I think the parts that speak the most to me are “If you called your dad, he could stop it all” combined with “Never fail like common people”. Partly because this reminds me of a story an older coworker once told me, about a friend's daughter, who back in the 70' did the (as I remember him telling it) leftie/hippie thing (to live like common people), and moved to an old quarter of the town (I think it was around the time young left-leaning people occupied part of it, to save the quarter from being razed (I think that quarter was built in the mid-to-late 1800s, so communal outhouses)). Anyhow, when she got pregnant, she had her dad to buy her a modern flat and moved there. Further on the topic of “fail like common people do”, money (and fame) is apparently very useful when you're suspected of, or sentenced for having, committed a crime. E.G: having enough money to post bail (from what I've understood (I don't live in a country with that system), it's much easier to defend yourself/prove your innocence/get a good lawyer (or if nothing else, there's a correlation with being able to post bail and afford better defence), besides, look up how many have got away with killing people). not to mention if you get a $2,500 to $5,000 fine (amount taken from the Wiki). To normal people, that's quite a lot to pay as, about half of US citizens have ≤ $500 in their savings, while another 29% have between $501 - $5,000 (according to an article on CNBC). Which I take as about 80% of US Americans could either lose their entire savings or get (as the majority of them) into deep debt, for a fine. While some people can, in essence, afford to burn double that amount, without a second (or first, for that matter) thought.
@paulanthony5274 you should definitely check out Blouse. They didn't release too much but their classic "Me Oh Myra" is a controversial one. I originally bought the single because of all the fuss. Then I threw it out and went to buy another copy because I liked the song.
Recently, my dad passed. 59. This was my dad’s favourite song. Every so often, I’d put the record on and we’d listen to it in the car. He said it reminded him of when he met my mother. I love you so much, dad. You meant the world to me, and still do.
Everytime i read a comment like this, it makes me cry. I still remember how my dad and me listened to his favourite music in the car. I´m so sorry for your loss, 59 is way too early.
This was played at my mate's funeral. She was only 32y and we all used to play and sing this when we were younger. As we are all getting older, this song always reminds me that you never got to be old. R.I.P Sheree, mate. You'll never be common or forgotten. ❤ Xx
I am so sorry for your loss. We played at our wedding as our first song as it was so dear and true to us. This was 22 years ago and I still play it. It's one of my favourit songs ever.
This is my song, after an abusive 11 year marriage, I divorced him, got a job behind a bar finally single but with 3 small children. Played this every weekend I was getting ready for work 1999 .. Still brings tears to my eye's of the freedom I felt ❤ like it was yesterday ❤
Life was simple and happy in the 90s because we were mostly still in school and had no adult responsibilities, I agree take me back. Being 40 sucks lol.
The fashion usually come back again.The technologies the CIBERSECURITY.When we WERE youngs.Now THEY understand the new concepts OF cyberwarfare/cybersecurity/cyberattacks/disinformation/Cyberdefense/cyberspy/cybrrsabotages/terror....ATTACKING, infiltrating in the systems and try to repress, to control NATIONS.So the misery FOR you.We NEVER SURRENDER.WE NEVER LIKED THE III WWW IN THE EUROPEA. CONTINENT! 🔱
The line that hits the hardest is - "You'll never fail like common people, and watch your life slide out of view", because it's so true. People from poor areas of the country often try so hard to have better lives, but we fail and fail and fail. Because the odds are stacked against you. And decades go by, where we're just stuck. It's only in my mid 40s that I've started to succeed a little, and to experience some of the things I've always dreamed of. And I'm not talking big things - just foreign holidays, car ownership and innocent things like that. Trying and failing is something that really defines being working class. We're very aspirational - we just don't succeed that often.
I'm glad that you are finally experiencing those things! From a person who is not experiencing those things and hoping to experience those things someday..
@Keith Kristi ""The thing with 'Common People' is that it starts at 90bpm and finishes at 160bpm, with each verse cranking it up. We recorded four or five takes of the band track and, as they weren't recorded to a click, some of them didn't end up at 160; they ended up at different tempos. It was totally freeform, with everyone following Jarvis's guide vocal which just got faster and faster and faster" David Nicholas, Sound Engineer
@@FuturCrayon and man, am I glad. Still play it regularly for a fullsome laugh. What crescendo!....and I gotta tell ya W Shatners with Joe Jackson ain't too shabby either..
Oh man I FEEL you!! I'm exactly the same, being young then was just amazing, the music, the clothes, the tv programmes, I felt like the world belonged to me and my friends, and for a little while it really did
@@beatricemaude4426 They work harder than you. I mean 80-hour weeks. A chap my folks are friends with was boss of a global hotel chain. He get a few days off at Christmas and worked the rest of the time. The other type are the lottery winners.
Many forget (or some never knew) that Pulp had been around for over a decade by the time they had this hit. During the 90s they were one of the most underrated British bands and Jarvis Cocker one of the most underrated songwriters.
I saw Pulp in concert in Adelaide at the Thebarton Theatre, many years ago. I was right up the front, naturally! Jarvis was singing this and pointed to me when he sang 'common people like YOU".😆 I was thrilled!
