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Pulp – Common People

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/14630239[/vimeo]

If you pay close attention to the video for Pulp’s 1995 hit Common People, you’ll spot a delicate, dark-haired girl dancing her heart out. Before she became a full-time actress, Keeley Hawes paid the rent doing pop videos. “I’m the one doing a little dance a bit further along from Sadie Frost,” she recalls. “Jarvis Cocker came up afterwards and said [she affects a northern accent], ‘That was really cool’.”

The accompanying music video featured an early appearance from actress Sadie Frost and a dance routine improvised by Cocker on the day of shooting. The video also features a homage to the Eleanor Rigby sequence in the film Yellow Submarine, with everyday people stuck in repeating loops lasting less than a second. For location shooting, it used Stepney’s Nightclub on Commercial Road in the East End of London. The nightclub still has its original décor, including a 70s dance floor, and was described as a “cultural icon” when under threat of demolition in 2007.

[spoiler name=”Lyrics”]She came from Greece, she had a thirst for knowledge
She studied sculpture at St. 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,
I wanna sleep with common people,
I wanna sleep with common people like you.”
Well what else could I do?
I said “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’ve got no money.”
But she just laughed an said “Oh you’re so funny.”
I said “Yeah?
Well I can’t see anyone else smiling in here.
Are you sure you want to live like common people,
you want to see whatever common people see,
you want to sleep with common people,
you want to sleep with common people like me?”
But she didn’t understand
She just smiled and held my hand

Rent a flat above a shop
Cut your hair and get a job
Smoke some fags and play some pool
Pretend you never went to school
But still you’ll never get it right
Cos 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 whatever common people do,
You’ll 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

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 and never warn you
Look out
They’ll tear your insides out
‘Cos everybody hates a tourist
Especially one who thinks it’s
All such a laugh
Yeah, and the chip stain’s 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 else 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
Smoke some fags and play some pool
Pretend you never went to school
But still you’ll never get it right
‘Cos when you’re laid in bed at night
Watching roaches climb the wall
If you called your Dad he could stop it all
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
And then dance, and drink, and screw
Because there’s nothing else to do

I want to live with common people like you
I want to live with common people like you
I want to live with common people like you
I want to live with common people like you
I want to live with common people like you
I want to live with common people like you
I want to live with common people like you
I want to live with common people like you
Aa-aa-ah la la la la…
Oh yeah.[/spoiler]

(Source: The Independent, Wikipedia, the video is my upload)

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