Jarvis Cocker: The real story behind Common People

Jarvis Cocker tells Richard Bacon at Octoberfest the real story behind Pulp's hit Common People.

[@noodlehat3250]

Jarvis needs a bigger microphone

[@jbradshaw4236]

It's outrageous lol!

[@BeanBeanMcBean3000]

Lmao I just noticed it why is it so big?? It must be half the size of his face

[@mikewood9514]

wahahaha

[@bigzeddie76]

🤣👌

[@richl6966]

I was going to say how he is the spokesperson for a generation and a master songwriter. I still will but your comment made me snort orange juice out my nose, so you win.

[@NenaMataHari]

I love Jarvis's sense of humour.

[@rmr1059]

+Renee Gilbert where?

[@ogfunk187]

+RM R ... located in his brain?

[@guitashamilele]

From the thumbnail to this video it looks like Jarvis is levitating a lemon.

[@TheSickNeeds]

you mean he wasn't?

[@USERNAMEfieldempty]

He's got a Minion hugging his beard.

[@CarynDPrescott]

🤣🤣

[@spendingtimetogether8428]

LOL.

[@TheDrewmagoo]

He's a national treasure.

[@calvinjonesyoutube]

I presume you're speaking about Charlie?

[@ka-boom2083]

@@calvinjonesyoutube I assume too.

[@AC-mp7cx]

his whole life is defined by him humiliating himself at the brit awards

[@richl6966]

@@AC-mp7cx Why because a working class lad from Sheffield thought that some US child lover with a God complex needed taking down a peg? I hope you're American because frankly if you're British you're a disgrace mate.

[@KaufmanD9988]

For Jarvis it was a brief encounter with a woman that turned into an iconic song. I was sure it was based on a true story. For me, living in Colorado for 30 years, I have had three very real Common People encounters so this song has a powerful yet laughable meaning. That's the beauty of music, story telling and poetry! It will always be someone's truth even if written by another. A fun interview to watch, thanks for posting.

[@grendelum]

back when i worked at the fox theater in boulder, there was a lot of it going on

[@estebanmunoz7486]

Pretty cool hey... I'm also very fortunate to say I had the real common people experience... we used to have lots of exchange students at the Uni, I met this amazing Spanish girl and we had our "students affair"... pretty cool to look back to those experiences...

[@AC-mp7cx]

his whole life is defined by him humiliating himself at the brit awards

[@obsoleteworlds]

The story doesn't need to have actually happened to him. It's a great song because it's true. Anyone who has ever lived in the North of England has similar tales of posh, rich southern students, dipping their toes in the real world for the first time, finding beans on toast a novelty instead of a grim reality. It's a game to them and one they can always flee from when it becomes too uncomfortable, hence the juxtaposition of cockroaches on the wall but Daddy being able to stop it all. That isn't an option for people like the song's narrator. It's their permanent reality. "You will never understand/what it means to live your life/with no meaning or control/and with nowhere left to go/you're amazed that they exist/but they burn so bright while you can only wonder "why?". Brilliant lyric.

[@ka-boom2083]

You’re quite the recent comment on a old video

[@cam553]

Curious that he equates existential depression with a class status, but he was clearly young when he wrote this.

[@gyorkshire257]

I aren't being funny mate, but I'm pretty sure the song specifies she were from Greece.

[@trevsedgwick3324]

Are you sure the mike is as large as is could be

[@-Sunny--]

nope, we need to go bigger!

[@benfleck576]

"You will never understand, how it feels to live your life with no meaning or control" I am sure we can all relate to that lyric in our own way.

[@vaughanie23]

Love it how he hasn't lost his accent

[@kcgeil]

"Oh no he wasn't!" Love the look of victory in his eyes after that gag. Blinder.

[@wackity.7879]

got to love Cocker.

[@jeffanderson8384]

Music is art. The beauty of art is it's left to the listener/observers interpretation. No matter where the inspiration comes from, it becomes a personal interpretation and connection. That's what makes it amazing and enduring.

[@djfinstarandbenjammin1044]

Jarvis is an underestimate indie legend.

[@jmc0075]

Jarvis legend brilliant singer songwriter.

[@AC-mp7cx]

his whole life is defined by him humiliating himself at the brit awards

[@leepakim]

I would ask him about "I spy"...would be really interesting to know the background story of this awesome song.

[@emmawatkins5140]

Ye

[@josephancion2190]

I wonder what girl should have the blue plaque over her chest...