Back in 1981, I was in a band playing in little pubs in Sheffield. We knew Jarvis as he was always out (!) and was quite happy to chat. We even played a few gigs with them on the bill - higher up, of course even then. Years later in 1995, I was an art teacher in Lincolnshire and one morning, around the time Pulp really went massive, told my tutor group that many years ago I used to know Jarvis a bit etc etc.... The rumour mill churned away all day. Each time a new class came in, I was asked increasingly ridiculous questions, 'Sir, were you in a band with Jarvis Cocker?' etc.... The zenith was reached with the final class of the day, one of whom burst in and shouted, 'Sir! Are YOU Jarvis Cocker?!'
"You will never understand How it feels to live your life With no meaning or control And with nowhere left to go" Some all time killer emotions right there. Amazing lyrics.
Oh man! I think I've listened to this, both live versions and the album version every second day for the last 8 months. The Redding 2011 live performance is mind-blowing. 100% agree
This is the epitomy of song. The emotion, melody and lyrics are all phenomenal, and perfectly in sync. I suspect it's because it's done without thinking. It's from the heart.
One of my favorite quotes from the film "Yesterday", "Some of the best songs never made it to number one. Common People by Pulp, for a start. It’s a total classic."
This song has everything! Great lyrics, sharp social commentary, and a perfect blend of conversational and musical tones in the performance. I could listen to it forever. Maybe I will. Signing out to play it again.
For some reason I missed Pulp during my younger years and heard this song when I was 58. I'm stunned by it, and each time I listen, something lumps up in my throat. Just amazing. Such a great criticism of our society.
This is one of only a few songs I can think of that has something to say, but also doesn't take itself too seriously. That is extremely rare in music, and art in general for that matter. It's the Kurt Vonnegut of songs.
@@Johnny_T779 Yes but sometimes even those ironic songs take themselves too seriously. If you have never heard it before listen to "Losing My Edge" by LCD Soundsystem. That might be the best example of what I mean by a song not taking itself too seriously but saying something.
@@hippiemuslim Cost of living crisis,fuel profiteering,disastrous "mini-budget",you name it. 2022 has done its darnedest to make the bulk of the people feel a bit more "common".
Found this song through comments on some pixies songs. Wow wow wow. An absolutely gun track I can't explain why but it brought a gulp to my throat and a tear to my eye
The line 'we dance and drink and screw - because there's nothing else to do' and 'You are amazed that they exist and they burn so bright whilst you can only wonder why' get me every time. They make me proud to be a common man, but remind me that the richest and most priveleged people know nothing about our lives and struggles.
Great voice on this guy, first heard this in 1974, I had just started work as an apprentice at Hoover in Greenford, and they used to play the radio over the PA for 2 hours a day. Am approaching retirement now and this song ( and a few others) have stayed with me all those years
@@jclancy8246 hahahahahha used to cry my soul out listening to that line when i was depressed in uni realising that im fucked anyway(a cog in the machine and all that shit)...
@@MojoBonzo fair play to you, did you find those thoughts lessened once you started a career? Cos i cant imagine working a full time week for 40 years id rather live in a van or something...
@@juanjvp06 Defo. In the states at that time, not a breath of them, even on the alt programs. But they def weren't singing praises of capitalism, so it's understandable? Tho since then, the UK has more than started to embrace the capitalist culture. Voting in a Johnson lead tories...well welcome the extortionist prices of American health care soon. He'll smile and hold your hand when you're paying through the nose for a simple presce 😐
@@VegGeorgie i'll add my yes it is. it is not deep because it's difficult or because it tells about complex concepts. it's deep because it reflects the depth of the nothingness you can do when you are stuck with your back against the wall and hear people going on about how you can really start shitting gold bullions if you really believe in yourself and if you really want to.
i walked past jarvis a few weeks ago and he must have noticed i recognised him because he looked at me and pulled a silly face/stuck his tongue out. it was a strange moment lol
great moment shared between just u and him to allways remember..............but now its on you tube so its not as good and most probaly a lie..lol ihad too
Only 45 million views is an insult. This song was not widely aired much in the u.s. I found it much later, is one of the best dynamicly changing songs of all time.
My emerging dance style around 1996 was, I noticed, unconsciously Jarvis mixed well in equals part with Travolta and that then fuelled by just fucking great indie and rock nights... well, as a once-shy INFP kid I think there would have been a lot less of the great kissing without it. So, thanks Jarvis man.
I lived in Chelsea during this period of Cool Britannia / Brit Pop . It was just the coolest time ever . Music , fashion ,food and art where all perfectly aligned . Incredible times
Jarvis Cocker is the epitome of a great frontman...and this is a timeless classic as is proven by the amount of us still here in 2022...i was 16 when this came out in the Britpop era 💚
does anyone else come back to songs from their childhood, and then realise that they never really understood what the songs was actually about, it's nice gaining a new appreciation for something.
I love the way he gets more agressive with the phrase "Wanna live with common people like you" when he repeats it at the end. It's pretty much him being like "The AUDACITY of this BITCH."
An age old rhetorical device and Jarvis nails it. As good as Mark Antony in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar - by the end of that speach Antony has the Roman crowd baying for the blood of Ceasar's assassins using the repeated phrase "...the noble Brutus..." more and more caustically.
1.40 is when the penny drops and it became a song about the Haves getting down with the Have Nots. Its was open class war from that point on and highlights the total misunderstanding between the classes.
