Musical Inspirations Project

I was about ten or eleven years old when I first heard the song by the band Pulp, 'Common People'. It was the first contemporary song that I can remember having any sort of effect on me. The album it came from, 'Different Class', was the first I owned, given as a present from an uncle, who himself is a keen musician. I vaguely remember him telling of his work colleagues' wry amusement at what they considered to be a rather inappropriate gift for a nephew on the cusp of his eleventh birthday; talk of drugs and sex prevalent throughout. Wouldn't Oasis be a better choice?

Of course, I had next to no clue about the song's social connotations at such a tender age, but even then, listening to it felt as though it was touching on something incredibly insightful. That, of course, and the trivial matter that it was catchy; something to sing along to that wasn't written thirty years previously.

In my opinion, 'Common People' remains one of the best pieces of social commentary ever put to music. The mid-nineties were notorious for the glamorisation of the working classes, brought on by the rise in popularity of Oasis and lad culture. Hailing from a working class background had become so synonymous with the formation of "Cool Britannia', the middle classes were now trying to hide their roots, in an attempt to appear fashionable or relevant. Rather than Jarvis Cocker supporting this idea, 'Common People' remains a stark and ever relevant reminder that actually, it's not much fun to be poor, and have little sense of direction in your life.

The song has a definitive narrative structure, that serves to build the tension of his frustrations. He begins slightly perturbed with the idea that his subject, (the student from Greece with a wealthy father) finds the idea of pretending not to have any money a good old laugh ("Yeah? but I can't see anyone else smiling in here.......") , right through to terribly accurate and poignant line that -
"You will never understand how it feels to live your life, with no meaning or control, with no where left to go...."
The passion and belief to which the song reaches its climax gives great weight to its message.

I think the ideas of champagne socialism explored in 'Common People'; of a desperate need for the privledged but liberally minded to affiliate themselves with the poor, and finding romantic notions in the struggle, completely relevant. Rarely does a song touch on a social issue with such reverence, understanding and accuracy, and it really took me by surprise when, having not listened to the song for many a year, that the line
"You'll never fail like Common People"
still had the rare ability to make the hair on the back of the neck stand up.

Have a listen back..