Pam Anders
Pam Anders

Bad Ass Bass Gal

Cover Recorded: January, 2021

Down Under

Original Artist: Men at Work
Originally Released: 1981
Genre: Rock, Pop Rock
Composer (s): Colin Hay and Ron Strykert
Lyricist: Colin Hay
About this cover: When I first heard this song in the early 1980s, it brought back memories of my visit to Sydney in 1969. Now, 52 years later I decided to do a bass cover of it, and dug up my old Instamatic photos of Sydney to use as a backdrop.
Song Facts: The lyrics to “Down Under” depict an Australian man travelling the globe, who meets people who are interested in his home country. The story is based in part on singer Colin Hay’s own experiences, including a prominent reference to a Vegemite sandwich (a popular snack in Australia), which derived from an encounter, during Hay’s travels abroad, with a baker who emigrated from Brunswick, Melbourne.

Slang and drug terms are featured in the lyrics. They open with the singer travelling in a fried-out Kombi, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie. In Australian slang “fried-out” means overheated, “Kombi” refers to the Volkswagen Type 2 combination van, and having “a head full of zombie” refers to the use of a type of marijuana. “Hippie trail” refers to a subcultural tourist route popular in 1960s and 70s 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.

15 Responses

  1. Nice cover of a classic Aussie songyou look really comfortable getting around the fretboard
    Your production is awesome ,
    A little insight into some of the things you mentioned/ showed in the video,
    Brunswick is about 10-15 minutes from my place and in the 50-60s was very popular with Italian/Greek migrants, today it is a very cosmopolitan suburb with Sydney Road being the major shopping hub, lots of cafes and restaurants.
    The first picture towards the end of the video show sections of Melbourne from 2 different vantage points,
    The first one is taken from STH bank near the art centre looking N/E back across the Yarra river, the bridge in the picture is Princes Bridge,the old building on the left is Flinders street station, and across the road from that is Federation Square.
    The second one is taken from the Nth bank somewhere near Queens Bridge st looking S/E out over the bay.
    The oval shaped building on the STH side across the river is Crown Casino and I am lucky that the government department I work for has an office on the 5th floor of a building about 250m to the west of the casino with an outside deck looking directly across the river, it’s a great view.
    Hope you enjoyed my guided tour of our city buildings/scenery depicted in your video.
    cheers Brian

    1. Thank you for that information Brian. I would love to visit Melbourne someday, but at my age and my income restrictions, it’s doubtful. Sydney was the only Australian destination for R&R during that era, so I had no option to choose Melbourne instead.
      Also, thank you for the compliment on my bass playing.

      Cheers!
      Pam

  2. You ROCK Pam! This is awesome! I’ve never been to Australia and it was so cool to see the photo, video etc. your so talented:-) I also enjoyed reading the comment posted by Brian.

  3. What a wonderful story and cover. I grew up in Sydney around the same time, a lovely city albeit it is a bit of a rat race these days. Kings Cross is Cross, not Crossing, but hey, the drinks would have been the same. I saw Men at Work when they played in Wollongong in the 70s and the song you chose, is an Australian Classic. It sums up Australia perfectly during that era. A great cover, and it was clear to me that you really enjoyed playing it. Thank you. The video backdrop was wonderful to see. Inspiring and moving. I am really happy you enjoyed our little country on your R and R. Peace.

  4. It’s so damn cool to hear a song – even one released in the 1980’s that brings you back to a time – especially a time back then – and feed great memories…. So damn cool, and so damn cool that you put this all together as a tribute to our Aussie brothers and sisters “down under” Pam…. In ‘72, I pulled R&R in Taiwan – not sure there’s a song out there (at least one made public) that could be shared by me…

    Your talent to. Ot only play bass, but to also create visualization to the song is a gift. I’m sure Sara can watch you play along with the background that you applied and actually “hear” what you are expressing. BZ Pam!!

  5. Wow..Love it…! It was one of my favorite songs as I sat on a mountain top in Crete, Greece.
    I was one of the techs that worked a communication post back in the beginning of 1981.
    I want to thank you for your posts and continued inspiration to our community. Appreciate the forwarding of BassBuzz to my email too..! With great love and affection, your continuing, trying to play bass friend Jeff..!

  6. I love this so much Pam. Great production and your playing is so impressive. This song was a hit when I was a young woman in Australia. I lived at Bondi Beach for many years, then moved to London, then Melbourne, then New York City and now retired and living in country Victoria in Australia. This was a trip down memory lane for me and I loved all your photos. You are an inspirational woman – I hope to see more covers from you soon. ❤️

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-Pam Anders (Pam Purrs)

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