The Story Behind The Song: ‘Common People’ by Pulp
Released in 1995 on their masterpiece album Different Class, ‘Common People’ is undoubtedly the most well-known song by the Britpop stalwarts Pulp. The song tells the story of a wealthy young woman who is fascinated by the lifestyle of working-class people and decides to immerse herself. It’s a song that captures the cultural zeitgeist of mid-90s Britain and is now regarded as an apical classic of the Britpop era.
The lyrics of ‘Common People’ are a scathing critique of the woman’s romanticised view of working-class life. Jarvis Cocker sings of the woman’s vain attempts to fit in with the East London locals. The chorus is a rousing anthem that captures the frustration and anger of the working class, with Cocker shouting, “You’ll never live like common people / You’ll never do what common people do / You’ll never fail like common people / You’ll never watch your life slide out of view.”
The loosely autobiographical story detailed in ‘Common People’ was inspired when Jarvis Cocker met a young woman while studying at college. In 1988, the Pulp frontman took a sabbatical from his music career to study Fine Art and Film at Saint Martin’s School of Art. He graduated in 1991 after three years of studying under Vera Neubauer and Malcolm Le Grice.
The woman, who was from a wealthy background, told Cocker that she wanted to move to the east end of London and live like “common people”. Cocker was intrigued by the idea and decided to write a new song about it. His exchange with the woman was brief, so he had a few gaps to fill in for the lyrics.
In 2022, Cocker revealed that he regrettably had very little recollection regarding the identity of the woman who inspired ‘Common People’. Discussing the mystery woman on BBC Radio 4’s This Cultural Life, Cocker addressed claims that the inspiration for the hit was Danae Stratou, a Greek woman who attended St Martin’s at the same time as him, but confirmed that “it wasn’t her because she had blonde hair and the girl had dark hair.”
“We went to the pub, and she just came out with that she wanted to live in Hackney with common people,” Cocker said of the song. “In 2011, we played at St Martin’s, and someone showed me a picture on their phone and said, ‘Is that the girl you wrote the song about?’ I went, ‘Yeah, I think it is.'”
“Unfortunately, I didn’t ask them for the picture, and I can’t remember who showed it to me, so it’s still a mystery,” he added. Sadly, it appears Cocker’s search for the subject of his biggest hit has all but dried up.
Released as the lead single from their fifth album, Different Class, ‘Common People’ remains Pulp’s style-defining classic. The catchy melody and biting lyrics made it an instant hit, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart, and it quickly became an anthem for a generation of young people incensed by the status quo. Over the past three decades, ‘Common People’ has continued to resonate with audiences worldwide.
Listen to Pulp’s ‘Common People’ below.