[@AmberAmber]

@@josephancion2190 I pretend it's me!!! Then I recall I'm more of an "UNskillfully avoiding the dog turd outside the corner shop (or whatever)" kind of bird 🤣😅❤❤❤

[@richl6966]

One of the greatest musical talents of the UK. It's pleasure to listen to him as he is just so wise (on most things). My boring ramblings here do not compare not though to Noodle Hat's comment of "Jarvis needs a bigger microphone". I am sure JC would love that comment!

[@alanbravo8287]

How can you expect Jarvis to explain The Anthem of Brit Pop, You dont explain that, you just enjoy it

[@leslielenahan2619]

Jarvis is king of britpop. brilliant song writter just awesome

[@ErolToksoy]

such a gentleman

[@larissastarke5846]

He's a national treasure. How can he be comfortable wearing those ear phones and that big yellow mike in front of his gob? Nice.

[@fiacradoyle7474]

It doesn't matter whether it was real or not song writing is a form of story telling and sometimes stories are fiction.well done jarvis.

[@ambassador8524]

Some of us lived it. I had a girl I dated in college who told me she was “slumming it” with me. She date me but never marry me she said. Her father was the CEO of the Jane Goodall foundation, her mother was worked for big oil and looked for oil underneath tectonic plates.

[@MrLeason7]

Are you sure the mike is as large as is could be Nice. Charming Jarvis ridiculous mic GOD, Jarvis is perfect

[@unkleenkil2764]

Straight talking, always loved that about ol' Jarvis...future British prime minister please.

[@TheSianl]

Nice. Charming Jarvis ridiculous mic GOD, Jarvis is perfect

[@tyjuu1787]

Nice. Charming Jarvis ridiculous mic GOD, Jarvis is perfect

[@bganonimouse2754]

OK, you guys want to know who she is: Danae Stratou Look her up and you'll see why Jarvis wanted to stop that question before it was even asked.

[@zooluwarrior]

Spouse of Yanis Varoufakis, former Greek minister of finance. "She was loaded".

[@zooluwarrior]

@Raw Engineer Yes, I think it's pretty obvious due to she was at university, a very young woman. But why do you think he's became embarrassed?

[@jorgealvarezsinprecedentes]

It's not about her. She's blonde and Jarvis confirmed the girl she's talking about on the song is brunette.

[@sjbechet1111]

It doesn't matter if it's true or not - Captain Kirk actually performed it.

[@Miz2077]

this interview is oddly wholesome

[@Lee-cn4df]

Jarvis is amazing 💗

[@dennisbeavers7743]

Nice. Charming Jarvis ridiculous mic such a gentleman He's got a Minion hugging his beard.

[@GiggleszCZ]

GOD, Jarvis is perfect

[@BillyJango]

How can he be comfortable wearing those ear phones and that big yellow mike in front of his gob?

[@antonjames2804]

he's jarvis, he just goes with the flow

[@crystalelixir8276]

actual question is at 0:50 ty

[@clearosanedasilva1507]

Adoro esse cara ,acho linda a sua trajetória

[@Prettypaigexxx]

I love that he hates his own song and cant even remember the lyrics properly

[@abigailslade3824]

Paige Crimp he doesn’t hate it I have seen him say he loves it live on stage.

[@callumosullivan7546]

It’s part of the act

[@annemclean2548]

Nobody does

[@dlxmarks]

At the Reading 2011 concert, he lead into it saying "If Pulp is only ever remembered for this song, I don't care. It's a good song." So I think he's fine with _Common People_

[@venusjoy8585]

Charming Jarvis ridiculous mic

[@public.public]

most people project onto a songs story or e;ements of the lines so I understand any reticence for disturbing that process which make people question themselves, face themselves, and perhaps provide themselves with some catharsis.

[@ab8jeh]

"Let's hear it for Charlie ladies and gentlemen."

[@gyorkshire257]

Charlie: the cause of, and solution to, all of Britpop's problems.

[@andrewhaines3259]

Doesn't matter whether the story is true or not, it's a fantastic piece of writing.

[@JoaoManuelCanelas]

You'll never understand How it feels to live your life With no meaning or control And with nowhere left to go You're amazed that they exist They burn so bright, whilst You can only wonder: Why?

[@bearheart2009]

❤ Jarvis

[@tinandgonic3927]

Is there a video of the whole show?

