The group Chumbawamba, a punk band from Britain known for its anarchist views, has made a request to New Zealand’s deputy prime minister, Winston Peters, to refrain from using their popular song “Tubthumping” at his gatherings and public appearances. This is because the band disagrees with the political beliefs and strategies of Peters, who is often associated with populism.
Peters, a seasoned politician whose party New Zealand First is a part of the coalition government, has incorporated the song into his public appearances and referenced its lyrics from 1997, “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” in his speeches.
Last week, Peters incorporated the song into his state of the nation address, during which he touched on various subjects such as removing gender and sexuality education from school curricula and equating co-governance between Māori and the Crown to the racial theories of Nazi Germany.
According to Boff Whalley, the lead guitarist of the band, Chumbawamba did not authorize Peters to use their song. Furthermore, the band disagrees with Peters’ views on race relations and urges him to refrain from using their song to support his misguided political beliefs.
According to Whalley, Chumbawamba’s song “Tubthumping” was intended to convey a message of hope and optimism. It is therefore strange to see New Zealand’s deputy prime minister, Winston Peters, using the famous refrain “I get knocked down…” in his speeches to promote his controversial, narrow-minded, and prejudiced policies.
“[We] would like to remind him that the song was written for and about ordinary people and their resilience, not about rich politicians trying to win votes by courting absurd conspiracy theories and spouting misguided racist ideologies.”
The group has requested that their record label, Sony Music Publishing, send a cease and desist letter to the event in question.
Peters did not reply to the Guardian’s inquiry for a statement, however, he made two posts on X (previously known as Twitter) where he addressed the issue. He stated, “The report regarding the use of the Chumbawamba song is the work of a journalist with a left-leaning agenda who purposely sought out a former member of the band that dissolved twelve years ago. This biased source attempted to twist my speech and create a poorly executed story that only reinforces my stance on media organizations like this.”
According to him, the band or their representatives have not issued any cease-and-desist notice to New Zealand First, nor does he anticipate receiving one.
Peters stated that the reporter would not have published this nonsensical information if they had a proper understanding of the law instead of biased and incorrect news.
In a subsequent update, he commented: “It appears that the media is more interested in the Chumbawamba incident than we are. We are not concerned about it. There is no need to ‘stop or discontinue’. The song was a success at our first public gathering following the election, and the 700+ attendees agreed. If a ‘stop and desist’ letter ever comes, we will make sure to keep it in a secure location. I would have used another popular song title of theirs in this post, but they only have one.”
Stuff, a news source in New Zealand, recently stated that Apra Amcos, an organization responsible for music licensing, would be sending a cease and desist notification to New Zealand First on behalf of Sony Music Publishing.
Apra stated that the location where Peters gave his address on the state of the nation, the Palmerston North convention centre owned by the council, is authorized for public musical events. However, this authorization does not cover music performances that could imply support for a specific artist, business, political party, or cause.
Apra stated that it is common for political parties to request permission to use music, but they did not seek approval from New Zealand First or Peters.
Chumbawamba has previously requested that a party cease using their song. This has occurred before, as in 2011 when the band expressed their dismay at UK politician Nigel Farage for using the hit at a Ukip conference.
The National party of New Zealand was directed to pay Eminem $600,000 as the court ruled that they had violated copyright by using a version of the rapper’s hit song, Lose Yourself, in a political campaign ad.
Source: theguardian.com
