THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

285-Pulp-Common People.

1995-Number 2 single.

Best Bit-At 4.38. A lyrical fanfare for the common man.

When Jarvis Cocker first played the melody to the rest of the band, bass player Steve Mackey burst out laughing, saying, ‘It sounds like Emerson Lake and Palmer’s ‘Fanfare for the Common Man (1977, UK Number 2 )

Jarvis Cocker has explained in detail over the years how ‘Common People’ came to fruition. ‘It all started with me getting rid of a lot of Albums at the ‘Record and Tape Exchange’ in Notting Hill. With the credit I went into the second hand bit and bought this Casio keyboard. When you buy an instrument, you run home and want to write a song straight away. So I went back to my flat and wrote the chord sequence for ‘Common People,’ which isn’t such a great achievement because it’s only got three chords, I thought it might come in handy for our next rehearsal.’

Anyone who has read about a number of the songs in this countdown will know that I am a great believer that nothing in Pop Music is totally original. I urge you to take a listen to the 1988 song by the Spanish Pop band Mecano, called ‘Los amantes,’ it’s similarity to ‘Common People’ will raise your eyebrows high.

On writing the songs lyrics, Cocker has said,’I always thought the word ‘common’ was an interesting thing. It would be used in ‘Fanfare for the Common Man’ as this idea of the noble savage, whereas it was a real insult in Sheffield (Cocker’s hometown) to call someone common. That set off memories of this girl that I met at college. She wanted to go and live in Hackney and be with the common people. She was from a well-to-do background, and there was me explaining that that would never work. I hated all that cobblers you got in films and magazines in which posh people would ‘slum it’ for a while. Once I got that narrative in my head it was easy to write, lyrically.’

Cocker had met the girl who had given him the idea for the songs lyrics at St Martin’s College, London, when they were both on a sculpture course around 1988. Cocker has said that he was having a conversation with the girl at the bar at college because he was attracted to her, although he found some aspects of her personality unpleasant. He remembered that at one point she had told him she ‘Wanted to move to Hackney and live like common people.’ In 2012 the ‘BBC’ set about locating the woman who had inspired the song, but they couldn’t find her. In 2015 the Greek newspaper ‘Athens Voice’ suggested that the woman who inspired the song is Danae Stratou, the wife of a former Greek Finance minister, Stratou had studied at St Martins between 1983-1988, and is the eldest daughter of a wealthy Greek businessman. Stratou has said,’I think the only person who knows for whom the song was written is Jarvis himself.’

Pulp were not an overnight success, (see also best songs 605) ‘Common People’ was their 15th single release, and their first to break in to the UK top 10. It was already a big hit before the other 11 tracks from their fifth studio Album ‘Different Class’ had been written, but the success of ‘Common People’ would inspire the band, and give them confidence. The songwriting for ‘Common People’ is credited to all five members of Pulp at that time, and the song, and it’s parent Album, was produced by the legendary music producer Chris Thomas (see also best songs 721-576-316-92 and 27.)

‘She came from Greece she had a thirst for knowledge. She studied sculpture at St Martins College, that’s where I caught her eye.’