{"id":4271,"date":"2026-07-24T12:21:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T16:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?p=4271"},"modified":"2026-07-24T13:09:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T17:09:51","slug":"the-meaning-behind-common-people-by-pulp-and-one-of-britpops-great-anthems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/the-meaning-behind-common-people-by-pulp-and-one-of-britpops-great-anthems\/","title":{"rendered":"The Meaning Behind \u201cCommon People\u201d by Pulp and One of Britpop\u2019s Great Anthems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In 1995, Pulp released \u201cCommon People\u201d as a single from the Sheffield band\u2019s fifth studio album, <em>Different Class<\/em>. Alongside <a href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/the-meaning-behind-wonderwall-by-oasis-and-how-it-became-englands-world-cup-anthem\/\">\u201cWonderwall\u201d<\/a> by Oasis and \u201cGirls And Boys\u201d by Blur, Pulp\u2019s signature hit\u2014an utter banger\u2014remains one of Britpop\u2019s great anthems. It also features an ironic mediation on class tourism by Pulp\u2019s frontman Jarvis Cocker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Slumming It (Briefly)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Pulp - Common People\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yuTMWgOduFM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Cocker began writing \u201cCommon People\u201d on a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uncut.co.uk\/features\/the-making-of-common-people-by-pulp-143048\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Casio keyboard<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>She came from Greece, she had a thirst for knowledge,<br>She studied sculpture at Saint Martin\u2019s College.<br>That\u2019s where I caught her eye.<br>She told me that her dad was loaded,<br>I said, \u201cIn that case, I\u2019ll have rum and Coca-Cola.\u201d<br>She said, \u201cFine.\u201d<br>And then in thirty seconds\u2019 time<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The well-to-do student wants the plebs\u2019 experience like a camera-wielding sightseer who\u2019s forever in awe and drawn captivatingly to exotic buildings or landscapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>She said, \u201cI wanna live like common people,<br>I wanna do whatever common people do.<br>Wanna sleep with common people.<br>I wanna sleep with common people like you.\u201d<br>Well,<\/em><em>\u200b what else could I do?<br>I said, \u201cI\u2019ll, I\u2019ll see what I can do<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>If You Called Your Dad, He Could Stop It All<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>So to begin the working-class tour, Cocker takes her to the grocery store and tells her to act like she\u2019s broke. This makes her laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>I took her to a supermarket,<br>I don\u2019t know why, but I had to start it somewhere.<br>So it started there.<br>I said, \u201cPretend you got no money.\u201d<br>And she just laughed and said, \u201cOh, you\u2019re so funny.\u201d<br>I said, \u201cYeah, huh, I can\u2019t see anyone else smiling here.\u201d<br>\u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Rent a flat above a shop,<br>Cut your hair and get a job.<br>Smoke some fags and play some pool,<br>Pretend you never went to school.<br>But still you\u2019ll never get it right,<br>\u2019Cause when you\u2019re laid in bed at night.<br>Watching roaches climb the wall,<br>If you called your dad, he could stop it all, yeah<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Photo by Avalon\/Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Common People&#8221; by Pulp remains one of Britpop&#8217;s great anthems and features Jarvis Cocker&#8217;s ironic meditation on class tourism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":973477,"featured_media":4272,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"byline":{"profiles":[{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":316,"post_id":2139}}]},"savage_platform_role_ideator":[],"savage_platform_role_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_senior_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_photographer":[],"savage_platform_role_illustrator":[],"savage_platform_role_translator":[],"savage_platform_role_as-told-to":[],"savage_platform_role_reviewed-by":[],"savage_platform_disable_recirculation":false,"savage_platform_article_type":"news","savage_platform_vice_article_type":"article","savage_platform_article_intent":"","savage_platform_show_affiliate_disclaimer":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"wp_curate_deduplication":false,"wp_curate_unique_pinned_posts":false,"savage_platform_featured_image_caption":"Photo by Avalon\/Getty Images","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"savage_platform_subheadline":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[325,454],"byline":[316],"class_list":["post-4271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-britpop","tag-pulp"],"savage_platform_primary_term":{"category":{"term_name":"Features","term_id":12,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/category\/features\/"},"post_tag":{"term_name":"Britpop","term_id":325,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/tag\/britpop\/"}},"hide_from_homepage":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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