Men At Work: Down Under Meaning

Song Released: 1981

Down Under Lyrics

Traveling in a fried-out combi
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?...

1. anonymous

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   Apr 5th 2011 !⃝

   I'm 100% sure this song is about Australian's, not the devil.
   
   Combi = Van
   Zombie = because he's high on drugs.
   Chunder is Aussie slang for vomitting.
   
   You obviously don't know much about Australia :S Nor heard of it I guess
2. anonymous

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   Feb 8th 2011 !⃝

   Land down under = Australia!!!
3. anonymous

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   Aug 13th 2010 !⃝

   Oh I forgot Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
   You better run, you better take cover." God's voice.
4. anonymous

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   Aug 13th 2010 !⃝

   I believe the song is about satan and selling your soul to him. the song begins with him in a combi with is mind like a zombie. he then meets a strange women who ask him "do you come from a land down under (the devil) where women glow and men plunder? in the second verse the man says "I come from a land down under (the devil) where beer does flow and men chunder"?
   "Are you trying to tempt me Because I come from the land of plenty?" and the men questions him Oh! Do you come from a land down under (the devil)? (oh yeah yeah)his answer
   Where women glow and men plunder?

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
5. anonymous

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   Jul 27th 2010 !⃝

   Having reviewed the video clip, he and his colleagues are definitely on the nod in Bombay. The den operator is either asking to him to buy or sell clothes, in the clip it is a shoe. Hasn't everyone gone to opium den in their youth and ended up selling all the belonging including their clothes before legging it home broken and sick?? lol.
6. anonymous

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   Jul 27th 2010 !⃝

   The whole trip he is wasted. I believe he has used opium in the third verse. He is "slack jawed and nothing much to say" implies to me that he is on the "nod". A common after effect of the use of heroine or as in this case smoking opium.
7. anonymous

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   Apr 30th 2010 !⃝

   Anon..damn, relax. and remember, every time USA goes somewhere, the Aussies are right there, side by side. yeah. and the viet nam thing? hate the french too? they started there before the usa was ever there. read up.
8. anonymous

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   Apr 16th 2010 !⃝

   I do believe that all the interpreted words mean certain things; like combie (minivan)and zombie (pot)and this whole song is about an Aussie guy who travels and meets all kinds of people, just to tell a "story" but the one thing (if you read what the writer Colin Hay said about the song)it's all about celebrating Australia and being Australian and what Australia once was and is now. Everyone he meets knows this guy is Australian by his accent and they ask "do you come from the Land Down Under?" and everyone he meets he ultimately says "I'm Australian, our people are great and the country is so awesome, can you hear the "thunder"!!! If you want to look into it sexually or drug-wise is up to you; everyone is going to have a different interpretation; but i choose to see the real meaning like Colin Hay about ultimately celebrating how great Australia and the people are!!!
9. anonymous

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   Aug 6th 2009 !⃝

   I would say that the reference about thunder could be the police. Thunder could be the sound of cars, camels, horses or whatever the police are using. They are warned about the police, so "you better run, you better take cover"
10. anonymous

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    Jul 30th 2009 !⃝

    This song is more political than anyone has stated.
    
    It was written at a time in Australia's social conscience when impact of the 'new world' on the native Aboriginals (Abos) came to the fore. During this time there was (and continues to be) social discord about the plundering of lands from the Abos. The allusion to thunder in the song reflects the feeling of the time that a social storm was brewing and that the Abos would rise up and stake a claim to their land and the Australian identity; they did go on to do this.
    
    Against this underlying theme is the modern Aussie cliche: young, carefree, traveller, pot-head, beer aplenty etc. The cultural references (beer, chunder, vegemite, hunky fella) are relatively modern (flimsy) cultural identifiers that contrast against the bedrock of Abo indigenous culture. The final verse in which the Aussie is being tempted and comes from the 'land of plenty' is a play on the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, whereby Eden is Australia, and modern Aussies Adam. This analogy is used to demonstrate the naivety/innocence/ignorance of the modern travelling Aussie to the nature of the world and his own country.
    
    On its most superficial level, this is the story of a fella from Aus enjoying and experiencing his travels. It is this level that most of us hear when the song is played with its child-like happy-go-lucky melody.
11. anonymous

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    Jul 6th 2009 !⃝

    I 100% agree with the Jamaican guy because when i travel people instantly LOVE me because im american. And lets face it EVERYBODY LOVES Americans!!!!! People are just being nice to the guy because hes Austrailian

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
12. Wizzi

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    Jun 10th 2009 !⃝

    I personally think that song simply isn't as deep as you think it is. That is simply about some hippies traveling around while using opium and drinking a lot.
    Men plunder (slang for RAPE)
    Thunder (slang for diarrhea, Chunder (slang for vomitting), this all because they are drunk and stoned.
    
    Not every song is deep, most are simply rimes with nice music too it.
13. anonymous

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    Jun 7th 2009 !⃝

    I think the song is about the rape of the aboriginal culture by the people who went to Australia who were, for the most part, British and Irish people. As the video suggests, there is nothing specifically Australian about these people or their lifestyle. They behave in a ghastly, boorish manner and have little concern for the culture they have invaded, and they take the same attitude overseas i.e. to Brussels and Bombay. The strange lady is also from a different culture but loses interest in the narrator when she realises he is Austalian. I'm sorry if Austalians find this offensive but it does seem to me (and to the Scottish writer of this song, in my opinion) that their society is an offshoot of Britain rather than anything unique or distinctive.
14. anonymous

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    May 8th 2009 !⃝

    Kostya Tszyu was 13 in '82 when the song was released so the thunder couldn't possibly refer to him since he didn't win his first title till '86, let alone be famous.
    Some research can go a long way, guys. ;)
    Puzzlewell
15. anonymous

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    Apr 28th 2009 !⃝

    "Can't you hear can't you hear the thunder?, you better run you better take cover" refers to The famous Australian boxing champion Kostya Tszyu who's nickname was "The thunder from down under"
    
    I hope this clears up the thunder part abit :)

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

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