Men At Work, Down Under | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 6th edition of Throwback Vibez (2025), we recollect and reflect on “Down Under” by the Grammy-winning Australian band, Men At Work. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 6^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2025), we recollect and reflect on, “Down Under” performed by Men At Work.

“‘Do you come from a land down under? / Where women glow and men plunder,’” Colin Hay sings in the chorus of “Down Under” from the perspective of a ‘strange lady.’ He continues singing, “Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder? / You better run, you better take cover.” Hay is part of the Grammy-winning Australian band Men At Work. Men At Work struck gold, rather, platinum in 1981 with the release of their multiplatinum 1981 debut album, Business As Usual. “Down Under” is the third track from the LP.  Hay and Ron Strykert composed the song while Peter McIan produced it. “Down Under” ended up being one of four top 10 hits by the band.  It was the second of two number-one hits, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in 1983. Besides its success on the pop charts, “Down Under” was certified platinum by the RIAA in 2001.

The chorus is one of the biggest selling points of “Down Under.” That’s not the only ear-catching section. The verses are intriguing too.  The Australian slang keeps things engaging, finding Colin Hay, and his playful lead vocals, mentioning hippies, a Volkswagen Bus, and weed in the first verse.  The second verse is as entertaining if not more than the first:

“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.”

The chorus is slightly different, coming from the Brussels man’s perspective, but still alluring. An instrumental break precedes the third and final verse (“Are you trying to tempt me / Because I come from the land of plenty”). The chorus follows, repeated multiple times.  Beyond the lyrics, the musical accompaniment is sweet.  “Down Under” features an infectious groove.  The flute part is ‘distinctive.’ Notably, the flute riff earned the band a copyright infringement lawsuit, which they lost.  Simply put, you can’t mess around or lift from a classic children’s song (“Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree”). Ultimately, “Down Under” is a rocking, surefire, and timeless winner from Men At Work, and the 1980s rock catalog.

Men At Work // Business As Usual // CBS Inc. // 1981

Men At Work, Down Under: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 6 (2025) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; CBS Inc.; AcatXlo, OpenClipart-Vectors, Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Speedy McVroom from Pixabay]