Liberal Arts Blog — Three Rock Songs from Australia: “Down Under,” “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” “Friday on My Mind”
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Liberal Arts Blog — Thursday is the Joy of Music Day
Today’s Post: Three Rock Songs from Australia: “Down Under,” “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” “Friday on My Mind”
So what is the best rock song to come out of Australia? Today, three candidates. “Down Under,” (Men At Work), “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” (Crowded House), and “Friday On My Mind” (Easybeats). Or maybe you prefer “Back in Black” (AC/DC)? Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
FRIDAY ON MY MIND (1966): EASYBEATS
1. “Monday mornin’ feels so bad \\ Ev’rybody seems to nag me \\ Comin’ Tuesday I feel better \\ Even my old man looks good \\ Wed’sday just don’t go \\ Thursday goes too slow
2. I’ve got Friday on my mind \\ Gonna have fun in the city \\ Be with my girl, she’s so pretty \\ She looks fine tonight \\ She is out of sight to me \\ Tonight I’ll spend my bread, tonight \\ I’ll lose my head, tonight I’ve got to get to night
3. Monday I’ll have Friday on my mind \\ Do the five day grind once more \\ I know of nothin’ else that bugs me \\ More than workin’ for the rich man \\
Hey! I’ll change that scene one day \\ Today I might be mad, tomorrow I’ll be glad \\ ’Cause I’ll have Friday on my mind
NB: “Gonna have fun in the city \\ Be with my girl, she’s so pretty \\ She looks fine tonight. \\ She is out of sight to me \\ Tonight I’ll spend my bread, \\ tonight I’ll lose my head, tonight \\ I’ve got to get to night \\ Monday I’ll have Friday on my mind”
“DOWN UNDER” (1981) — MEN AT WORK
1. Traveling in a fried-out Kombi \\ On a hippie trail, head full of zombie \\
I met a strange lady, she made me nervous \\ She took me in and gave me breakfast”
2. “And she said ‘Do you come from a land down under? \\ Where women glow and men plunder? \\ Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder? \\ You better run, you better take cover”
3. Buying bread from a man in Brussels \\ He was six-foot-four and full of muscle \\ 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”
NB: Lying in a den in Bombay \\ With a slack jaw and not much to say \\
I said to the man, “Are you trying to tempt me? \\ Because I come from the land of plenty” \\ And he said ‘Oh, Do you come from a land down under?\\ (Oh, yeah-yeah) \\ Where women glow and men plunder? \\ Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder? \\ You better run, you better take cover”
Men At Work — Down Under (Official HD Video)
“DON’T DREAM IT’S OVER” (1986): CROWDED HOUSE
1.There is freedom within \\ There is freedom without \\ Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup \\ There’s a battle ahead \\ Many battles are lost \\ But you’ll never see the end of the road \\ While you’re travelling with me…
2. Hey now, hey now \\ Don’t dream it’s over \\ Hey now, hey now \\ When the world comes in \\ They come, they come \\ To build a wall between us \\ We know they won’t win
3. Now I’m towing my car \\ There’s a hole in the roof \\ My possessions are causing me suspicion \\ But there’s no proof \\ In the paper today \\ Tales of war and of waste \\ But you turn right over to the TV page
NB: Hey now, hey now \\ Don’t dream it’s over \\ Hey now, hey now \\ When the world comes in \\ They come, they come \\ To build a wall between us We know they won’t win
Crowded House — Don’t Dream It’s Over (Official Music Video)
Lyrics for Don’t Dream It’s Over by Crowded House — Songfacts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_on_My_Mind
APRA Top 30 Australian songs — Wikipedia
AC/DC — Back In Black (Official Video)
QUOTE OF THE MONTH:
“Happy the man, and happy he alone,
he who can call today his own:
he who, secure within, can say,
Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.”
- Horace (65–8 BC)
LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, 11/17/20YOUR TURN
Time to share the coolest thing you learned in the last week related to music. Or the coolest thing you learned in your life related to music. Say your favorite song or songs. Or your favorite tips for breathing, posture, or relaxation. Or some insight into the history of music….Or just something random about music… like a joke about drummers, jazz, rock….or share an episode or chapter in your musical autobiography.
This is your chance to make some one else’s day. And perhaps to cement in your memory something important you would otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than you otherwise would about something that matters to you.
