Discussion » Questions » Music » Unraveling a portion of a song’s lyrics. “Down Under” by Men At Work, 1981.
Randy D

Unraveling a portion of a song’s lyrics. “Down Under” by Men At Work, 1981.

The opening lines of the song are:


“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?”

Question: where in the world was he supposed to be at that point in the song? Being Australian, it’s possible he’s in Australia as he sings it, but then why would the woman ask him, “Do you come from a land down under?” It seems she would be asking, “Are you from here?” As such, he would have to be somewhere outside of Australia, right?

The other verses of the song state he was in Brussels and Bombay when he ran into other people, yet not the first part of the song.
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Posted - August 18, 2021
Tags : None

Responses


  • 13277
    In the video, it looks like the first part of the song is set in the Australian outback. What's odd is that he goes to Brussels to be given a Vegemite sandwich.

    Colin Hay, who wrote the lyrics, explained that the chorus is about the selling and overdevelopment of Australia and the resulting loss of spirit.

    Great song that I hadn't heard in years!
      August 18, 2021 8:27 AM MDT
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  • 16838
    He's buying bread from a baker whom he naturally assumes to be Belgian. When he asks if said baker understands English, he gets handed a Vegemite sandwich with the statement that he, like Hay, is also Australian. (In the music video, several cans of the very worst beer in Australia are also opened. Foster's is so bad we export all of it, because the locals refuse to drink it even at a party after all the drinkable beer has been drunk.)
      August 18, 2021 5:15 PM MDT
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  • 13277
    "Buying bread from a man in Brussels" has to mean he was in Belgium.
      August 18, 2021 5:43 PM MDT
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  • 53526

     

    Not so fast, mon ami: 


    Brussels, Ontario, Canada
    Brussels, Illinois, USA
    Brussels, Missouri, USA

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      August 18, 2021 8:40 PM MDT
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  • 13277
    I don't think those are serious possibilities.
      August 18, 2021 9:11 PM MDT
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  • 10664

    According to Songfacts, the lyrics follow the international travels of an Australian man who is so full of pride for his country. His travels throughout the world see him go to places such as Brussels in Belgium and Bombay in India where he meets with nice people who show some level of interest in his cherished home country of Australia. Lead vocalist of Men at Work Colin Hay said of the chorus of the song as one that is about celebrating Australia in a way that isn’t nationalistic. 
    Colin Hay said the lyrics of the song were inspired by the character of the famous Australian fictional character Barry McKenzie who travels to England. The character Barry McKenzie was created by the Australian comedian, satirist, and author Barry Humphries in 1964.

    The lyrics of the song contain a lot of Australian slang terms, such as “fried out“, which means overheated.

    The word “Kombi” from the famous line “traveling in a fried-out kombi, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie” refers to the Volkswagen Type 2 car, which was widely used by hippies during the 1960s and 1970s. Therefore that famous line simply means traveling in an overheated car (Volkswagen Type 2). The phrase “head full of zombie“ is a slang term used to refer to the usage of a kind of marijuana which was once very popular in Australia.

    The word “chunder’ in the line, in which the singer sings about the place where beer flows and “men chunder“, is a slang word for “vomit” in Australia. 
    The “Vegemite sandwich” that the narrator receives in Brussels is a very popular delicacy in Australia made of vegetables, spice additives and leftover brewers’ yeast extract.

      August 18, 2021 11:23 AM MDT
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  • 53526

     

      Thank you for that very detailed and informative analysis, Shuhak. By the way, in the first stanza, where in the world was he supposed to be at that point in the song? Being Australian, it’s possible he’s in Australia as he sings it, but then why would the woman ask him, “Do you come from a land down under?” It seems she would be asking, “Are you from here?” As such, he would have to be somewhere outside of Australia, right?

      August 18, 2021 4:55 PM MDT
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  • 10664
    As per Colin Hay - "The chorus is really about the selling of Australia in many ways, the overdevelopment of the country. It's really about the plundering of the country by greedy people."
      August 18, 2021 5:47 PM MDT
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  • 6023
    Kombi, from German: Kombinationskraftwagen (combination motor vehicle)

    Is it called a Kombi in Australia?
    Otherwise, I would guess it referred to being in Germany ... or at least a German-speaking country.
      August 18, 2021 1:09 PM MDT
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  • 53526

     

      Thank you, Walt!
      ~

      August 18, 2021 4:56 PM MDT
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  • 13277
    It looks like an arid, desert setting in the video, like it could be Australia.
      August 18, 2021 5:00 PM MDT
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  • 53526

     

      Ergo my question.
      ~

      August 18, 2021 5:01 PM MDT
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  • 16838
    Only the VW Typ II is called a Kombi. Other makes are called vans or minibuses, even German ones.

    It starts in Australia, but the "strange lady" is probably a foreigner.
      August 18, 2021 5:09 PM MDT
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  • 53526

     

      Thank you.
      ~

      August 18, 2021 8:30 PM MDT
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