Australia

According to some background info, it ties in with the album's story about Arthur's family and comes a bit from real life. His son and daughter-in-law are dead-set on moving away from drab England to Australia, which they've been told is the greatest place on earth. Of course it's seen through Arthur's point of view, so it's incredibly sarcastic and overblown. Also Dave Davies' sister moved from Australia with her husband, so that sorta gives an interesting perspective too.

I've always thought this song to be extremely sarcastic. As if simply living in a certain place could make someone joyously happy. The narrator is mocking someone who tried to convince him how great his life is because he lives in Australia.

What an underrated band! Well, let me be the first to day that this is a fantastic song about a country that to this day remains appealing for English people wishing to escape the cramped and stressful life they currently struggle through, and find a place with "no class distinction" where nobody has a "chip on their shoulder".

Of course, the song suggests getting there by boat, but I am sure a plane would be fine!

I took the song literally. England is great, but Australia would look pretty inviting without all the class nonsense. In the US, we don't consider class, but in the UK, especially at the time this song was written, class distinctions made it unnecissarily difficult for an individual to advance up the economic ladder to a better life. Not sure what the taxes were like between Australia and UK then (or now), but the line 'You get what you work for' implies an unfair tax burden in the UK. Add 'Sunny Christmas Day' to the picture, and you can imagine Australia as the chance of a lifetime. At the end of the album, Arthur's children are sailing off 'to a new horizon where there's plenty for everyone'. Sounds like Australia represents all the opportunity that was lacking in England.

"Why not get a boat and come to Australia"

At least 3 possibilities here:-

1. Before 1850 that was how British convicts were transported here
2. In the 1950's the 10 pound British immigrants arrived that way
3. In 2010 people-smugglers deliver Asian "boat people" (refugees)to our shores this way