Tubthumping

"Tubthumping"
Single by Chumbawamba
from the album Tubthumper
Released 11 August 1997 (UK)
Format CD single
Recorded 1996
Genre Alternative rock, pop rock
Length 4:38 (album version)
3:34 (single edit)
Label EMI (UK)
Universal (U.S.)
Writer(s) Chumbawamba
Producer(s) Chumbawamba
Chumbawamba singles chronology
"Just Look at Me Now"
(1996)		 "Tubthumping"
(1997)		 "Amnesia"
(1998)
Alternative cover
2003 version
Music sample
"Tubthumping"

"Tubthumping", sometimes incorrectly referred to by its prominent lyric "I Get Knocked Down",[1] is a song released by the British anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba on 11 August 1997. It was their most successful single, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart. It topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand and peaked at number six in the United States.[2] It was also used as a theme song for Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves.

Overview

The term "tubthumper" is commonly used for someone, often a politician, seeming to "jump on the bandwagon" with a populist idea. The liner notes on the album Tubthumper, from which "Tubthumping" was the first single, put the song in a radical context, quoting a UK anti-road protester, Paris 1968 graffiti, details about the famous McLibel case and the short story "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner".

"Tubthumping" was placed at number 12 in Rolling Stone‍ '​s list of the 20 Most Annoying Songs.[3] Most recently, Matthew Wilkening of AOL Radio ranked the song at number 35 on the list of the 100 Worst Songs Ever, exclaiming as if in command, "Please, let's all keep knocking [Chumbawamba] down. I don't care what they say, eventually they'll stay down for good."[4] Conversely, "Tubthumping" was voted as the second-best single of 1997 on The Village Voice‍ '​s Pazz & Jop annual critics' poll, after Hanson‍ '​s "MMMBop".

The cover art for the single is based on the logo for the manufacturing company of Arm & Hammer.

The band has performed the song with alternative lyrics on numerous occasions. When performing on the Late Show with David Letterman, a chant of "Free Mumia Abu-Jamal" accompanied only by a drumbeat preceded the final chorus. At the 1998 BRIT Awards, the band performed the song with the added line "New Labour sold out the dockers, just like they'll sell out the rest of us" in protest at the New Labour government's refusal to support the Liverpool dockers' strike. A French version of the song was produced for the French Canadian market.

The song was played as the Flight Day 4 "wake up call" during the final Space Shuttle STS-135 mission and flight of Atlantis in July 2011 for astronaut Sandy Magnus.

The band received an offer of $1.5 million from Nike to use the song in a World Cup advertisement.[5] According to the band it took about "thirty seconds to say no."[5] They did, however, license the song to American video game company Electronic Arts for use as the opening theme of the game World Cup '98, and in television advertisements for the National Accident Helpline, a profit-making firm specialising in personal injury lawyers. It featured in the Knocked Down advertisement for the National Accident Helpline in 2012 which features the Underdog character.

Structure

The single version opens with the repeated line "We'll be singing when we're winning", in the style of a football chant, with sparse acoustic guitar backing. The football chant style is re-used for the chorus.

The album version of the song opens with a sample of a monologue performed by Pete Postlethwaite in the 1996 film Brassed Off.[6]

The song includes the repeated verse line "Pissing the night away", which returns in the later part of the song as "Sing sing the night away". The song also quotes the lead refrain from the 1910 Frederic Weatherly ballad "Danny Boy", which is sung in a verse counter-melody.

The trumpet solo, performed by Jude Abbott, is played in a jazz/pop style but with a multi-tracked fanfare. Towards the end of the song the trumpet part references the Baroque Prince of Denmark's March and the Trumpet Voluntary.

Tubthumping (Remix)

"Tubthumping (Remix)" was released in 2003 as a promotional CD by Chumbawamba on their MUTT Records label. The remixed version of the song was done by The Flaming Lips and Dave Fridmann. It is a slower version of the song, with a more minor key feeling to the music.

The other two songs on the CD were taken from the album Readymades and Then Some.

