“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…”
What you just read are the lyrics to one of my all-time favorite songs from an Australian band named Men At Work.
The song is called Down Under, and it’s one of those rare songs that you never grow tired of listening to.
It pretty much became our unofficial Australian anthem when Australia became the first country to beat America in the America’s Cup back in 1983. In celebration, our Prime Minister at the time Bob Hawke got pissed as a fart, and on live national TV declared a day off work for the whole country and said any boss who fires an employee for not coming into work “is a bum!”.
A true David and Goliath moment in sporting history.
Whenever we Aussies hear this song, our chest swells with pride and we get a real pep in our step.
However, the song is not nearly as patriotic as you may think.
“The song is totally misinterpreted. It’s not so much about celebrating Australia as it is acknowledging the country’s forgotten heritage due to progress and development” says Colin Hay – Men At Work’s primary songwriter.
I guess it’s similar to Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The U.S.A in the way it’s misinterpreted.
I bet you many Americans swoon with American pride when Born In The U.S.A blares through the radio airwaves. Heck, I know I do, and I’m Australian. But the song actually casts a shameful eye on how Americans treated their Vietnam veterans, right? I’ve heard Bruce say in interviews that this misinterpretation of his most popular song really prickles his bum hairs.
Well, Bruce, you need to work on your communication skills, Boss.
You know, knowing a songwriter’s intent or interpretation of a song can ruin the enjoyment level of a song, can’t it?
I used to love Foster The People’s perky little song called Pumped Up Kicks until I realized the song is about a kid preparing to shoot his classmates at school. How can you enjoy a song after knowing that?
Hey, are you wondering why I’m nattering on about music?
Look, in my outstanding devotion to giving you my best advice on all things sales and marketing, I’ve realized I haven’t shared with you one of my most amazing little talents.
And that talent is this:
Creating awesome music playlists.
I’m serious.
My music playlists are semi-famous here in Australia, well, amongst my friends and family, anyway.
Well, I consider my subscribers as friends, and seeing many of my subscribers are good ol Americans, I thought it would be neat if I shared one of my awesome playlists with you.
I have created one titled: The Ultimate Aussie Rock playlist. It’s a playlist of 50 songs I consider to be Australia’s best.
I have just completed it, and as God said when he finished creating the world…”I did very good work there!”
Here’s the playlist: Ultimate Aussie Rock Playlist
Enjoy.
P.S. Hit reply to this email and let me know what you thought of the playlist, ok?
I’m off to grab a VB (for the uninitiated: that’s a beer) cuz it’s Australia Day today, mate!
Kelvin
Email Marketing Maverick