[@gilavalos2400]

That microphone is almost as big as Jarvis's head!

[@michaellorenzen8200]

"never let the truth get in the way of a good story" Laley Heron

[@ladyblabla420]

such a gentleman Nice. Charming Jarvis ridiculous mic such a gentleman

[@DavidLovins67]

'Jarvis Cocker: The approximate answer to his song 'Common People' might be a more appropriate title. The real story is that he was protecting the source material of the person where the conversation came up in the first place.

[@jalanis50]

got to love Cocker. Nice. Charming Jarvis ridiculous mic such a gentleman such a gentleman Nice. Charming Jarvis ridiculous mic such a gentleman

[@fabriceducouret5631]

Where's the whole thing?

[@jjt1881]

This guy is a genius.

[@jesusgorgone2546]

Nice. Charming Jarvis ridiculous mic such a gentleman How can he be comfortable wearing those ear phones and that big yellow mike in front of his gob?

[@SS-wc3pd]

Nice. Are you sure the mike is as large as is could be

[@franckmorelli7761]

Jarvis is True and so amazing

[@phillipcooze7668]

it depends how your feeling your mood in a change of life from a death to a birth. all songs have a meaning to an individual no matter who we are ! but the meaning i get from the song never changes a true life song

[@-M0LE]

If they just kept the music playing instrumental it could have been a whole new verse

[@magsy7770]

LEGEND

[@Sazapunzel]

Ok but Dronfield isn’t classed as Sheffield?!

[@mayteherrero8502]

Wikipedia: DANAE STRATOU She is married to Yanis Varoufakis, former Greek finance minister and renowned economist. Her mother is Eleni Potaga-Stratou, a Greek modern artist, and her father is Phaidron Stratos from the family Stratos who founded the Peiraiki-Patraiki textile industry in Patras, Peloponnese, Greece’s largest textile industry in the past. It has been speculated that she was the subject of Pulp's hit "Common People". Stratou studied fine arts at the London Institute Central School of Art and Design (now Central Saint Martins) between 1983 and 1988

[@mayteherrero8502]

@@kylieminogue2169 I love Common People and Disco 2000 above all. Superb✨✨

[@mayteherrero8502]

@@kylieminogue2169 Madrid, Spaiin 🤗🤗

[@mayteherrero8502]

@@kylieminogue2169 Sunny ☀️ but only 12º centigrades ☺️ Who are you? 🙄

[@mayteherrero8502]

@@kylieminogue2169 I mean if you are really Jarvis Cocker

[@mayteherrero8502]

@@kylieminogue2169 sorry, I do not know why you say I lack manners...maybe it is because my English is not fine, as it is not my mother language. Sorry anyway 😔

[@gianniteleskaofficialuk]

After listen to this...I am sure that God is British......What a Masterpiece

[@mattkaz9604]

I'll never be this cool.

[@eoghan.5003]

Wait is Jarvis miked up here? Can't quite see.

[@steampunkster2023]

Doesn't have to be "autobiographic". He found inspiration from an experience/fantasy and wrote a great song.

[@mariettestabel275]

Brilliant song! Hilarious video.

[@ceeej1290]

Yes but jarvis you once wrote a song called 'do you remember the common people' i wonder do you??

[@mariettestabel275]

The vidéo is hilarious. Love this song❤ (Was it Danae Stratou?) 🤣 Joke!!

[@briansilver6196]

Why are they wearing headphones and a microphone

[@beatricefranks5498]

It was based in the Greek finance ministers wife, how's that for you?

[@tazmon122]

the thing about music is that it's a form of art, and all perception of art is subjective. Jarvis can sit there with his awkwardly large pop filter on a gaming headset for a mic in front of an audience broadcast live for the whole world and say "this is EXACTLY what the song is"...and while it might color the perception for some, in the end of it all, no one will ever be in that bar talking to that girl. the experience of that song is on each and every audience member (no matter how many times they go back to it) to understand it based on their personal experiences. maybe the lyrics resonate because it's a silly concept. maybe they resonate because of nostalgia for having those kinds of conversations. maybe the song resonates because he sings "in 30 seconds time" at the 30 seconds mark of the playback. maybe the song resonates because the keyboard blairing has a tone of young and free spirited rock n roll. maybe the song is a bunch of noise and complete pop trash compared to the sophistications of Joseph Haydn. maybe it resonates because the drums and keys melody syncopation fit a rap flow, and it's an original beat to throw bars down over. whatever it is, the audience feels and comprehends and denotes understanding from, it won't be won't be a universal understanding, and it certainly will NOT accurate to what the songwriters were feeling when they wrote it, and what the songwriters do feel while performing it.

