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This is the story of a legendary Australian song that topped the charts around the world in 80s and still rocks the heart of aussies.
“Down Under” (also known as “Land Down Under“) is a song recorded by Australian rock band Men at Work.
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The lyrics and various sequences in the video have tried to show typical Australians in a fun way. The song is about a proud Australian man travelling around the world and the video shows his interactions with people he meets on his travels who are interested in his home country.
Slang and drug terms are used in the lyrics: Travelling in a fried-out Kombi, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie. In Australian slang “fried-out” means overheated, Kombi refers to the Volkswagen Type 2 combination van, and having “a head full of zombie” refers to the use of a type of marijuana.
The lyric “He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich”, has become a well-known phrase.
The song topped the charts in Australia and stayed at no 1 position for a while in December 1981, and then topped the New Zealand charts in February 1982.
After this, there was no stopping back as later it was released in North America in mid-1982, the song topped the Canadian charts in October. In the United States, the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on 6 November 1982 at No. 79, and reached No. 1 in January 1983 where it spent four non-consecutive weeks.
By this time, the song was a massive hit around the world and it eventually sold over two million copies in the US alone. In the UK, the song topped the charts in January and February 1983.
Time to time, Aussie slangs have created an interest in international audience and media. In march, 2015, Australian slangs again came into picture and received a world wide interest on twitter where people were sharing their interest towards aussie slangs via #AussieSayings
All the onion eating tweets reminded me of an #aussiesayings we didn’t get to the other day. ‘He’s not the full quid’
— Mum2One (@JenniHeyes) March 13, 2015
If Joe thought his court action was a good idea he’s got a few roos loose in the top paddock. #HockeyFairfax #AussieSayings — Chris Ryan (@sydneyoutsider) March 10, 2015
The video that first brought the aussie slangs on world stage still rocks the heart of the nation and will always remain the top favourite of Aussies.
Watch the famous video Below:
Vikas Rana
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