Tim Booth discusses “infuriating” ordeal after Tommy Robinson used James song without permission
In an exclusive interview with Far Out, James frontman Tim Booth has opened up on the “infuriating” ordeal following the unauthorised use of ‘Sit Down’ by Tommy Robinson.
In September, Booth took to social media to hit back at the far-right activist for using the classic song, without permission, as the backdrop for a social media post celebrating the turnout at his Unite the Kingdom rally, which saw Elon Musk deliver a speech via video link.
Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was estimated to have been attended by more than 100,000 people, who congregated at Whitehall.
The James frontman wrote in response to seeing Robinson’s post on X: “Disgusted to see the cynical use of ‘Sit Down’by Tommy Robinson. No permission was granted, and we are looking into our options.”
He continued, “The song and most of our topical lyrics, make it very clear where we stand, and it’s the antithesis of this organization.”
Now, speaking to Far Out in an exclusive interview, Booth stated that it’s a song they rarely allow it to be permitted to be used elsewhere, revealing, “We either let artistic projects have it or something really heartfelt like a charity. So, we’ve been very protective of that song, because we know what it means to people.”
He also explained his personal connection to the track, “I sang it to my father-in-law an hour before he died of Covid. So, it was infuriating to see it be used for such a divisive march that clearly has overtones of racism.”
The frontman clarified that he’s not saying that everyone on the march is racist, but highlighted the involvement of “Elon Musk with his salutes”.
He continued, “It’s outrageous that they can just take our music and think they can put it to that. It’s bullshit. It’s ours, and we have a right to protect it from that kind of use.”
After sharing his discontent with the use of ‘Sit Down’ without permission, Booth was greeted by “hundreds of tweets of abuse,” which he labels as “really aggressive and unpleasant”.
While Robinson never issued an apology to James or deleted the post, the video was later removed due to a successful report from the copyright owner.
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