In the next aisle over in that supermarket you'll find Thom Yorke, singing Fake Plastic Trees, also in a supermarket trolley. Ah, the 90's...when you couldn't get your shopping done due to angsty singers getting in the way of the butternut squash display.
It's been 21 years since their last album and 11 years since they've last toured and now it's just been announced that Pulp are finally reuniting (again)
1995 was such an incredible year. Having missed the Beatles/Stones/Kinks era I never thought I would live through such brilliant music. I was 28 and remember watching TOTP with Pulp, Blur, Elastica. The number one was Oasis with Don’t Look Back in Anger, they did it live with Noel and his Union flag guitar and Liam on piano. Just breathtaking and never to be repeated.
I think of 1995 being the last great year of music. The mp3 format made it very convenient for listening, but without people actually buying physical CDs or vinyl, great pop music started to die. We still have a little, but not like it was.
I've only recently discovered that song (the band itself actually) and the more I listen to it, the more I love it. How could I live without it before? Simply genial
@@fanofactionflicks that's funny because what I actually meant was "genius". I simply made a mistake because in my native polish that would be "genialny". Now I looked that up too and let it stay this way - I guess they can be genial too although I'm not certain if that's the case with that song specifically :)
"She just laughed and said, you're so funny" "I said yeah, well I can't see anyone else laughing" My humour is kinda messed up/dumb, idk why but that's so funny to me 🤣
This is my mum’s song, having actually studied sculpture at St Martin’s college. She drew the Rolling Stones when they were recording too. Apparently they signed it, but it went missing. Damn shame
Apparently this song was written with Danai Stratou, a greek artist and the wife of a former Minister of Finance of Greece, in mind. She studied sculpture at St Martin's College as well:P Though it's only a rumour that the song is about her... But the mention of Greece in the beginning makes it rather specific in my opinion 😅
@@vasilikikakara3092 I agree, it does seem a bit too coincidental. Unfortunately, mum being Scottish, It’s definitely not about her 😅 It would have been cool if they knew each other though, but mum was there when it was just St Martins (before it became Central St Martins) - roughly the same time danae stratou was born…. I think - admittedly I did have to google her name. Mum teaches art these days, but rarely does her own stuff now. Such a shame she didn’t continue but professional artistry isn’t an easy job when you have a family I guess.
@@jimgill19770 Your mom must be roughly the same age as my mom. Professional artistry isn't easy when you're not loaded like Stratou, I guess 😅 To be quite honest, I only know her because her husband was our Minister of Finance in 2015 when we almost got out of the EU (Grexit walked so that Brexit could fly...)
I've loved this song for many years and I still listen to it weekly. I listen to it so much that my 3 year old absolutely loves this song. We dance to it all the time. Best song ever created
Bloody ell 2058? I'll be dead for then, if I'm not ill be a 76, telling all the young workers at the care home about "them days when I used to go out on the until 4am! I'm 52 band can hardly get out the chair without grunting and moaning
Ready Player One syndrome. We are at a point in time when a certain generation's fonder memories of their youth reach Peak Nostalgia, and everything in entertainment gladly plays off that of course. They might not play Pulp in 2058, but they sure love to exploit the audience's fondness of it in a movie produced in 2020(ish).
@Patrick Ryan He's singing about a wealthy Greek girl who had no understanding of Britain and in particular its Working Class. To her, degradation and squalor was a laugh because she could always go home to mummy and daddy and live in luxury again. She was a voyeur
I think the parts that speak the most to me are “If you called your dad, he could stop it all” combined with “Never fail like common people”.
Partly because this reminds me of a story an older coworker once told me, about a friend's daughter, who back in the 70' did the (as I remember him telling it) leftie/hippie thing (to live like common people), and moved to an old quarter of the town (I think it was around the time young left-leaning people occupied part of it, to save the quarter from being razed (I think that quarter was built in the mid-to-late 1800s, so communal outhouses)). Anyhow, when she got pregnant, she had her dad to buy her a modern flat and moved there.
Further on the topic of “fail like common people do”, money (and fame) is apparently very useful when you're suspected of, or sentenced for having, committed a crime. E.G: having enough money to post bail (from what I've understood (I don't live in a country with that system), it's much easier to defend yourself/prove your innocence/get a good lawyer (or if nothing else, there's a correlation with being able to post bail and afford better defence), besides, look up how many have got away with killing people).
not to mention if you get a $2,500 to $5,000 fine (amount taken from the Wiki). To normal people, that's quite a lot to pay as, about half of US citizens have ≤ $500 in their savings, while another 29% have between $501 - $5,000 (according to an article on CNBC). Which I take as about 80% of US Americans could either lose their entire savings or get (as the majority of them) into deep debt, for a fine. While some people can, in essence, afford to burn double that amount, without a second (or first, for that matter) thought.
Easily one of the best lyrically written songs in pop history. Amazing.
Almost as good as anything by Blouse
@@Mightyflynn77 Who? Never heard of them are they worth checking out?
@paulanthony5274 you should definitely check out Blouse. They didn't release too much but their classic "Me Oh Myra" is a controversial one. I originally bought the single because of all the fuss. Then I threw it out and went to buy another copy because I liked the song.
Absolutamente desconocida.
