Chumbawamba - one by one, 1997

"Everyone remembers where they were when they learned that Chumbawamba was more than a ‘90s one-hit-wonder and actually a long-running anarcho-communist punk band with a loyal following in jolly ol’ England; it may even be happening to you right now! Mel Magazine is marking the 25th anniversary of 1997 and wrote about the alcohol-propelled Trojan horse that was “Tubthumping,” a song that brought the band’s subversive politics to the top of the Billboard Alternative charts and provided the pop culture zeitgeist with one of the most memorable choruses of the decade."

 

Pontius Pilate came to our town

Up to the dockyards to see the

picket line

We asked him to help but he just

turned around

He's the leader of the union now

Leader of the union

All of our questions he ignored

He washed his hands and he

dreamed of his reward

A seat in the House of Lords

One by one

The ships come sailing in

One by one

The ships go sailing out

We live for words and die for words

Principles we can afford

When all our Brothers turn to Lords

Whose side are you on?

You tell the world your hands are

tied

History three times denied

A sea of changes three miles wide

Whose side are you on?

One by one

The ships come sailing in

One by one

The ships go sailing out

This conspiracy of shame

Murder by some other name

Play up and play the game

Whose side are you on?

If any ask us why we died

We tell them that our leaders lied

Sold us out down the riverside

Whose side are you on?

One by one

The ships come sailing in

One by one

The ships go sailing out