Down Under Full Movie

[Terresa Cherrie]

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

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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13][14][15] 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".[16]

The lyrics to "Down Under" depict an Australian man travelling the globe, meeting people who are interested in his home country. The story is based in part on singer Colin Hay's own travels abroad, including a prominent reference to a Vegemite sandwich (a popular snack in Australia), which derived from an encounter with a tall baker from Brussels who emigrated from Brunswick, Melbourne.[14] Hay has said the lyric was partly inspired by Barry Humphries' character Barry McKenzie, a comically stereotypical Australian who tours abroad.[17]

Slang and drug terms are featured in the lyrics. It opens with the singer "travelling in a fried-out Kombi, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie". In Australian slang, "fried-out" at that time meant that it is in really poor condition and overheating (as in a short circuit rather than drunk/high), "Kombi" is short for "Kombinationskraftwagen" and refers to the Volkswagen Type 2, and "full of zombie" refers to the use of a type of marijuana.[14] "Hippie trail" refers to a subcultural tourist route popular in the 1960s and 1970s which stretched from Western Europe to South-East Asia. The song also contains the refrain "where beer does flow and men chunder". To "chunder" means to vomit.[14]

The chorus is really about the selling of Australia in many ways, the overdevelopment of the country. It was a song about the loss of spirit in that country. It's really about the plundering of the country by greedy people. It is ultimately about celebrating the country, but not in a nationalistic way and not in a flag-waving sense. It's really more than that.[17]

The promotional video comically plays out the events of the lyric, showing Hay and other band members riding in a Volkswagen Kombi van, eating muesli with a 'strange lady', eating and drinking in a caf, and lying in an opium den. The band are moved along at one point by a man in a shirt and tie who places a 'Sold' sign in the ground. Exterior shots were filmed at the Cronulla sand dunes in Sydney.[18] The band are seen carrying a coffin across the dunes at the end. This, Hay has explained, was a warning to his fellow Australians that their country's identity was dying as a result of overdevelopment and Americanisation. Hay has also stated that the same ominous sentiment lies behind the choral line, "Can't you hear that thunder? You'd better run; you'd better take cover".[14]

The song is a perennial favourite on Australian radio and television, and topped the charts in the US and UK simultaneously in early 1983.[20] It was later used as a theme song by the crew of Australia II in their successful bid to win the America's Cup in 1983.[21] Men at Work played this song in the closing ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, alongside other Australian artists.[22]

In May 2001, Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) celebrated its 75th anniversary by naming the Best Australian Songs from 1926 to 2001, as decided by a hundred-strong industry panel. "Down Under" was ranked as the fourth song on the list.[24]

In 2007, on the ABC-TV quiz show Spicks and Specks, the question was posed, "What children's song is contained in the song 'Down Under'?" The answer, "Kookaburra", a song whose rights were owned by Larrikin Music, resulted in phone calls and emails to Larrikin the next day.[28] Larrikin Music subsequently decided to take legal action against Hay and Strykert, the song's writers.

In June 2009, 28 years after the release of the recording, Larrikin Music sued Men at Work for copyright infringement, alleging that part of the flute riff of "Down Under" was copied from "Kookaburra". The counsel for the band's record label and publishing company (Sony BMG Music Entertainment and EMI Songs Australia) claimed that, based on the agreement under which the song was written, the copyright was actually held by the Girl Guides Association.[31][32] On 30 July, Justice Peter Jacobson of the Federal Court of Australia made a preliminary ruling that Larrikin did own copyright on the song, but the issue of whether or not Hay and Strykert had plagiarised the riff was set aside to be determined at a later date.[33]

When asked how much Larrikin would be seeking in damages, Larrikin's lawyer Adam Simpson replied: "anything from what we've claimed, which is between 40 and 60 per cent, and what they suggest, which is considerably less."[35][36][37] In court, Larrikin's principal Norman Lurie gave the opinion that, had the parties negotiated a licence at the outset as willing parties, the royalties would have been between 25 and 50 per cent.[38] On 6 July 2010, Jacobson handed down a decision that Larrikin receive 5% of royalties from 2002.[38][39] In October 2011, the band lost its final court bid when the High Court of Australia refused to hear an appeal.[40]

Until this high-profile case, the standing of "Kookaburra" as a traditional song, combined with the lack of visible policing of the song's rights by its composer, had led to the general public perception that the song was within the public domain.[41][42]

The revelation of the copyright status of "Kookaburra", and more so the pursuit of royalties from it, has generated a negative response among sections of the Australian public.[43][44][45][46] In response to unsourced speculation of a Welsh connection, Rhidian Griffiths pointed out that the Welsh words to the tune were published in 1989, and musicologist Phyllis Kinney stated neither the song's metre nor its lines were typical Welsh.[42]

A new version of the song was produced by Colin Hay, coinciding with the thirtieth anniversary of the original's release.[84] Requested by Telstra for use in an Australian advertising campaign during the 2012 Summer Olympics period, the song was available through iTunes on 31 July 2012.[85]

In 2021, Australian producer Luude (real name Christian Benson, from the Tasmanian tech house dance duo Choomba),[88][89] remixed "Down Under" as a drum and bass track, with Colin Hay re-recording the vocals for the track's release on the Sweat It Out record label.[90][91] In January 2022, the drum and bass version of "Down Under" debuted at number 32 on the Official UK Singles Chart Top 40[92] and at number 48 in Australia.[93] The single climbed into both countries' Top 10 a month later.[93][92] In New Zealand, the record climbed to number one on the Official Singles Chart, and by 6 February 2022 had spent four weeks at number one.[94] On 22 January 2022, the Luude version of "Down Under" was ranked at number 65 on the Triple J Hottest 100, 2021.[95]

For their iteration, King Stingray had discussions with Colin Hay and recorded their version in a combination of English and their local Indigenous language, Yolŋu Matha, and comes with the subtitle "Under One Sun".[127]

DUMBO is quite literally the small neighborhood down under the Manhattan Bridge that sits along the edge of the East River. It borders downtown Brooklyn to the south, Brooklyn Heights to the West and Vinegar Hill to the East. The eastern most road is officially Bridge Street and the western most road is Old Fulton St. However, for purposes of this post we may include a few things further East in Vinegar Hill and further West in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The heart of DUMBO lies in the area between the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge.

Get your camera ready and head over to Washington and Front St to the most instagrammed spot in Brooklyn. From this spot in DUMBO, you can peep the Empire State Building perfectly framed in the archway of the Manhattan Bridge. You may recognize this scene from one of the many films shot here.

Also on Fulton Ferry Landing, check out the renovated coffee barge from 1899 that now acts as a floating concert hall. Moored under the Brooklyn Bridge, Bargemusic hosts 90 minute chamber music concerts in an intimate wood paneled hall with sweeping city views. Advance tickets must be purchased and no restrooms are on board. Note that Bargemusic is not in operation at time of print due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The Plaza Down Under on the Riverwalk (formerly known as the Riverwalk Events Plaza), is located at 25 South Coastal Way, under the Indiantown Road bridge, spanning the Intracoastal Waterway. The Town currently hosts 2 events on the plaza.

Parking - Free parking is available on the plaza, under the bridge, except during special events. Free parking is available in the Yacht Club parking Garage to the south of the plaza.

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