Nunca la escuché.
"lyrically written"
Recently, my dad passed. 59. This was my dad’s favourite song. Every so often, I’d put the record on and we’d listen to it in the car. He said it reminded him of when he met my mother. I love you so much, dad. You meant the world to me, and still do.
Everytime i read a comment like this, it makes me cry. I still remember how my dad and me listened to his favourite music in the car. I´m so sorry for your loss, 59 is way too early.
What a lovely memorie ❤❤
🤍🙏🏻🌷
Sending love.
Fifty Nine is too early to go, tell us his name, please.
Your dad had good taste!
This was played at my mate's funeral. She was only 32y and we all used to play and sing this when we were younger. As we are all getting older, this song always reminds me that you never got to be old. R.I.P Sheree, mate. You'll never be common or forgotten. ❤ Xx
🙏💙
Thats so sad. rip Sheree 🕊
I am so sorry for your loss. We played at our wedding as our first song as it was so dear and true to us. This was 22 years ago and I still play it. It's one of my favourit songs ever.
❤
💙
R.I.P Steve Mackey, the bass guitarist of Pulp. Thank you for this beautiful music.
Absolutely agree Pulp made beautiful music. Steven Mackey will be missed.
❤❤❤❤
Fuck :( I missed that news, and it was a year ago. Goddamn. He was only in his 50s too, far far too young. RIP.
😢
Clotshot...
This is my song, after an abusive 11 year marriage, I divorced him, got a job behind a bar finally single but with 3 small children. Played this every weekend I was getting ready for work 1999 .. Still brings tears to my eye's of the freedom I felt ❤ like it was yesterday ❤
good on you girl. with your taste in music youre a keeper
@PaulEdwards-og9bs Thank you, what a lovely thing to say 😊
Still lots of good times are coming. Keep safe and strong.
You can't beat the 1990 music
hermosa libertad, hermosa tu
RIP Steve Mackey (November 10, 1966 - March 2, 2023), aged 56
You will be remembered as a legend.
what happened that they died? 👥
Thats way too young
A true Legend gone too soon
0:30 I bet you guys didnt notice that he starts saying "...and then in thirty seconds' time" exactly thirty seconds into the track
You need to get out more
I don't suppose you noticed the snatch on the bird in the mauve shorts ?
@@HiThailand-g7li dont even know what mauve is
@@HiThailand-g7lbut if her snatch was out im sure i would have noticed that
Cool
This is one of the most lyrically impressive songs I've ever heard.
Agreed.
I like how the second half is very dark “never fail like common people, and watch your life slide out of view”
Damn
The second half just hits so hard
Indeed. Especially since "Rent a flat above the shop". Lyrics impressed me too, true words)
@@fishels3895 It's pretty dark throughout.
Take me back to the 90s when life was ever so happy and simple
you are naive
Life was great in the nineties!.
Had a great time then!.
But now I am old!
'90s sucked in most countries
Life was simple and happy in the 90s because we were mostly still in school and had no adult responsibilities, I agree take me back. Being 40 sucks lol.
The fashion usually come back again.The technologies the CIBERSECURITY.When we WERE youngs.Now THEY understand the new concepts OF cyberwarfare/cybersecurity/cyberattacks/disinformation/Cyberdefense/cyberspy/cybrrsabotages/terror....ATTACKING, infiltrating in the systems and try to repress, to control NATIONS.So the misery FOR you.We NEVER SURRENDER.WE NEVER LIKED THE III WWW IN THE EUROPEA. CONTINENT! 🔱
The line that hits the hardest is - "You'll never fail like common people, and watch your life slide out of view", because it's so true. People from poor areas of the country often try so hard to have better lives, but we fail and fail and fail. Because the odds are stacked against you. And decades go by, where we're just stuck. It's only in my mid 40s that I've started to succeed a little, and to experience some of the things I've always dreamed of. And I'm not talking big things - just foreign holidays, car ownership and innocent things like that. Trying and failing is something that really defines being working class. We're very aspirational - we just don't succeed that often.
Now all the common scum bags are on benefits!
Unregulated capitalism makes everything a rat race.
I'm glad that you are finally experiencing those things! From a person who is not experiencing those things and hoping to experience those things someday..
when you were young x respect...youngsters now are injecting coke.......whats gone wrong#
Weeping😮
2024, 3024, 4024, it doesn't matter, this masterpiece will be heard forever...
"The poor will always be with you."
A Jewish revolutionary, a little over 2000 years ago.
I love how the tempo constantly increases throughout the song. You don't get that in many songs, and it adds so much.
@Keith Kristi you like this try stairway to heaven
@Keith Kristi I think if you set a metronome you'll find the pace definitely increases.
@Keith Kristi ""The thing with 'Common People' is that it starts at 90bpm and finishes at 160bpm, with each verse cranking it up. We recorded four or five takes of the band track and, as they weren't recorded to a click, some of them didn't end up at 160; they ended up at different tempos. It was totally freeform, with everyone following Jarvis's guide vocal which just got faster and faster and faster"
David Nicholas, Sound Engineer
@@FuturCrayon He recorded a classic.
The rest of us are raising a glass to him as a result.
