Down Under (song)

This article is about the Men at Work song. For the Blonde Redhead song, see La Mia Vita Violenta.

"Down Under"
7" Australian single
Single by Men at Work
from the album Business as Usual
B-side"Crazy" (AUS/NA)
"Helpless Automaton" (EU)
Released2 November 1981 (1981-11-02)[1]
Recorded1981
Genre
Length3:42
LabelColumbia
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)Colin Hay
Producer(s)Peter McIan
Men at Work singles chronology
"Who Can It Be Now?"
(1981) 		"Down Under"
(1981) 		"Be Good Johnny"
(1982)
Audio sample
Music videos
"Down Under" on YouTube

"Down Under" is a song recorded by Australian rock band Men at Work. It was originally self-released in 1980 as the B-side to their first local single, "Keypunch Operator", before the band signed a recording contract with Columbia Records.[8] Both early songs were written by the group's co-founders, Colin Hay and Ron Strykert.[9] The early version of "Down Under" has a slightly slower tempo and different arrangement from the later Columbia release.[10] The best-known version was then released on Columbia in 1981 as the second single from Men at Work's debut studio album Business as Usual.

The hit song went to number one in their home country Australia in December 1981, and then topped the New Zealand charts in February 1982. The song topped the Canadian charts in October 1982.[11] 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. Topping the US Billboard chart for four non-consecutive weeks, it eventually sold over two million copies in the US alone. Billboard ranked it at No. 4 for 1983.[12] In the UK, the song topped the charts in January and February 1983: the only Men at Work song to make the UK top 20.[13] The song also went to No. 1 in Denmark, Ireland, Italy and Switzerland, and was a top 10 hit in many other countries.

"Down Under" is perceived as a patriotic song in Australia; it remains popular and is often played at sporting events.[14][15][16] In January 2018, as part of Triple M's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time so far, "Down Under" was ranked number 2 behind Cold Chisel's "Khe Sanh".[17]

  1. ^ "Platterlog: Singles – Supplementary". Platterlog. 2 November 1981. p. 7. Retrieved 22 December 2020 – via Imgur.
  2. ^ Parker, Lyndsey (4 February 2010). "Men at Work vs. The Man: '80s Band Charged with Plagiarism". Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014.
  3. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Men At Work - Business As Usual (1982) Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  4. ^ Reed, Ryan (2 March 2011). "Colin Hay Is Still at Work, 25 Years After 'Down Under'". Metro Pulse. Archived from the original on 15 March 2011.
  5. ^ Sheffield, Rob (24 February 2023). "The 100 Best Songs of 1983, the Year Pop Went Crazy". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 September 2023. Men at Work did happy-go-lucky pub-rock singalongs like "Down Under," one of the year's first Number One hits.
  6. ^ Smith, Troy L. (13 May 2021). "Every No. 1 song of the 1980s ranked from worst to best". Cleveland.com. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  7. ^ Matos, Michaelangelo (8 December 2020). "Island Records, London: May 8, 1984". Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year. Hachette Books. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-306-90337-3.
  8. ^ "Men at Work - Down Under/Keypunch Operator".
  9. ^ "Down Under (7" vinyl single release)". discogs.com. 9 September 1981.
  10. ^ McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Men at Work'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86448-768-2. Archived from the original on 13 May 2003.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference CAN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference US was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ "Men at Work". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference aa34 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference bbcmag was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Malkin, Bonnie (30 July 2009). "Men at Work sued over 'stolen' riff in Down Under". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  17. ^ "Here Are the Songs That Made Triple M's 'Ozzest 100'". Music Feeds. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2020.