's a Mistake" "Be Good Jonny" "Catch a Star" is amazing "The Longest Night" is one of my most favorites. They have many more amazing songs!! Thanks BP!
Simple Translation - A VW Kombi van is the Australian poor man's road trip vehicle of choice. "Fried out" means that it's in really poor condition and overheating. "Zombie" is marijuana, though some other people claim it's other drugs. The thunder refers to both Australia's tropical storminess, and also to the awesomeness of the people/country (like footsteps, ie: we're coming! Better take cover!) Vegemite is the national sandwich spread, made from yeast extract (beer scum, kind of). Usually only Australians can stand the taste (I eat it from the jar, haha), so eating a Vegemite sandwich is a good way to prove you're an Aussie (it's our secret "language" overseas). To "Chunder", in Australian slang, is to puke. So, they're saying we get drunk and barf a lot, which...is true. Ahem. And of course, Australia is the land down under all the other countries. Hence, the land down under. The entire song is about a man missing home written in Australian slang terms or as its known as Strine .[ a rhyming slang originating from the English Cockney slang from the East End of London and brought to Australia in the 19th century]
BP, Australia and New Zealand sent a LOT of kick-ass bands out into the world during the early days of MTV. Men at Work, Split Enz, Crowded House (an offshoot of Split Enz), and a lot more. Definitely want to see you check out more of those bands.
11:03 "What's The Symbolism Here?" Basically, Pegasus, this song's talking about Australia losing its resources to corporations from other countries outside of Australia, setting up shop in Australia. The guys dressed in black carrying that case are supposed to represent pallbearers carrying a coffin ( meant to represent the loss of Australian resources)
love your take on it! For some reason, There are a few Australian bands that have a self-critical message underlying their stuff (thinking e.G. of Midnight Oil). The song does refer to the fact that at the time (80s) there were a lot of Australian Globetrotters around who were very willing to work in Commonwealth Countries (where they were automatically allowed to work as Australians) to earn their living. They were recognizable by their can-do attitude. And it was, of course, a thing for them to meet other Australians. At the same time, people who do this kind of stuff (i.e. travel around the globe between leaving school and starting to study or work) are often pretty conscious of the less glorious aspects of their countries' histories. That, too, is expressed here. And i think the video shows more of the latter, the song itself more of the former.
500 miles, The Proclaimers from Scotland and sing in Scots accents. Completely different climate 😉 More than 40 years later this song still makes me smile and sing along.
Love Men at work know they weren't one hit wonders they had a few bops as you say. Sometimes you may not understand the lyrics and its meaning but the ear candy is sure good. 😊
The song is considered patriotic by most Aussies and is about the common experiences they have abroad but also points out how our natural environment has been over-exploited by greedy folks. The guys who sing 500 Miles are the Proclaimers and are Scottish. The lead singer of Men At Work, Colin Hay, is a Scottish Australian so BPs probably picking up on his accent. Vegemite is not green.
the song is mainly clebrating our spirit: The sixties and the seventies young Aussies travelled the world and travelled around europe in vw kombi vans. Outside of 'Australia house' in London kombi vans were parked around to sell to the next Traveller (I know this is fact , as I saw it) Some even travelled back to australia overland via turkey, afghanistan etc. Then the end is pointing out the change, loss of our true heritage due to development.
Another great Australian band is “ICEHOUSE”, songs: Hey Little Girl, Electric Blue, Crazy, Kingdom, Great Southern Land, Touch of Fire, Cross The Border, Mr. Big & so many more. Iva Davies is the lead singer and they are fire.
The Proclaimers did the song I would Walk 500 Miles. Love Men at Work. Had it on a 45 and played it all the time. Who Can It Be Now is another hit of theirs you should check out.
I saw them in concert when I was in college - great show. This was in Ames, Iowa in 1983 or so. Their warm-up band was INXS and the sponsor was Foster's Beer!
I deployed to Australia in 2001. This song was playing in every mall, shop, and restaurant. I was convinced that it was playing on 24 hour repeat at every radio station in Australia.
Or "Short Memory" by Midnight Oil since he's just listened to Billy Joel- We Didn't Start the Fire. Similar vibe. "US Forces" would be a fun conversation starter.
@@jankennedy7979 My parents used to buy records - 33rpm and 78rpm discs from Colin Hay's fathers record shop in Saltcoats when they were teenagers. That is how my mum and dad met.
The same with ACDC, most of them were Scottish immigrants. A lot of people from the North of the United Kingdom immigrated to Australia…including the Bee Gees.
You should check out their song "Who can it be now", that's my favourite song by them. These guys are still constantly on radio today here in Australia, even though their albums came out in the 80's. Fun (and sad) fact, they got sued in about 2010 by the copyright owners of the kids song "Kookaburra sits in the old gumtree" because of the flute part. A game show mentioned that it sounded the same, then they sued and even the bad said that they didn't even notice it until it came up on the show about 30 years after the song came out
Love this band. Rock/reggae. They were only around for a few years but had a heap of great songs. The lead singer, Colin Hay, has had a long solo career and is still performing. Overkill or Catch a star are well worth a listen. Zombie is a strain of pot.
In the 70s and the 80s, there were so many different sounds of music coming out that you really had a buffet for your ears. No one was trying to sound like the other. It was a fantastic time for music and music lovers.
"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" was by The Proclaimers...and they are Scottish. I can see the connection, though. As far as Men At Work..."Who Can It Be Now" and "Overkill" are their other big hits. The first has a pretty funny video, the second is a different vibe but is really good. Kinda darker. Originally, Australia was settled by convicts transported to the continent by the British Crown, and the first colony was at Botany Bay, starting around the 1780s. That kind of sums up all I really know. Maybe the symbolism the band is playing with is "Yeah, our nation's forebearers were all convicts, but we are our own people. We are proud to be Australian." I have been a fan of Men At Work since the first time I heard this on MTV in the early 80s.
It'll be better when they are better. They get treated Iike lords... no other group on the planet gets 40 billion spent on them a year... get yourself an education.
@@caskur1 too bad my BA+ is not good enough for you! Lol! Stop insulting people. Share kindly. Ah but who am I talking to? You already showed you cannot....
Yes, the 500 Miles song is from a different group, The Proclaimers, and the title is I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), fyi. And Men At Work were huge back in the 80s, part of the massive influx of Aussie bands and artists!
These members are the members I remember. All are still alive except for the flute player, Greg Ham. He died in 2012. One sad thing about the band is that the flute playing in this song landed them in court back in 2010 because apparently, someone thought the flute sounded like the same flute playing from the children's song "Kookaburra." I just listened to a couple of versions and I don't see the resemblance in order for to have been copyrighted. No one would have put those two sounds together and said "hey, those two sound exactly the same." Some say this contributed to the Greg's death since he was the flute player. He died of a heart attack but he also was said to have a drug issue.
for context, Australia was really popular world wide at the time. Movies like Crocodile Dundee and Papillon and others were hitting the big screens and they had several hits.
I wore this tape out ! No, not one it wonders. Try WHO CAN IT BE NOW next or maybe IT'S A MISTAKE one of my personal favorites is BE GOOD JOHNNY but that might be a little strange for you, but I found it really funny. Yes, keep going with MEN AT WORK!!! TY for this reaction
"Who Can it Be Now" "Overkill" "Be Good Johnny" "It's a Mistake" "Dr Heckyl and Mr Jive" This is a rabbit hole that everyone needs to go down. They were one of the biggest bands in the world for 2 albums(about 2-3 years) until they broke up.
Its crazy growing up listening to all these songs and still listening to all the songs you react to and you never heard these songs that are a large part of my life. Its cool to watch.
