Codes and Lyrics

People no doubt remember that song from the mid to late nineties that has the lyrics “We get knocked down/ but we get up again”. What they may not remember is that the band that put that song out was called “Chumbawumba” and that the song is not called “We Get Knocked Down”, but instead it’s called “Tubthumping”. While some people may have found the song annoying and repetitive, it was a bonified hit around the world, hitting number six on the United States chart.

The thing that people probably don’t’ understand is that Chumbawumba was one of the most politically charged bands of the 1990′s. In fact, “Tubthumping” is a song about politicians and campaigning. Those who bought the album were met with a fiercely political album, with songs that didn’t exactly match the poppy, “joyful” feeling of “Tubthumping”. It’s one of those situations where a band gets big on a song that doesn’t exactly match the rest of their catalog.

While “Tubthumping” was the bands biggest hit, they continue to release music to this day. While the average person may know them as a poppy band who were a “one hit wonder”, they continue to be as political today as they were when they started.