“I’ll… I’ll See What I Can Do” – Jarvis Still On Top Form At Glastonbury

We’ve not been having a heatwave up here in the North of Scotland which is fine by me because I’m a fair-skinned, fair-haired person who doesn’t do well in such conditions. It seems of late however the south of the country has been sweltering which is not too great for those playing at, and attending, Wimbledon but last weekend everyone descending on Worthy Farm seemed fine with it. Lots of girls, and also ladies of a certain age, in little cropped tops and many men with “taps aff” as they say in Central Scotland.

I ended up watching a fair bit of the BBC’s Glastonbury coverage, both live and on the iPlayer. There was lots to choose from but I got into bother with the technical side of selecting stuff from the iPlayer (I don’t think I was the only one) so tended to stick with what was live, or nearly live.

I’m not going to do a big build up as I might not get very far with this one not having blogged for a while, but my favourite moment from the whole weekend was the final song of Pulp’s set, Common People, from 1995. We all knew it would probably be that song and they definitely didn’t disappoint – the Red Arrows even staged a flypast as the song reached its crescendo (see 4:45).

All about the phenomenon of class tourism, I am reminded of a time when I was at University many years ago. My flatmate had been out socialising with her small band of fellow science students when after a few drinks, one of them – someone from the upper classes with a double-barrelled name – admitted to her in all innocence that he was so pleased he’d come to University as otherwise he would never have met “someone like her”. Unlike in Jarvis’ song he didn’t want to sleep with her, so no need for an acid response, but she was taken aback and quite rightly so. Also, she was anything but “common”, but I suppose it’s all relative.

I have quite a few other acts I want to mention but I think I’ll leave those for another post as I’m not as speedy with my writing at the moment. Bear with me. Who did you enjoy most at Glastonbury this year or did you avoid it, what with it becoming too corporate (Neil Young’s judgement)?

Until next time…

Common People Lyrics
(Song by Jarvis Cocker/Candida Doyle/Russell Senior/Nick Banks/Steve Mackey)

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 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.”

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
Well, I can’t see anyone else smiling in here
Are you sure?

You wanna live like common people
You wanna see whatever common people see
Wanna sleep with common people
You wanna sleep with common people like me?
But she didn’t understand
And she just smiled and held my hand

Oh, rent a flat above a shop
And cut your hair and get a job
And 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

You’ll never live like common people
You’ll never do what ever common people do
Never fail like common people
You’ll never watch your life slide out of view
And then dance, and drink, and screw
Because there’s nothing else to do
Oh!

Sing along with the common people
Sing along and it might just get you through
Laugh along with the common people
Laugh along, even though they’re laughing at you
And the stupid things that you do
Because you think that poor is cool

Like a dog lying in a corner
They will bite you and never warn you
Look out, they’ll tear your insides out
‘Cause everybody hates a tourist
Especially one who, who thinks it’s all such a laugh
Yeah, and the chip stain’s and grease will come out in the bath

You will never understand
How it feels to live your life
With no meaning or control
And with nowhere left to go
You are amazed that they exist
And they burn so bright whilst you can only wonder why

Rent a flat above a shop
Cut your hair and get a job
And 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

Never live like common people
Never do what common people do
Never fail like common people
Never watch your life slide out of view
And then dance and drink, and screw
Because there’s nothing else to do

Wanna live with common people like you
Wanna live with common people like you
Wanna live with common people like you
Wanna live with common people like you
Wanna live with common people like you
Wanna live with common people like you
Wanna live with common people like you

A la la la la la
Ooooh, la la la la
Ooooh, la la la la
Ooooh, la la-la-la-la la, oh yeah