🇬🇧
@@FuturCrayon and man, am I glad. Still play it regularly for a fullsome laugh. What crescendo!....and I gotta tell ya W Shatners with Joe Jackson ain't too shabby either..
This gets better with age. Pure genius! 1995 was a banging year for Brit Pop and all music in general!! The nostalgia is killing me right now.
Nostalgia,,,the older we get....
@@jimmyroos1677 best summer ever ( the sun didn’t stop blazing down and Britpop ruled the airwaves)
Not really for all of music. Most of 90s music sucked
Oh man I FEEL you!! I'm exactly the same, being young then was just amazing, the music, the clothes, the tv programmes, I felt like the world belonged to me and my friends, and for a little while it really did
@@ksodz1397 90s music the best
There's something deeply satisfying about patronising the moneyed class.
Agreed even though i am considered rich by the government
#breakingpoints
@@evanvrysoulis7714 lmao
I would love to know what it's like to be a member of the moneyed class, just for a month or so. So sick of worrying about making ends meet.
@@beatricemaude4426 They work harder than you. I mean 80-hour weeks. A chap my folks are friends with was boss of a global hotel chain. He get a few days off at Christmas and worked the rest of the time. The other type are the lottery winners.
“Never watch your life slide out of view” - one of the best song
I love how this song builds. It grows on you.
like an extra arm
The whole "Different class" album is one of the most elegant and amazing pop albums ever made. Pulp did an amazing job with it.
you have godd taste in music
I’m 63 this is one of the best tracks I’ve ever heard 🪕
It’s eternal
She didn't understand and she just smiled and held my hand. My all-time favorite line ever.
Many forget (or some never knew) that Pulp had been around for over a decade by the time they had this hit. During the 90s they were one of the most underrated British bands and Jarvis Cocker one of the most underrated songwriters.
The line 'Well I can't see anyone else smiling in here' always brings a lump to my throat. I think of it every time I'm in my local Costcutter...
So true.
It's Amazing the true meaning in that one sentence
It encapsulates so much of what being working class can feel like sometimes.
I saw Pulp in concert in Adelaide at the Thebarton Theatre, many years ago. I was right up the front, naturally! Jarvis was singing this and pointed to me when he sang 'common people like YOU".😆 I was thrilled!
Did u blush,,,or is it true. 🤾♀️
@@jimmyroos1677 it's absolutely true. I didn't blush 😆 I was beaming!
This is a great story
how great!!!
Back in 1981, I was in a band playing in little pubs in Sheffield. We knew Jarvis as he was always out (!) and was quite happy to chat. We even played a few gigs with them on the bill - higher up, of course even then. Years later in 1995, I was an art teacher in Lincolnshire and one morning, around the time Pulp really went massive, told my tutor group that many years ago I used to know Jarvis a bit etc etc.... The rumour mill churned away all day. Each time a new class came in, I was asked increasingly ridiculous questions, 'Sir, were you in a band with Jarvis Cocker?' etc.... The zenith was reached with the final class of the day, one of whom burst in and shouted, 'Sir! Are YOU Jarvis Cocker?!'
"You will never understand
How it feels to live your life
With no meaning or control
And with nowhere left to go"
Some all time killer emotions right there. Amazing lyrics.
It's 2023, and this is still one of the all-time great bangers.
oh yeah
It was totally underrated... I was living a 'trainspotting' style life back then... this song was like the soundtrack of those days.
@@alainvosselman9960 ab so fkn lutley ! !
always will be
I agree
There is a quiet contempt in this song that is so sublimely packaged many miss it.
Only rich people miss it
It is frustration disguised as contempt. 0
it's pretty funny, in a way, that this album and even this song in particular made everyone in the band fucking loaded
In my opinion, Pulp was the greatest band of the Britpop era. Nobody captured the zeitgeist of the 90s like Jarvis Cocker. Timeless music ❤
Totally agree mate
I so love this song Jarvis cocker aka the weed in tweed 😂
Spot on.
Blur's pretty good too, imo.
Easily the best..
Jarvis Cocker was a BritPop icon of the 90s🇬🇧
National Treasure in my house 🥰
90s when young and just in the Uni. And yes I studied British Navy History, why?
One of the biggest britpop anthems
And one of the biggest and more blatant cases of plagiarism in music.
@@residente44 I'm just curious whom exactlyb did they plagiarize?
@@gilavalos2400 Mecano - Los Amantes
This is one of those songs that you NEVER get bored of.
Come to the wirral loads of common people. The most forgotten location in England
Oh man! I think I've listened to this, both live versions and the album version every second day for the last 8 months. The Redding 2011 live performance is mind-blowing. 100% agree
Anooshrvanrohani
I listen to this version and I hear Bill Shatner
This is the epitomy of song. The emotion, melody and lyrics are all phenomenal, and perfectly in sync. I suspect it's because it's done without thinking. It's from the heart.
Saw Pulp two nights ago at the Hollywood Palladium, it was MAGIC!! Happy Birthday, Jarvis!
They were at the Hollywood forever cemetery last Saturday, a very good show.
Jarvis has a knack for writing songs about everyday things and turning them into musical works of art
One of my favorite quotes from the film "Yesterday", "Some of the best songs never made it to number one. Common People by Pulp, for a start. It’s a total classic."
Did not expect anyone to have a selection of favourite quotes from that movie.
