Released 1997 Writer(s) Chumbawamba | Format CD single Producer(s) Chumbawamba | |
Length 4:38 (album version)
3:33 (single edit) Label EMI (UK)
Universal (US) | ||
"Tubthumping" is a song released by British rock band Chumbawamba in 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 (although it topped the US Modern Rock and Mainstream Top 40 charts). At the 1998 Brit Awards, "Tubthumping" was nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Single.
Contents
Overview
Following the UK miners' strike, Chumbawamba, inspired by Frank Zappa, began making music with political themes, while designed for mainstream listening.
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".
The cover art for the single is based on the logo for the manufacturing company of Arm & Hammer.
The song consists of lead vocals by Dunstan Bruce and Lou Watts, and features Jude Abbott on trumpet.
Appearances in popular culture
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.
"Tubthumping" 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 Sandra Magnus.
The album version of the song opens with a sample of a monologue performed by Pete Postlethwaite in the 1996 film Brassed Off.
In 2011, the UK Independence Party used the song at a political conference to accompany the arrival of Nigel Farage. The band stated that this was a "gross misuse of a band's music", described their own reaction as "total and absolute outrage and horror", and said that UKIP was "a grubby little organisation" which was "stealing (the) song to use for their own ends".
The band received an offer of $1.5 million from Nike to use the song in a World Cup advertisement. According to the band, it took about "thirty seconds to say no." The song was, however, licensed by EA Sports (a brand of Electronic Arts) for use in the introduction sequence of their 1998 video game FIFA World Cup '98.
A segment of the song is used in motivational speaker Judson Laipply's famous Evolution of Dance viral video clip on YouTube.
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
12" promo (Universal, 1997)
Side A
- "Tubthumping" (MAWR mix Pablo/Lawrie) – 5:10
- "Tubthumping" (Original mix) – 3:33
Side B
- "Tubthumping" (TimeShard mix) – 4:57
- "Tubthumping" (Gunshot mix) – 5:17
CD Single (EMI, 1997)
- "Tubthumping" [from the album Tubthumper] – 3:33
- "Farewell to the Crown" [featuring the Oysterband] – 2:57
- "Football Song" ["Shit ground, no fans..."] – 2:26
- "Tubthumping" (Butthumping mix) [Remixed by Ism] – 5:23
- "Tubthumping" (Danny Boy mix) [Remixed by the Dr Quantize Clinic] – 5:38
CD Maxi-single (EMI, 1997)
- "Tubthumping" [from the album Tubthumper] – 3:34
- "Tubthumping" (Butthumping mix) [Remixed by Ism] – 5:24
- "Tubthumping" (Danny Boy mix) – 5:38
- "Tubthumping" (MAWR mix/Pablo & Lawrie) – 5:11
- "Tubthumping" (TimeShard mix) – 4:59
- "Tubthumping" (Gunshot mix) – 5:20
Tubthumping (remix) (Koch, 2003)
- "Tubthumping" (remix) (by The Flaming Lips and Dave Fridmann) – 5:20
- "Salt Fare, North Sea" – 4:28
- "Jacob's Ladder (Not in My Name)" – 2:52