The one moment in 1995 Pulp became British heroes forever: “You were everyman”
“If you want something to happen enough, it actually will happen”, says Jarvis Cocker as his band Pulp headline the biggest music festival in the world in 1995.
It’s a performance that feels not only like a perfect time capsule of the moment, the raging hormones of the 1990s exuding out of every single pore, but as a single reminder that, like Pulp, things can happen at any time to anyone, you’ve just gotta be smart enough to take your chance when it comes. In a field in 1995, with a hit album behind them, Pulp confirmed that they would snatch their chance like a gleeful child grabs a legacy-flaked ice cream and deliver one of Glastonbury’s defining moments.
Led by Jarvis Cocker, Pulp always provided much-needed relief from the boisterous machismo that was emanating out of Britpop’s bro-tastic bands like Blur, Supergrass and Oasis. At Glastonbury 1995, they proved they were every bit as vital.
When looking back at the Pyramid Stage of Glastonbury Festival, you can naturally chart a course through some of music’s greatest artists and bands. One stop along the way is Sheffield’s own Pulp who, like Oasis, cemented their success with a stellar performance back in ’95 having made their debut the previous year.
Easily the crowning moment of that standout performance was their rendition of the Britpop anthem ‘Common People’. It’s not only one of the best songs of that year but has gone on to define, the decade, the century and perhaps even the British psyche in its totality and, having seen the group perform it very recently, it still holds up as a party anthem 30 years later.
That enduring popularity comes from the song’s rare balancing act. ‘Common People’ functions as both an irresistible singalong and a sharp piece of social commentary, allowing generations of listeners to enjoy its euphoric chorus while continuing to debate the ideas that sit beneath it.
As most artists who have had the pleasure of performing on the Pyramid Stage during Glastonbury will attest, the view of nearly 100,000 swarming around the stage and singing your songs is one that will be burned in one’s brain forever. Pulp’s ’95 performance is certainly still a landmark moment for Jarvis Cocker.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs back in 2005, host Sue Lawley asked the singer, “The great height of your success though Jarvis, was your great appearance in 1995 at Glastonbury wasn’t it? When you stood up and everybody knew the words to ‘Common People’?”
“I guess so, it’s quite scary to me that it is now ten years ago,” says the singer with a wry smile. “That was the event that made the success a concrete fact.” Lawley continues with her line of questioning, “The irony is you’d written it and you’d always been, if you like, a kind of outsider, what you discovered, in that moment, was you were everyman— what you felt meant something to all those people”
“Well, that is a strange thing,” replies Cocker. “But you’re a human being and even though everybody likes to think that they’re fantastically interesting and very unique the basic things that drive people are always the same things. So if you managed to kind of, no matter how specific the thing you’re writing about, if you manage to write about it properly, it will connect with people.”
‘Common People’ is a song that is destined to be played long after we’re all gone. Its connective message and the unstoppable groove it provides, means its not only a song of the moment but a timeless piece, offering swathes of the country a song that feels plucked from their very own lives. It was this connection that Cocker also talks about in his prelude to the track, a speech worth listening to.
There’s no better display of that song than when Pulp and Jarvis Cocker took to the stage at Glastonbury 1995 and belted out ‘Common People’ alongside 100,000 other common people. It’s a reminder that those chances, however fleeting they may be, are worth grabbing. You just need to ready your hands.
Three decades later, Pulp’s Glastonbury triumph remains far more than a great festival performance. It marked the moment an underdog band became the voice of a generation, with ‘Common People’ transforming from a chart hit into a cultural landmark that still captures the humour, frustration and optimism of British life.
