Vegemite Sandwich

Back at the birth of MTV, when they had VJ’s and still played videos, you had a band out of Australia called Men At Work. Their big hits were Down Under and Who Can It Be Now? and their videos all had the bug eyes lead singer, Colin Hay. Down Under was recently used in the movie Kangaroo Jack which of course was a buddy movie about two young men and one cute girl looking for a kangaroo in the Australian outback. It was a cute movie with the best performance actually coming from Christopher Walken. But I digress.

In the song Down Under, they sing about something called vegemite. Now for Americans, that has no meaning. For the longest time, I thought it was a vegetarian sandwich with like a tofu or veggie burger base. Since you never know what other cultures find to be appetizing, it could have been that Australians, heavy in marsupials and light on cattle had turned away from meat and switched to vegetables. Who knew? But vegemite is actually a spread that is put on toast. It is a dark salty food paste that is made from yeast extract. Yum! The brand name is currently owned and manufactured by Kraft foods in Australia.

Vegemite hit the news recently as the US government is cracking down on Aussie citizens bringing small quantities into this country for their own consumption. The USDA has prohibited the import of vegemite because it contains Folic Acid, a B vitamin that has been approved as an additive for just a few foods, breakfast cereal is the major one. Why the USDA would be out for a yeast based sandwich spread is beyond my comprehension but they are now confiscating bottles at the border. So, if you’re from the land down under, it may be a while on your vegemite sandwich. So how about a song from Men At Work while you wait.

Down Under - Men at Work

Traveling in a fried-out combie
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
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."
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."
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."

Icool

Cobb