Track listings and formats

  1. "Tubthumping" (remix) (by The Flaming Lips and Dave Fridmann)
  2. "Salt Fare, North Sea" (vocal sample by Lal Waterson and Olly Knight)
  3. "Jacob's Ladder (Not in My Name)" (vocal sample by Harry Cox from the song "The Pretty Ploughboy")
12" promo (Universal, 1997)
  1. "Tubthumping" (MAWR mix)
  2. "Tubthumping" (original album mix)
  3. "Tubthumping" (Timeshard mix)
  4. "Tubthumping" (Gunshot mix)
CD single 1 (EMI, 1997)
  1. "Tubthumping" (original recording)
  2. "Farewell to the Crown" (featuring Oysterband)
  3. "Football Song"
  4. "Tubthumping" (Butthumping mix)
  5. "Tubthumping" (Danny Boy remix)
CD single 2 (EMI, 1997)
  1. "Tubthumping" (original/Invincible mix)
  2. "Tubthumping" (Butthumping mix)
  3. "Tubthumping" (Danny Boy remix)
  4. "Tubthumping" (MAWR mix)
  5. "Tubthumping" (Timeshard mix)
  6. "Tubthumping" (Gunshot mix)

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (1997) Peak
position
scope="row"Australia (ARIA)[7] 1
scope="row"Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[8] 14
scope="row"Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[9] 9
scope="row"Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[10] 30
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[11] 1
Canada Alternative 30 (RPM)[12] 1
scope="row" France (SNEP)[13] 38
scope="row" Germany (Media Control Charts)[14] 11
Ireland (IRMA)[15] 1
Italy (FIMI)[16] 1
scope="row"Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[17] 10
scope="row" New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[18] 1
scope="row" Norway (VG-lista)[19] 2
scope="row" Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 6
scope="row" Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] 14
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)[22] 2
US Billboard Hot 100[23] 6
US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[24] 1
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[25] 1
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[26] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1997) Position
Australia[27] 3
Canadian RPM Singles Chart[28] 24
US Billboard Hot 100[29] 69
Chart (1998) Position
US Billboard Hot 100[30] 35

See also

References

  1. ↑ Topping, Alexandra (9 September 2011). "Chumbawamba go Tubthumping crazy over Ukip's use of No1 hit". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ Rolling Stone at the Wayback Machine (archived March 31, 2014)
  4. ↑ Wilkening, Matthew (11 September 2010). "100 Worst Songs Ever -- Part Four of Five". AOL Radio. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Klein, Naomi No Logo New York. Picador. 2000. pg 301
  6. ↑ Vallance, Tom (January 4, 2011). "Pete Postlethwaite: Distinctive, prolific actor, acclaimed by Spielberg as 'the best in the world'". The Independent.
  7. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Chumbawamba – Tubthumping". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  8. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Chumbawamba – Tubthumping" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  9. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Chumbawamba – Tubthumping" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  10. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Chumbawamba – Tubthumping" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  11. ↑ "Tubthumping in Canadian Top Singles Chart". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  12. ↑ "Tubthumping in Canadian Rock/Alternative Singles Chart". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  13. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Chumbawamba – Tubthumping" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  14. ↑ "Chartverfulgong > Chumbawamba > Tubthumping – musicline.de" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  15. ↑ "Tubthumping in Irish Chart". IRMA. Retrieved 4 June 2013. Only one result when searching "Chumbawamba" or "Tubthumping"
  16. ↑ "The best-selling singles of 1997 in Italy". HitParadeItalia (it). Retrieved 4 June 2013.
    13. Tubthumping - Chumbawamba [#1, 1997/98]
  17. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Chumbawamba search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  18. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Chumbawamba – Tubthumping". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  19. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Chumbawamba – Tubthumping". VG-lista. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  20. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Chumbawamba – Tubthumping". Singles Top 60. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  21. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Chumbawamba – Tubthumping". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  22. ↑ "Chumbawamba". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  23. ↑ "Chumbawamba Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot 100 for Chumbawamba. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  24. ↑ "Chumbawamba Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Alternative Songs for Chumbawamba. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  25. ↑ "Chumbawamba Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Adult Pop Songs for Chumbawamba. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  26. ↑ "Chumbawamba Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Pop Songs for Chumbawamba. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  27. ↑ http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-end-of-year-charts-top-100-singles-1997.htm
  28. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 66, No. 15, December 15, 1997". RPM. Retrieved 2011-07-05.
  29. ↑ "Billboard Top 100 - 1997". Retrieved 2010-08-28.
  30. ↑ "Billboard Top 100 - 1998". Retrieved 2010-08-28.

External links