@@thoydussthoyduss3732 "hey dude".
This song has everything! Great lyrics, sharp social commentary, and a perfect blend of conversational and musical tones in the performance. I could listen to it forever. Maybe I will. Signing out to play it again.
Absolutely
Also comedic too. Perfect blend of everything in one song.
For some reason I missed Pulp during my younger years and heard this song when I was 58. I'm stunned by it, and each time I listen, something lumps up in my throat. Just amazing. Such a great criticism of our society.
This is one of only a few songs I can think of that has something to say, but also doesn't take itself too seriously. That is extremely rare in music, and art in general for that matter. It's the Kurt Vonnegut of songs.
Plenty of those ironic songs in the 80s to the 90's 😊
So it goes
@@Johnny_T779 Yes but sometimes even those ironic songs take themselves too seriously. If you have never heard it before listen to "Losing My Edge" by LCD Soundsystem. That might be the best example of what I mean by a song not taking itself too seriously but saying something.
@@jessejamesainger3263 why do you think this song takes itself too seriously if i may ask?
@@b.f1731 Sorry worded that wrong, edited.
One of the greatest rock 'n' roll songs of all time. Pulp is so underrated.
As a bandthey are but this video does have 41mil views haha
Agree. Jarvis delivers it all here. Clever wordy, charisma, humor, the performance. I can't fault it. And the band really backed it up.
This song becomes even more brilliant with every passing year.
It's now 2022 and I can confirm that this is true
It's due to inflation
@@hippiemuslim Cost of living crisis,fuel profiteering,disastrous "mini-budget",you name it. 2022 has done its darnedest to make the bulk of the people feel a bit more "common".
correct ☺👍
Found this song through comments on some pixies songs.
Wow wow wow.
An absolutely gun track
I can't explain why but it brought a gulp to my throat and a tear to my eye
The line 'we dance and drink and screw - because there's nothing else to do' and 'You are amazed that they exist and they burn so bright whilst you can only wonder why' get me every time. They make me proud to be a common man, but remind me that the richest and most priveleged people know nothing about our lives and struggles.
The most honest timeless lyrics ever written
It couldn’t possibly have been me! She came from Greece and had a thirst for knowledge! I’ve never wanted to know anything in my life
nah, it's inspired by Danae Stratou, Yanis Varoufakis's wife
ha! i was thinking the same thing.
@@Botwinka13 It's a line from "Saltburn"
I still smile hearing this song on my boring commute to work. Love the humour and tragic comedy.
Great voice on this guy, first heard this in 1974, I had just started work as an apprentice at Hoover in Greenford, and they used to play the radio over the PA for 2 hours a day.
Am approaching retirement now and this song ( and a few others) have stayed with me all those years
Hmmmm 1974 really
@@tedriding😂 time traveler
The older I get the more I understand this song and can relate to it. The common person's checklist in this song really hits home...
It really does it Home and I actually get quite emotional with," see your life slip out of view" that part hurts
@@jclancy8246 hahahahahha used to cry my soul out listening to that line when i was depressed in uni realising that im fucked anyway(a cog in the machine and all that shit)...
@@MojoBonzo thats me rn aha, how has it turned out since then?
@@alfiefell6990 i just had to "man up" and do it anyway! tbh the thoughts never went completely away... you just get stuck into it...
@@MojoBonzo fair play to you, did you find those thoughts lessened once you started a career? Cos i cant imagine working a full time week for 40 years id rather live in a van or something...
This was my teenage years. Had the cassette played done.. RIP Steve Mackey ❤️
Whats happened
@@goneburnforher He dieds
@@goneburnforherprobably heart attack?
Deborah is no more and our youth is a pillar of salt in the rear-view mirror. Tempus fugit. I just want to be common and not woke.
Criminally under-rated song and group....
really? ua-cam.com/video/abOWpBP_GiQ/v-deo.html
Juan Vazquez wait
@@juanjvp06 Defo. In the states at that time, not a breath of them, even on the alt programs. But they def weren't singing praises of capitalism, so it's understandable? Tho since then, the UK has more than started to embrace the capitalist culture. Voting in a Johnson lead tories...well welcome the extortionist prices of American health care soon. He'll smile and hold your hand when you're paying through the nose for a simple presce 😐
29m views. Wut?
@@juanjvp06 Por que publicaste ese link? Es una canción de la ley.
When singers we're smart.
I love this song so much.
The progression of the song, the lyrics, the relatability,
is what makes this song/album, amazing.
Bang on !
Even more relevant today than when it came out
One of the best songs about class warfare and between the have and havenots. We need more Pulp in these times!
We need more Communism, maaaaaan!
Jesus Christ man….it’s not that deep.
We have the maneskin punk aaaa
@@VegGeorgie yes, it is.
@@VegGeorgie i'll add my yes it is. it is not deep because it's difficult or because it tells about complex concepts. it's deep because it reflects the depth of the nothingness you can do when you are stuck with your back against the wall and hear people going on about how you can really start shitting gold bullions if you really believe in yourself and if you really want to.
This might actually be the best song ever made.
Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Elastica every head must bow and every tongue must confess. They all wrote great songs one way or the other.
keane. you forgot
Keane can’t compare with them,but it’s also a pretty band
What about suede?
