Product Description
Men At Work - Down Under(#ad)
Men At Work's signature track "Down Under" sold a million copies in the U.S two years after it's initial release in their native Australia.
An eternal favourite amongst the Australians, this song is frequently requested in radio shows, represents the 'true Aussie', with many Australians commenting on YouTube to make this song their official national anthem.
Released around March 1982 in the U.S,from their album Business As Usual, "Down Under" reached the no.1 spot in the U.S Billboard Hot 100 charts, thanks to the hype created by another track of Men At Work, "Who Can It Be Now?"...from the same album, Business As Usual.
Men At Work are the first Australian band to have both their song as well as it's album top the U.S Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200 Albums charts at the same time.
Considered as one of the most successful albums ever released by an Aussie band. Released in November 1981, Business As Usual sold 15 million copies across the globe and topped the Billboard 200 Albums charts for almost 4 months or 15 weeks to be precise.
More than 6 million units of the album sold out in the U.S in less than 6 months of it's release, formed in Melbourne, Australia in the year 1978..this new wave aussie band had 5 original members - Ron Strykert (lead guitar), Greg Ham (flute), Colin Hay (lead vocals), John Rees (bass guitar) and Jerry Speiser (drums).
Music video for Men At Work's "Down Under" has more than 77 million views on YouTube with 315,000 likes.
This iconic music video has the theme of a globe trotting Aussie meeting different personalities from every corner of the globe, wanting to come to Australia after their brief conversation with him.
As the music video begins a man is seen driving a volkswagen Matador which malfunctions in the middle of a desert.
He then kicks the van's front and opens the door.When four sleepy man or under drugs.. in a foggy state of mind run towards a lady enjoying her breakfast in the middle of the desert.
As the 5 men explore a map on a piece of barren land, a huge guy walks in with a 'sold out' sign and bangs it right on the map, asking the men to leave immediately.
The men scatter around in a hurry, as the video then snaps to Greg Ham playing the flute on a tree branch.
The video then shifts to a hotel in Brazil, when the lead singer Colin Hay, tells the 7 foot tall male receptionist that he is from down under, Australia and gets treated like a king with along with his band members.
The video goes back to the desert where the men are working out, practicing their juggling skills and snaps to a prison in Bombay (Mumbai), India..where the men are held up along with a magician/snake charmer.
Once again when Colin Hay tells the magician that he is from down under, the excited magician shows them a secret escape route from the prison.
Once again back in the desert, the men are followed by few other men dressed in black..carrying a black coffin.
Shot around the famous Cornulla san dunes in Sydney, "Down Under" is one of the most honoured and respected songs in Australia.
Chosen to be played at the closing ceremony of the Sydney Summer Olympics in 2008, Australian Performing Rights Association chose "Down Under" as the 4th popular/best Australian song since the beginning of recorded music wayback in the 1920s to the present day.
Basking in adulation,glory,admiration of the Australian public, Men At Work were in the ninth cloud, when everything came crashing down as a Lawsuit was filed in 2010 by Larrikin Music on the band members Ron Strykert and Colin Hay on the flute portion used in "Down Under".
Colin and Strykert were accused of unauthorized use of "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree" written and composed by Marion Sinclair in 1932.
But Sony Records rejected Larrikin Music claims instantly claiming that they never owned the Flute piece in "Down Under"
And it belongs Girls Guides Association but Sony's claims never impressed the judge as Larrikin Music provided the ownership of "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree" after composer Sinclair's death in 1988.
Justice Jacobson of the Federal Court of Australia ruled the lawsuit in the favour of Larrikin Music on February the 4th 2010,stating that the significant portion of "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree" owned by Larrikin Music has been used in "Down Under" without prior permission.
Fortunately for Men At Work, they were asked to pay only 5% of royalties of the song since 2002 (not from 1983).Larrikin Music claimed somewhere around 60% but never appealed against Justice Jacobson's 5% ruling.
Strangely it was Colin and Strykert who appealed against the '5% of royalties' verdict but an Australian court instantly rejected their appeal.
Men At Work – Down Under - Lyrics
Release Date - October, 1981
Album - Business as Usual
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 muscles
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
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
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
Living in 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
Living in 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
Living in 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
Living in 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
