Music Blog

Business As Usual

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

This week Jim Adams has asked his readers
in his post “Sprouting and Thriving” to write about
a song that won a Grammy award for the Best New Artist.
Written for Song Lyric Sunday, here is my choice.

The Best New Artist Grammy award category probably has the most complicated set of rules of any of the categories. Essentially, a “new artist” is defined for the Grammy process as “any performing artist or established performing group who releases, during the eligibility year, the recording that first establishes the public identity of that artist or established group as a performer” …. in essence, someone who has not already won a Grammy and whose work has attracted the public’s eye.

For my 2nd post today, I have chosen to feature the Best New Artist Grammy winner from 1983 …. Men At Work, for the song “Down Under”.

Met At Work was formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1979. The group is considered a popular part of the new-wave movement in Australia, best known for their worldwide hit singles “Who Can It Be Now”, “Down Under” and “Overkill”.  Their initial line-up had many successful tours and released three albums before disbanding in 1985.

When Men at Work won the Grammy award for Best New Artist, they upset an impressive set of rivals including Asia, Jennifer Holliday, The Human League and Stray Cats. In August 1983, they were given a Crystal Globe Award for $100 million worth of record business by their U.S label. That same year in Canada, they were awarded a Juno Award for “International LP of the Year“. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1994, they were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

In terms of songs, Men At Work has remained considerably popular. In May 2001, “Down Under” was listed at #4 on the APRA Top 30 Australian songs chart. According to Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane, the group’s “phenomenal success inextricably created worldwide interest in Australia and Australian music“. He’s also said that they “simply opened the floodgates with little more than a clutch of great songs” and were “Australia’s most famous group”.

Men at Work has sold over 30 million albums worldwide in total. In 1996, the band re-formed with both original and new members, affording new-wave fans the opportunity to hear 80s hits performed live once again.

Few hit songs of any era have become as well-known or as deeply lodged in the jukeboxes of our heads as Men At Work’s “Down Under”. The song, which was first a hit in their homeland of Australia and then Canada before taking over American airwaves and moving on to the European charts, emerged as an anthem for all things Australian. Filled with Aussie slang lyrics (including the mention of a Vegemite sandwich) and complete with a lead flute melody, “Down Under” became a distinctive piece of Australian culture that permeated worldwide and introduced Men At Work to a global audience.

This is Men At Work with “Down Under”:

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, yeah”

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 plunder (yeah)
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder? (Thunder)
You better-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? Ooh, yeah
You better run, you better take cover

Where women glow and men plunder
Can’t you, can’t you hear the thunder? (Can’t you, can’t you hear the thunder?)
You better run, you better take cover

Living in a land down under (living in a land down under)
Where women glow and men plunder
Can’t you, can’t you hear the thunder?

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Colin James Hay/Ronald Graham Strykert
Down Under lyrics © Emi Songs Australia Pty Limited, Emi Songs Australia Pty Ltd

Sprouting and Thriving

Big thanks to Jim Adams for hosting another great Song Lyric Sunday this week. Be sure to follow the link and check out Jim’s site.

Thanks for stopping by. See you on the flip side. 😎

NAR©2024

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for Nancy (The Sicilian Storyteller), The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and is not for use by anyone without permission. NAR©2017-present.

46 thoughts on “Business As Usual”

    1. True! Besides ‘Who Can It Be Now’, I’m in the same boat. I’m not a Men At Work expert.

      I don’t always like or know that much about the groups or songs I write about here on Song Lyric Sunday. I prefer to write about the music I enjoy but sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way. I consider it a learning experience! 🤓

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  9. “Down Under” was pretty popular in Germany when it came out, and I loved it right away. I also think it holds up very well. While I have weak spot for the ’80s, the decade in which I grew up, I can’t say the same for all ’80s songs. I’ve never tasted a vegemite sandwich. Based on descriptions I’ve read like the one below, I’m also not sure I’m in a hurry to change that! 🙂

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    1. 80s music was constantly in the background in our house; my sons were born on the cusp of the 80s so this was their 2nd exposure to music. The first was the heavy metal songs my husband and I listened to while they were in utero! Funny how my sons have grown into men with kids of their own and they still prefer the metal sounds. My oldest son just took his 13 year old son to an Iron Maiden concert; the apple doesn’t fall far and it’s good to know I raised him well in the music department!

      Vegemite is really heady stuff. I wanted to like it; I didn’t! 😂

      Thanks for a great comment, Christian.

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    2. 80s music was constantly on in the background at our house. Our sons were born on the cusp of the 80s; they grew up listening to that music and metal which my husband and I preferred. Our sons are now adults with children of their own and they still are into heavy metal. In fact, our eldest just took his 13 year old son to an Iron Maiden concert. The apple doesn’t fall far and I’m happy to know we raised him well!

      Vegemite is heady stuff. I wanted to like it; I didn’t. 😂

      Thanks for your comments, Christian.

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  10. Vegemite is a concentrated yeast extract with a salty, bitter taste and a firm jelly consistency. It’s made from brewer’s yeast, vegetable extract, salt, malt extract, and B vitamins. I think I would pass if someone offered me one. This song has a really great beat Nancy, thanks for selecting it. By the way, did you get the extensive list of themes that I emailed to you?

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    1. It’s definitely an acquired taste! I’ve not acquired it. 😂 I have family in Australia; they brought us jars of Vegemite during one of their visits. Of course, I tried it but …..

      No email from you, Jim. If you can resend now, I’ll keep an eye out for it and let you know when it arrives.

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      Reply

    1. Nice to know I’m in good company, Phil, especially when it comes to the Wilburys. They were/are the perfect group, in my mind.

      I hear ya re those cassette tapes and CDs, too. I was shocked when I got my most recent car to discover no CD player. I had just gotten accustomed to no cassette player! Now I have a glove box full of pencils. 😁

      Happy Sunday!

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  14. Well snap Nancy I prepared my post this morning and used the same song. I as usual came at it from a different angle I don’t have your polish , love your post … Well done Nancy great choice 💜💜💜💜

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