In the end, all the "BritPop" thing was like five bands or so.
Don't forget the Manic Street Preachers
You'll never watch your life slide out of view. Powerful
i walked past jarvis a few weeks ago and he must have noticed i recognised him because he looked at me and pulled a silly face/stuck his tongue out. it was a strange moment lol
Nice btw i like your profile pic
RAD!!!
i was having a bad day and this made me smile bless you
hahahha cool
great moment shared between just u and him to allways remember..............but now its on you tube so its not as good and most probaly a lie..lol ihad too
It’s such a thought provoking, timeless, quality tune.
Only 45 million views is an insult. This song was not widely aired much in the u.s. I found it much later, is one of the best dynamicly changing songs of all time.
i feel he's underappreciated as a dancer
Yes!! I’m so glad someone noted that
Didn't he make it up all without any choreography?
My emerging dance style around 1996 was, I noticed, unconsciously Jarvis mixed well in equals part with Travolta and that then fuelled by just fucking great indie and rock nights... well, as a once-shy INFP kid I think there would have been a lot less of the great kissing without it. So, thanks Jarvis man.
yea its an absolute wicked way he has with his left foot ...Common people like me and you...🕴🕴
This is a great song, The British music of the 90s was exceptional.
and 80s was not too bad either
Or the 60s, lol lets keep this going :)
Rob Smith British music of the 50's was just God awful,...could not resist!
Ever heard of mexican music?
Actually copied from a Spanish one so you should say The Spanish music of the 80s were great, yeah it was from 1989 of Mecano-Los Amantes
First time I listened this song when I studied English at Cambridge School in 1998. The teacher's name was Andy
And you live on what planet?
I lived in Chelsea during this period of Cool Britannia / Brit Pop . It was just the coolest time ever . Music , fashion ,food and art where all perfectly aligned . Incredible times
Brit Pop Era simply was the B.E.S.T!!!
I’ll you don’t recognise the place now
A Swinging London ‘60’s throwback. We must be due another one pretty soonish.
You should have been there in the early eighties . . . .
Why don’t you tell us about Your Life & Hard Times....in Chelsea...when life was such a groove...when this came out...such a groove! 💔
1:15
"You're so funny"
I said :"YeAh"
"I cAn'T seE anYoNe eLse sMiliNg"
💀
Jarvis Cocker is the epitome of a great frontman...and this is a timeless classic as is proven by the amount of us still here in 2022...i was 16 when this came out in the Britpop era 💚
One of the best songs of all time
1:47 I love when the tempo raises. Awesome!
Great single - very amusing colourful lyrics
Thanks ***** Glad you liked this
Love this one also, Bernard!
Dale Johnson Glad you liked this
Can't Leave This Behind... The progression, the sound, the energy, the lyrics the smell, the friends, they are all here, I can feel it, its '95...
I live amongst the common people and i love you all 😊
Love you too ❤❤ High 5 too PULP ❤
This is a masterpiece.
does anyone else come back to songs from their childhood, and then realise that they never really understood what the songs was actually about, it's nice gaining a new appreciation for something.
Exactly what I’m doing right now
I was 23 when this song came out so to answer your question no.
It's definitely me, sums up my relationships with my ex wife perfectly fine, this one
This song will live forever
This Pulp Song Is Still Timeless In 2024 . 🫡
The lyrics of this song is so beautifully well written that the story flows and take you with it.. with or without your cooperation.
much underated band who really hit the mark
"And you dance and drink and SCREW" What is happening today? Great PULP and Jarvis.
The lyrics and the musical arrangements are absolutely genious.
Just saw them live yesterday in Toronto. Show was incredible.
I love the way he gets more agressive with the phrase "Wanna live with common people like you" when he repeats it at the end. It's pretty much him being like "The AUDACITY of this BITCH."
An age old rhetorical device and Jarvis nails it. As good as Mark Antony in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar - by the end of that speach Antony has the Roman crowd baying for the blood of Ceasar's assassins using the repeated phrase "...the noble Brutus..." more and more caustically.
1.40 is when the penny drops and it became a song about the Haves getting down with the Have Nots. Its was open class war from that point on and highlights the total misunderstanding between the classes.
@@tillyb5768 uhhhhh....okayyyyyy🤨😆
This song has about 30 stanzas in its longest form. Lyrics out the kazoo and all great.
After all these years, I still have to listen to this at least twice a week. A real classic.
Same here,School of fish "For three strange days" as well.
I love how it gradually speeds up. Criminally under-rated song. Ahead of its time.
If you like this type of songs, I hope you know Nick Cave! He's the master of these "speeding up" songs 😉
@ 2:31 Why censor "and screw"?
That means 'fvck' in English lol
@@half_emptygirl yes but it's a very mild term around the same level as "shag"
Censored by the woke brigade
But apparently Brit slang for a cigarette is a-okay
Censoring idiots are destroying are left and right...
In the next aisle over in that supermarket you'll find Thom Yorke, singing Fake Plastic Trees, also in a supermarket trolley. Ah, the 90's...when you couldn't get your shopping done due to angsty singers getting in the way of the butternut squash display.
I had the same thought. He's baby thom.
