Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work
The song was released in 1981 on Men At Work’s first LP Business As Usual.
The group went to court over the flute riff sounding too much like Kookaburra.
By far Men At Work’s biggest American hit, this spent 19 weeks on the top 40 chart, 4 of them at #1. The song was certified platinum by the RIAA...
[Verse 1]
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
[Chorus]
"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"
[Verse 2]
Buyin' 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
[Chorus]
"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
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 3]
Lyin' 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
[Chorus]
"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? Oh
You better run, you better take cover"
'Cause we are living in a land down under
Where women glow and men plunder
(Yeah, thunder, thunder) Can't you hear, can't you hear the 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? Oh, yeah
You better run, you better take cover
We are living in a land down under, yeah, yeah
Where women glow and men plunder
(Can you, can you hear the thunder?) Can't you hear, 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
(Oh, hear) Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
Down Under was written by Colin Hay & Ron Strykert.
Down Under was produced by Peter McIan.
Men at Work released Down Under on Thu Oct 01 1981.
Colin Hay explained in a 2003 interview with Songfacts:
Well, the lyrics are really about my belief about what Australia was becoming – 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 parti...