Music fans are fascinated by one-hit wonders. They are, by their very definition, an anomaly of sorts. There also tends to be quite a bit of mystery surrounding what happened to the artists behind these beloved songs. Then there's the fact many of these one-hit wonders have made these artists a ludicrous amount of money despite their other work not finding the audience they likely hoped for.
Among the best and most enduring one-hit wonders of the 1990s is Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping", better known as "I Get Knocked Down, But I Get Up Again". While Chumbawamba spent 30 years making a body of music their die-hard fans adored, the UK band was really only known for what has gone down as one of the best drinking songs of all time. "Tubthumping" is also a wonderful song of encouragement. And yet, there seems to be quite a bit of confusion as to the true meaning of the song...
Who Are Chumbawamba?
Allan "Boff" Whalley, Danbert Nobacon, Midge, and Tomi are the founding members of Chumbawamba and were later joined by Lou Watts and quite a few others. The band debuted in 1982 and made music for about 30 years. The band became known in the punk community for its anarcho-communist ideologies. Their music emphasized their goal of standing up for gay rights, animal rights, feminism, and fighting against classism.
Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, their music evolved in ways that didn't always resonate with their original anti-establishment punk fanbase. The decision to sign with EMI records was met with particular animosity from their target audience. After all, they had always preached against capitalism. The decision was criticized because they seemed like hypocrites in search of a profit. Although given the incredible amount of work they put into their music for nearly two decades, they deserved some money to keep them going. And there's no doubt their time with EMI, however brief, was lucrative. Thanks to their song, "Tubthumping" in 1997, Chumbawamba broke into the mainstream.
There's no doubt that "Tubthumping" is better known as "I Get Knocked Down, But I Get Up Again". According to MEL Magazine, the song was the band's biggest (and only) international hit. It debuted at number 2 on the UK chart and rose to number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in America. It was also a smash-hit in Canada and all over Europe. It's sold over a million copies in the UK alone and earned a Brit Award nomination in 1998.
The True Meaning Of Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping"
There's no doubt that "Tubthumping" is an inspirational song. It's hard not to take the theme of overcoming adversity away from the anthem punk song. But what does it all really mean?
According to Song Meanings And Facts, there are few meanings to be derived from the ludicrously successful song. First and foremost, it is a drinking song. According to Boff Whalley, the song was inspired by a neighbor of his in Ireland. This neighbor, who always sang "Danny Boy" (hence the reference in the song) would come home drunk many a night and fall down on his face. And yet, he would continue to get up again and again.
While it's certainly about perseverance, it is very much a drinking song. After all, the repeated lyric of "Pissin' the night away" is an English version of "Drinkin' the night away".
But the song also became about the reliance of the common man. The drunk neighbor stumbling home was symbolic of the struggles of the middle class, held down by the elite. This meaning is very much in line with the anti-establishment and anarchist messaging of a lot of Chumbawamba's work.
As for the name of the song, a 'tub-thumper' is a name for a campaigning politician in England. As a verb, it refers to one expressing their views in a wild manner. So, it connects the notions of the song being about drinking, perseverance, as well as class struggles.
"Tubthumping became known to some purely as a drinking song," Boff Whalley, the founding member of Chumbawamba, said, according to Jacobin Mag. "Which is fair enough, because, if nothing else, it didn’t belong to an elite group of musicians — it belonged to people. People at football matches, people singing along to the radio as they drove, people at parties drinking too much whiskey and tripping over the kitchen chairs. People like me. And because it helped beggar the notion that Chumbawamba were boring zealots on a mission from Planet Anarchy."
What Happened To Chumbawamba?
Like many of the one-hit-wonder bands from the 1990s, Chumbawamba is no longer together. They announced their split in July 2012 after 30 years of making music. All of the former band members got together for a set of final shows in the fall of 2012 and recorded the shows for DVD release. This was followed by a statement on their website that read, "That's it then, it's the end. With neither a whimper, a bang, or a reunion."
While the band is seen as a one-hit-wonder, it's clear that the band members don't hold animosity toward the song that gave them this designation. After all, it seemingly combined all of the genres they experimented with since their debut in the early 1980s.
"To 99 percent of people we just had that one song, but there is always the 1 percent who listen to the rest of the album and like it enough to listen to more," Boff Whalley said to The Guardian. "I still really like 'Tubthumping.' I don’t feel embarrassed by it at all. I know some bands who hate their songs being popular, but I just think, 'Get off your high horse!' The whole point of art is to have an audience."