» The Soundtrack of your Life

Tubthumping
In early 2000 I had an eye operation (detached retina) which left me mentally and physically in a very bad place. Literally overnight I had gone from having perfect vision to painful, blurred double vision. To make matters worse, the "medical profession" seemed not to give a rat's arse about the state I had been left in. The operation had technically been a success, and that was all they wanted to know. Upshot was I was virtually housebound for a month, unable to work, go running or do any of the normal stuff I was used to. My personality changed much for the worse and I became borderline alcoholic.

One of the few things that helped drag me back from this dark place was Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping". I had only got hold of this track as part of a compilation CD and I'm not even sure how I ended up listening to it. Nevertheless, its simple, good-natured but defiant chorus of "I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down" repeated over and over was exactly what I needed to hear and that track ended up being played over and over and over - often to the accompaniement of me bawling my eyes (sorry - eye) out.

Even now, ten years later, it sends a shiver down my spine to listen to.
(Thu 28th Jan 2010, 17:40, More)