Tubthumping

"Tubthumping (I Get Knocked Down)", 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 on the US Billboard Hot 100. At the 1998 Brit Awards, "Tubthumping" was nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Single.

Overview

Following the UK miners' strike the Punk band inspired by Frank Zappa changed to making political music designed for mainstream audience.

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. 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".