Songfacts®:

• This song had a strange release and shelf life, with the B-sides on the single release (which charted at #22 in the UK upon release in June 1998) seeming to have much more longevity and use than the original song. "Like A Friend" was used on the soundtrack to the 1998 film Great Expectations, with several music videos produced to promote it, as well as in the TV shows The Venture Bros and Daria. "Cocaine Socialism" surfaced as a full release on the 2006 re-issue of the This Is Hardcore album, as a "fully recorded version" - strangely it features almost identical music to album track "Glory Days," yet completely different lyrics.
• Two versions of "A Little Soul" exist - the 'regular' version, sometimes known as 'Album Version,' and the 'Alternative Version,' which is a remix from Johnny Dollar of Massive Attack fame.
• It's no secret that This Is Hardcore was not the exciting album that needed to follow 1995's smash hit Different Class, but despite the downbeat disillusioned feel of the album, some tracks like "A Little Soul" were singled out for praise - Select's review of the single concluded: "Though maybe not the invincible pop blast that Pulp might need to turn around the relative commercial failure of the This Is Hardcore album, 'A Little Soul' is plainly one of the less distressed songs on that album - a gorgeous mid-paced, Memphis-tinged imagined appeal to Jarv from his errant daddy. Other treats in the two-CD sales pitch include remixes by Kid Loco and former Massive Attack associate Johnny Dollar. Not to mention the new songs 'Like A Friend' (from the Great Expectations soundtrack) and 'Cocaine Socialism.' Could the latter possibly be about El Noeleo?"