“Vegemite” is an ode to the food of the same name, a song about “...eating Vegemite on toast with your girlfriend!” (according to an interview with NME). While the song starts and ends with loud drums, it’s a short, upbeat and strange ballad about an Australian breakfast favorite. It’s also the closest thing to a novelty song within the King Gizzard canon, with a presentation that would fit well on the Dr. Demento Radio Show. Due to the odd nature of “Vegemite” as a song, it has become a meme within the weirdo swarm with countless videos and parodies circulating online, though the band themselves have stayed away from the track, even criticizing it from time to time.
While showing how to play the song for the Bad Bonn Song Book, Stu said it was one of the easiest songs he ever wrote while also stating his own opinion on the food. “It’s a song about vegemite which is an Australian spread you put on toast. Everyone who’s from anywhere but Australia hates it and thinks that it tastes disgusting. I think it's pretty sweet.” This opinion is not shared by the rest of the band as during a show at Baby’s All Right on 2014-10-26, Joey said “It’s a yeast extract that’s derived from vegetables. Tastes like human shit and everyday Australians eat it for breakfast.”
When the song was released as a single, Stu described a bit of history regarding the tune’s recording. “I recorded ‘Vegemite’ at my parents house in Anglesea on their out-of-tune-but-exactly-a-half-step-down piano. It’s probably the most literal song I’ve ever written. I love vegemite…”.
In the liner notes for the 2018 reissue of Oddments Stu explained what every song on the album was, though was vague on this track in particular. “‘Vegemite’ is just ‘Vegemite.’” That said, Joey gave some potential insight during his appearance on Office Hours Live with Tim Heidecker. In it, he said the song was a “weak attempt at trying to get a sync on an ad” — meaning that it may have been their shot at making advertising jingles. This commercial-oriented approach to songwriting didn’t seem to be lost on Stu, who told the audience to envision a child-friendly vegemite ad during the previously mentioned Baby’s All Right show.
After a tease on January 8th, a music video by Jason Galea was released on January 13th, 2014. It features Stu eating toast with vegemite. Stu’s face is overlaid on the vegemite itself akin to The Annoying Orange. As the video goes on, Stu eats the toast while singing and playing the song. “Vegemite” was the only single for Oddments, which would see a release on March 7th, 2014.
The first known performance of the song was on 2014-10-26 at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn during their “Panache CMJ Day Party & Hangover Brunch.” The existing recording showcases an electric version of the song played by Stu, Joey and Cavs with gritty distortion and Joey providing backing vocals to the track. At the end of the performance, Stu says “I’m really sorry everyone after listening to that. Everyone just got twenty percent dumber after that.” On 2014-12-13 the song would be performed by the entire band with Ambrose adding backing vocals alongside Joey, as well as some harmonica accompaniment. Perhaps the strangest performance of the song was for a school project which was later uploaded to YouTube in 2022. Stu played an acoustic rendition of the song while on a porch in late 2014. In 2015 and 2016 the song would shift again with Stu playing the song as a solo encore. The last known performance would be on 2016-05-14.
Following 2016, the band distanced themselves from the song, if not outwardly stated their displeasure with the tune. During the band’s Chunky Shrapnel Reddit AMA, Cavs named the song his least favorite in the band’s entire discography. Joey also joked about it when talking about trying to write genuine music. During their gig at the Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale on 2022-05-22, Stu jokingly said that they were about to play the song to a loud audience reaction before taking it back, leading to Joey laughing at the fans. Before the final song of the night, fans began to chant “Vegemite” which prompted Joey to say “no one wants to hear that fuckin’ song.” Stu responded by claiming that the extract was a “myth.” During Joey and Lucas’s appearance on Office Hours Live with Tim Heidecker, Joey responded to a fan asking for the song by saying “you know that’s never gonna happen.” When asked if the band would ever revisit the song during their 2023 Reddit AMA, Ambrose jokingly responded “Vegemite metal version coming soon.”
In the live chat for the 2024-09-05 show live stream, the song’s title would appear in a poll next to long requested songs like “Intrasport.” While its inclusion was most likely meant as a joke, “Vegemite” would return under very unusual circumstances on 2024-09-14. During a performance of “Venusian 1,” the barricade in front of the stage broke, which caused the band to stop playing as the venue staff tried to repair it. As the band waited around on stage and tried to keep the audience amused, they decided to do an incomplete acapella performance of “Vegemite” with Stu singing lead while Joey provided the rhythm. It would be the first appearance nof “Vegemite” after nearly 500 shows. While this performance was initially debated due to its odd nature, the band confirmed it via the show’s bootleg.