Tubthumping: an anthem for always

Posted on by Ellen Gregory

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been dealing with some stuff… Dayjob stuff. The kind of stuff that doesn’t usually impinge here on this blog, but which right now has my head spinning a little bit. OK, a lot.

After a restructure at work, I’m left hunting for a new dayjob (blah) which is sapping my creativity a little bit. OK, a lot. I had grand plans for February-March-April on the WIP writing front. Oh yes, I did. But right now that’s been somewhat stifled as I try to wrestle my life back into control and regather my mojo.

And through this ordeal, the song resounding in my head is this:

Tubthumping by Chumbawamba is an iconic 1997 rock-lark that ought to be an anthem for writers and other creative types — or indeed anyone striving to succeed in a competitive field.

I get knocked down but I get up again
You’re never gonna keep me down
(repeat)

Round and round my head it goes. Right down to the drinking… (He drinks a Whiskey drink, he drinks a Vodka drink, he drinks a Lager drink, he drinks a Cider drink, he sings the songs that remind him of the good times, he sings the songs that remind him of the best times…)

It’s a very silly song and an equally silly video clip (and may have little musical merit…); but at the same time it epitomises the struggle so many of us go through as we write, workshop, edit, query, write, edit, deal with rejection/bad reviews/bad sales, write, edit…

We do get knocked down and we must get up again — and keep going. Repeatedly.

I loved this song when it first came out and right now it’s my inspiration of the week. I’d love to hear of any other inspirational anthems that help others get through those head-spinning, gut-wrenching, drive-you-to-drink-and-copious-quantities-of-icecream ordeals.

In the meantime, let your hair down and sing along with me…

 

18 thoughts on “Tubthumping: an anthem for always”

  1. Ellen, first, loved this song in ’97 and love it still. After 11 months of house-for-sale-then-sold-waiting-for-the-closing limbo, my MoJo is discombobulated. I so needed this anthem today. Energy boost is most welcome.

    Off to thump my tub!

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  2. Sometimes it’s harder to get back up than others, but you are right ~ we must get up again. There aren’t any other good choices, really. Love the song ~ it has always pumped me up! Thanks 🙂

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  3. Hey, they did a lot of things right with this song, or it wouldn’t have been as big a hit. And yeah, resilience is EVERYTHING. Hang in there, baby!

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    1. Sometimes the simple things are the most effective… And hey, at least I can remember the lyrics! (OK, I had to look them up, but it’s been a while.) Resilience IS everything, but I do need the self-talk sometimes. 🙂

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    1. Thanks, Alina ~ I’m sure everything will pan out OK… and soon I hope I’ll get a period between jobs when I have more time to write, which can only be a good thing. 🙂

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    1. That’s actually my biggest frustration. The whole situation has hacked my creativity and energy into tiny ragged pieces and is blowing them around the room — in view, but not quite catchable. I’m hoping it will get a bit better when I finish up at work.

      “I will survive” is a great choice! Thanks.

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  6. I didn’t even have to click on the link to have the song start playing in my head. It’s a GREAT song to remind us to keep getting up whenever we get knocked down. As Liv so wisely said, Resilience is Everything.

    So sorry you’re going through job stress. Choosing to change jobs is stressful enough, but when your hand is forced it becomes way more stressful. Sending you hugs and positive vibes in finding that next day job that doesn’t suck your creative energy. 🙂

    I was sitting here trying to come up with a good song recommendation for you and these are the songs that popped into my head: Aretha Franklin’s Respect and Nina Simone’s Feeling Good (for the soulful songstress in you), and Queen’s We Will Rock You, Lenny Kravitz’s Are You Going to Go My Way, Pat Benetar’s Hit Me With Your Best Shot, and Pink’s So What (for the badass rocker in you). They may not be your cuppa tea, but they often work for me.

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    1. Thanks, Tami – I’m going to hunt down the Nina Simone song, because I don’t know it… The others are also great anthems.

      As for “finding the next dayjob that doesn’t suck [my] creative energy”… that is definitely the plan! Thanks for the positive vibes.

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  7. Confession, I saw the title of this song and it instantly started playing in my head. Turns out that’s a very good thing because when I happily clicked on the link with gleeful anticipation of hearing the real deal, I was slam-dunked with this meanie message: This Video contains content from EMI Music Publishing and UMG. It is not available in your country. HUH???? What the — oh, cruel cruel internet world!

    I’m just gonna come out and admit that discombobulated (pardon me Sherry whilst I steal away your word) is definitely the state of the union in my little world. Today, I opened up the WIP after too long a time away, and what was gloriously beautiful when first tucked away on hiatus, has turned into hackneyed and horrifying dribble in the current day.

    Argggg…definitely taking a moment to let my hair down and sing along with you, Ellen.

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    1. Oh that is NOT cool the song won’t play! Where are you? It never occurred to be YouTube might be region specific… (although the number of times I encounter kindle books on Amazon I can’t buy…!)

      I’m sure your WIP isn’t as bad as you think. Although I know that feeling very well ~ I just have to look at what I produced during NaNoWriMo! Although it wasn’t all complete trash.

      Gee, I really need to get back to that…

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  8. My hair is already down and I wouldn’t inflict my horrific singing upon my most implacable foe, but I do have these octopus pom poms I can shake *shakes octopus pom poms*

    Sorry about the job loss 😦 I know from personal experience that the uncertainty can be stressful, but often these things have a way of bringing new opportunities. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that something awesome is coming your way really soon 🙂

    The fingers that aren’t holding the pom poms, that is 😉

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  9. Pingback: “You’re never gonna keep me down” | Steven Allen Adams

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