Pass it Along

Album: WYSIWYG (2000)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song was released at a time when many people were getting on the internet and using email for the first time. This was before spam filters, so there were lots of chain emails floating around, asking you to send the message to a bunch of other people. These new digital chain letters replaced the old-fashioned kind where you had to write letters and mail them.

    In this song, Chumbawamba asks us to "pass it along by word of mouse," meaning on our computers. But why stop there? We can do everything virtually and never leave the house - saves a lot of trouble.
  • Originally recorded by Chumbawamba for their 20000 album, WYSIWYG, the band was paid $100,000 by General Motors for a rock remix to be used in a Pontiac commercial circa 2002. However, the anarcho-punk outfit then donated 100% of the proceeds to activist groups for the purpose of beginning information and environmental campaigns against General Motors.

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