Overkill (1983)

Men at Work

While “Who Can It Be Now?” and “Down Under” were the iconic tracks from Men at Work’s debut LP, Business as Usual, my favorite track has always been “Overkill,” the second single from 1983’s Cargo.

I’m generally more attuned to the music in a song than its lyrics. (My wife, in contrast, seems to know every word to every song ever recorded, inexplicably.) “Overkill” starts with a circling guitar and sits in a wistful, minor-key melancholy throughout. While I always heard the lyrics, it’s only in the last decade or so that I’ve really thought about them.

It’s a nice capture of a common adult predicament. Waking up at 3am or 4am with some spiraling concern, often valid but clearly not actionable at that hour. And frequently blown out of proportion, a realization one arrives at (for me at least) after the morning cup of coffee. As Colin Hay reminds, “Ghosts appear and fade away.”