Originally, the idea came from a little bass riff that Ron Strykert, the guitar player for Men at Work, had recorded on a little home cassette demo.
It always felt like a strong song, right from the start. It is ultimately about celebrating the country, but not in a nationalistic way and not in a flag-waving sense. It's really about the plundering of the country by greedy people. It was a song about the loss of spirit in that country. 'The chorus is really about the selling of Australia in many ways, the over-development of the country. No, this song is a deeper than just drugs & drinking, and the anonymous comment made before Wizzi’s speculates the intended meaning of the song a lot better than most (including most Australians – possibly even more so).Ĭolin Hay wrote the lyrics, and here’s what he’s had to say: Australians are a bit kinder, and will merely laugh at you, thanks in no small part to this show: Don’t go yelling “EVERYBODY LOVES Americans!!!” in northern Vietnam, North Korea or the middle east unless you want to get beaten up, arrested or shot (respectively – or there about).
