One of the most fascinating songs I’ve come across is a piece called “Common People” by the band Pulp. Pulp is a British rock band that formed in 1978 by schoolmates Jarvis Cocker and Peter Dalton. While they played throughout the entire 80s, they didn’t gain significant prominence until the 90s during the commercial rise of the Britpop genre. This coincided with the release of their 5th studio album: Different Class. The album had multiple top ten singles, including “Something Changed”, “Disco 2000”, and “Common People”. From there, Pulp would go on to be a mainstay in the Britpop genre.
The song “Common People” is more of a critique than a song. It tells the story of an upper class woman who glorifies the lifestyle of those below her; the “Common People”. The lady is based off someone the lead singer Jarvis Cocker had met during his time studying at Saint Martins School of Arts. Throughout the song she voices her desire to experience a world she’s unfamiliar with, stating:
Jarvis is clearly offended by this proposition, and voices his disdain for her during the song. He knows that she’ll never fully understand what it means to live in poverty, since at any moment she can simply return to her posh lifestyle.
The song continues to build up until the final verse before the final chorus, where Jarvis begins to rip into her, expressing his true feelings about what it means to be part of the “common people”:
Overall, this song is an excellent commentary on the contrasting lifestyles that different social classes experience. While some people glorify the life of the common man, it’s oftentimes only accomplished by ignoring the cruel underside associated with that lifestyle, and that underside is what Pulp wanted to highlight in this song.