And The Clash were lost in the supermarket
Also, Jane's Addiction - Been Caught Stealing
the greatest crossover episode
That’s a beaut🤣
It's been 21 years since their last album and 11 years since they've last toured and now it's just been announced that Pulp are finally reuniting (again)
1995 was such an incredible year. Having missed the Beatles/Stones/Kinks era I never thought I would live through such brilliant music. I was 28 and remember watching TOTP with Pulp, Blur, Elastica. The number one was Oasis with Don’t Look Back in Anger, they did it live with Noel and his Union flag guitar and Liam on piano. Just breathtaking and never to be repeated.
They have reunited.
I think of 1995 being the last great year of music. The mp3 format made it very convenient for listening, but without people actually buying physical CDs or vinyl, great pop music started to die. We still have a little, but not like it was.
For music but as I spent most of it with an amphetamine filled needle in my arm it also sucked
@@martinjames6431
Glad to have you around Martin. You might have died.
@@ibosquez5238 One day I did. Second time I tried H
Always loved this song
I've only recently discovered that song (the band itself actually) and the more I listen to it, the more I love it. How could I live without it before? Simply genial
They were never big outside of the UK
i looked up the word genial from this comment, read it and heard it before over the years and finally looked it up.
@@fanofactionflicks that's funny because what I actually meant was "genius". I simply made a mistake because in my native polish that would be "genialny". Now I looked that up too and let it stay this way - I guess they can be genial too although I'm not certain if that's the case with that song specifically :)
Welcome! I’ve loved it since back when it came out! I never get tired of it!! Happy you found Pulp!❤
Same here, and this has become one of my all time favourite songs
Smart lyrics, mister Jarvis Cocker. Thank you.
Nice to see someone from a different nationality enjoying this music :)
Timeless .....One of the best songs ever made.
"She just laughed and said, you're so funny"
"I said yeah, well I can't see anyone else laughing"
My humour is kinda messed up/dumb, idk why but that's so funny to me 🤣
Rest In Peace Steve Mackey, you're always my Number One!
This is my mum’s song, having actually studied sculpture at St Martin’s college. She drew the Rolling Stones when they were recording too. Apparently they signed it, but it went missing. Damn shame
Bullshit '' Gill Gill ''. Stop bsing the generation..
@@PETERN1982 suit yourself. Not sure what reason I’d have for lying about this but believe whatever you like 🙄
Apparently this song was written with Danai Stratou, a greek artist and the wife of a former Minister of Finance of Greece, in mind. She studied sculpture at St Martin's College as well:P Though it's only a rumour that the song is about her... But the mention of Greece in the beginning makes it rather specific in my opinion 😅
@@vasilikikakara3092 I agree, it does seem a bit too coincidental. Unfortunately, mum being Scottish, It’s definitely not about her 😅 It would have been cool if they knew each other though, but mum was there when it was just St Martins (before it became Central St Martins) - roughly the same time danae stratou was born…. I think - admittedly I did have to google her name.
Mum teaches art these days, but rarely does her own stuff now. Such a shame she didn’t continue but professional artistry isn’t an easy job when you have a family I guess.
@@jimgill19770 Your mom must be roughly the same age as my mom. Professional artistry isn't easy when you're not loaded like Stratou, I guess 😅 To be quite honest, I only know her because her husband was our Minister of Finance in 2015 when we almost got out of the EU (Grexit walked so that Brexit could fly...)
This song never gets old, it is such a brilliant piece of social commentary.
It just gets truer and truer
True. I've got a fake poor person in my midst who is making a profession out of being pretend-poor.
She's tight as a fishes arse and being rumbled.
@@miraeja It's just always been eternally true. There were rumors of Marie Antoinette doing similar
@miraeja At least the Romans had it in their culture to not ignore luck's influence in your fortune
It's not only a perfect song but a perfect video.
This is one of best songs ever recorded!!!! It’s absolutely fantastic!!!!
This is what Retro looked like in the 90s.
I've loved this song for many years and I still listen to it weekly. I listen to it so much that my 3 year old absolutely loves this song. We dance to it all the time. Best song ever created
Ive been listening to this song for so many years now and I can't get tired of it!
I couldn't believe when they played this song on Westworld. Will people still be listening to pulp in 2058?
Yes... I hope so
Me
Bloody ell 2058? I'll be dead for then, if I'm not ill be a 76, telling all the young workers at the care home about "them days when I used to go out on the until 4am! I'm 52 band can hardly get out the chair without grunting and moaning
Ready Player One syndrome. We are at a point in time when a certain generation's fonder memories of their youth reach Peak Nostalgia, and everything in entertainment gladly plays off that of course. They might not play Pulp in 2058, but they sure love to exploit the audience's fondness of it in a movie produced in 2020(ish).
It's 2020 this song is almost 30 years old so probably.
An anthem for the ages. One of the best karaoke songs ever… anyone who knows it will immediately start singing along with you.
Jarvis explains the class system in a nutshell. As if there was any doubt.
well if your from Greece its murky isn't it
@@patkelly3966 yea like phil the nazi
No he doesn't.
@Patrick Ryan He's singing about a wealthy Greek girl who had no understanding of Britain and in particular its Working Class. To her, degradation and squalor was a laugh because she could always go home to mummy and daddy and live in luxury again. She was a voyeur
Yaassssss!
Just came home from their concert at the Aragon ballroom can’t believe it was real