“Smoko” by The Chats (2017)
Dad’s Song of the Day #90, Nov. 27, 2025
In case you’re waiting for a refreshed dose of “Summertime,” I will point out that it is now summer in Australia...and that’s where we are today, thanks to a brilliant recommendation from Brilliant Friend Phil.
I suppose there must be some families, somewhere, that didn’t play the “Smoko” video 10,000 times during the COVID lockdowns, but we MacDonalds certainly got the best out of that song, didn’t we?
For the uninitiated, smoko is the Aussie term for a 15-minute work break, often used to smoke a cigarette. And The Chats are an Aussie punk rock group that, via an admirable balance of attitude and humour, have cut a niche for themselves singing about the issues of being a young yobbo, such as nutrition (“Pub Feed”), the cost of living (“Bus Money”), and intergenerational spats (“Mum Stole My Darts”).
You can’t fully appreciate the clever fun of “Smoko” without the video, which I’d place in my Top 10 of all time. Here’s Eamonn, sporting the best mullet since the 1980s, climbing into the scene in his “Surf Rescue” jersey…the guitar whines to a busy bass-line as he finds a construction worker, “perched on his milk-crate throne,” taking his socially mandated 15-minute smoko break.
We non-Australians learn quickly that I’m on smoko, so leave me alone! is the chant of the otherwise powerless front-line worker. And The Chats show us the impact of smoko on the public when service temporarily shuts down from construction teams, social workers and even lifeguards.
Angus, when we saw The Chats play at Velvet Underground in May 2022, they played “Smoko” so loud and fast that I could barely make ou
(I’d finish this post, but I’m on smoko, so leave me alone!)
Spotify:
YouTube:
This series is for my two 19-year-olds, who moved off to school with the misguided belief they’d escaped their dad’s relentless nostalgia and monopolization of the car stereo. I’m very happy for anyone else to come along for the ride.
The Spotify playlist for Dad’s Song of the Day is located here:
An all time classic!!!