The Meaning Behind “Common People” by Pulp and One of Britpop’s Great Anthems

In 1995, Pulp released “Common People” as a single from the Sheffield band’s fifth studio album, Different Class. Alongside “Wonderwall” by Oasis and “Girls And Boys” by Blur, Pulp’s signature hit—an utter banger—remains one of Britpop’s great anthems. It also features an ironic mediation on class tourism by Pulp’s frontman Jarvis Cocker.

Slumming It (Briefly)

Cocker began writing “Common People” on a Casio keyboard. Then he thought of a wealthy girl he met in college who wanted to hang out with the lower class. A kind of voyeurism in the slums, which was also romanticized in other parts of culture, in film and in fashion at the time.

She came from Greece, she had a thirst for knowledge,
She studied sculpture at Saint Martin’s College.
That’s where I caught her eye.
She told me that her dad was loaded,
I said, “In that case, I’ll have rum and Coca-Cola.”
She said, “Fine.”
And then in thirty seconds’ time.

The well-to-do student wants the plebs’ experience like a camera-wielding sightseer who’s forever in awe and drawn captivatingly to exotic buildings or landscapes.

She said, “I wanna live like common people,
I wanna do whatever common people do.
Wanna sleep with common people.
I wanna sleep with common people like you.”
Well,​ what else could I do?
I said, “I’ll, I’ll see what I can do.”

If You Called Your Dad, He Could Stop It All

So to begin the working-class tour, Cocker takes her to the grocery store and tells her to act like she’s broke. This makes her laugh.

I took her to a supermarket,
I don’t know why, but I had to start it somewhere.
So it started there.
I said, “Pretend you got no money.”
And she just laughed and said, “Oh, you’re so funny.”
I said, “Yeah, huh, I can’t see anyone else smiling here.”
“Are you sure?”

Finally, while she might be enjoying her vacation in the lower classes, Cocker sets her straight in what remains my favorite lyric in all of Britpop:

Rent a flat above a shop,
Cut your hair and get a job.
Smoke some fags and play some pool,
Pretend you never went to school.
But still you’ll never get it right,
’Cause when you’re laid in bed at night.
Watching roaches climb the wall,
If you called your dad, he could stop it all, yeah.

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