[@jasontaverner391]

Jarvis sporting the world's most colorful goiter.

[@wallacelovecraft8942]

I like that he was honest. Sigh.

[@Luduveco]

It's about Danae Stratou, Yanis Varoufakis' wife.

[@rafqisadikin]

btw that mic is huge

[@caivsivlivs]

what did the guy say "i think your dad ran ________" what was it

[@moscowguitarman]

Something about a pantomime, I think? I'm too lazy to listen again.

[@christinethornhill]

🙀 What no night, night with the common person ? Oh dear ! 😿

[@shaneryall6906]

He's a national treasure. He's got a Minion hugging his beard. Are you sure the mike is as large as is could be

[@CarynDPrescott]

I'd ask him whose version he thinks is better. Bowie or Shatner? 😁

[@CarynDPrescott]

@@kylieminogue2169 You're welcome 😁

[@CarynDPrescott]

@@kylieminogue2169 So you won't play favorites? You love both versions?

[@CarynDPrescott]

@@kylieminogue2169 Brooklyn NY

[@josephgaudet67]

Truth in fiction

[@AINEET]

That giant microphone lmao

[@kawangkwok5262]

Macrophone

[@thelolguy007]

This is exactly what I thought it was. Still a cool song though

[@dlxmarks]

I always wondered if Cocker addressed the irony of some art school kid's reductive description of "common people" as miserable and desperate.

[@joseantoniovidalmelzi1091]

y la cucaracha de la pared?

[@SickMetalAddict]

He looks a lot like Salman Rushdie lol

[@geekaleek]

All those mics and u cant hear anything lol

[@NuncNuncNuncNunc]

No one ever asks about Disco 2000.

[@lorikrempa3180]

such a gentleman It was based in the Greek finance ministers wife, how's that for you?

[@areader2253]

That's not actually true. The person the song is about has actually come out.

[@jfn467]

Nobody thinks we all live in a Yellow Submarine.... 😊

[@winyan2010]

It was based in the Greek finance ministers wife, how's that for you? How can he be comfortable wearing those ear phones and that big yellow mike in front of his gob?

[@noneck3099]

ah the comment section...... like any of us are special....

[@EmmaLandgren]

The truth is isn't in who slept with who or not. The truth lies in lines like "if you called your dad he could stop it all". That's reality. For some people that's true. For some people, not at all.

[@arricammarques1955]

Charlie also a name of a bloke? Who knew...

[@ilexdiapason]

think of charlie chaplin

[@nds84]

such a huge mic jajaajajajaja

[@hajjamhicham6353]

01:00 How can he be comfortable wearing those ear phones and that big yellow mike in front of his gob?

[@EvilPaladin11]

I hate the fact that I've accidentally become the spoiled girl in the story.

[@royfr8136]

Common People was lifted from a spanish band. The original is called Los Amantes. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYPPoKdvdtOtmMk Cocker wrote the lyrics but the melody was lifted.

[@Nolangainsborough]

ROY FR And thank God it was. Dreadful original song

[@royfr8136]

@@Nolangainsborough How do you know? Do you speak Spanish? I guess no one takes any responsibility or is called out these days.

[@royfr8136]

Dont be an idiot - did you listen to it? The tune? Of course not - Of course you didn't. I guess no one takes the responsibility to think these days.

[@royfr8136]

@@Nolangainsborough I doubt if you have even listened to it... The similarity is ridiculous.

[@moogdome2562]

What a great interview, I'm Cocker hoop.But Bacon was a bit Rash er.

[@Prettypaigexxx]

Wtf is this comment section

[@claudealain85]

So british...

[@princecharmless9742]

funny but I thought the william shatner version was more moving and I was no fan of Shatner

[@noah-8833]

prince charmless I

[@dorianphilotheates3769]

I had the misfortune of knowing (not in the Biblical sense) the lady in question...permanently put me off all “art”forms.

[@gregorstamejcic2355]

It's been hypothesised that the woman in question is the wife of Janis Varufakis, otherwise a scion of a greek shipping moghul. She did study art at St. Martins, and should be of an age with Jarvis, and greek, and pretty posh - you know, the champagne socialist type that wants to sleep with common people ;)