Hablando líricamente: la fantasía de venganza ultimate ‘Us vs ellos de Pulp, Spy

I spy a boy. A pause for tension, a moment for breath. I spy… a girl. Jarvis Cocker begins with the facts as if they are simple. As the song that Pulp kick off with on their latest tour dates and a track that perfectly defines them as a group, ‘I Spy’ is anything but simple. When the piece bursts to life but keeps the tension building, it’s as though the listener can’t walk away. Presented as their own kind of social nature documentary, Pulp dare to take on class as the dog-eat-dog thing that it is, painting themselves as the predator rather than the prey for once.

Según lo sugerido por el título del álbum, el récord de 1995 de Pulp Clase diferente delivers a glaring class commentary, all told with Jarvis Cocker’s recognisable lyrical wit. The band had been around for a long time before this moment, but it feels like they only gained their voice when disconnected from the city that gave them it. It wasn’t until Cocker moved away from his Sheffield nativo y se dirigió a Londres para asistir a Central Saint Martins a que encontró el tema y las palabras correctas.

jake devito

For any working-class northerner in the capital, the story of Clase diferente is a known one. It’s a tale of moving to a big city and suddenly being smacked around the face by a world that isn’t built for you. It’s especially a story of working-class creatives, reckoning with the fact that wealthier counterparts not only have an easier route to making it but will want to play around in your lane, testing the waters and making believe that they’re broke for a laugh.

Nunca vivirás como gente común, cantan en su éxito himno ‘ Gente común ’ as the most outright commentary. But in almost every track on the record, some line continues their observations of spheres they feel they don’t belong in or are locked out of. On ‘Mis-Shapes’, their existence in London’s creative world is depicted like a break-in, singing, Just put your hands up, it’s a raid. Or on ‘Live Bed Show’, they considered a kind of privileged boredom they’ll never get to access, writing about a sad little rich girl that doesn’t have to go to work. As they found themselves right in the heart of Britpop, Pulp reflected the class divide in music in a way that no one else dared to do. Sure, there was Blur vs Oasis as a kind of south vs north, rich vs poor fight, but Jarvis Cocker would put it into words and dare to take the mick.

De eso se trata precisamente de lo que espía. Si Clase diferente Son sus observaciones desde su punto de vista, esta pista convierte a Cocker en una figura de David Attenborough si Attenborough se atrevía a entrar, irrumpir en las casas de los leones o enfrentarse a las poderosas bestias de las que está hablando. Puede mirar al ojo inexperto / Estoy sentado en mi trasero todo el día / Llevo tiempo hasta que los tomo a todos, canta, con Cocker mirando a los ricos en sus ojos con un dedo puntiagudo como una amenaza. A medida que la música continúa con su entrega teatral y una guitarra rayada, es como si el cantante se zambulle en este mundo que está mirando desde el exterior, entrando en su mundo y preparándose para estropearlo.

I know the ways your minds work; I’ve studied, he continues. Throughout the song, Cocker seems to be presenting his findings. If the rest of the album is him witnessing the world around him and taking notes on the class divide he sees, ‘I Spy’ is everything coming to fruition like a plan booming into action. Just like any working-class figure is forced to look at how the world works for people with wealth, the piece presents this as literal spying, gathering intel for an overthrow.

Y ese derrocamiento llega. En lugar de simplemente contentos de presenciar aquí, Cocker está involucrado en la acción como depredador , escribiendo una fantasía de venganza catártica para las clases bajas. Definitivamente es el más vengativo, dijo sobre la pista. A veces, si estás de buen humor, puedes caminar por la calle y despreciar a la gente desde arriba. Sabes, ese tipo de odio superior. Ahí estás, caminando por la calle, y todos piensan que eres este trozo de basura inútil y sin trabajo. Pero por dentro, te sientes realmente fuerte. Como una canción, I Spy es una declaración que dice Cuidado, vengo por ti, nacido de un deseo de algún día poder hacerlo. Su odio te ayuda a sentirte así. Sabes lo que está pasando, tienes su número, y sabes que algún día vas a recuperar el tuyo, dijo Cocker.

But what makes ‘I Spy’ such a quintessential and defining Pulp track is the wittiness and pettiness of it. When it comes to that vengeance, it’s not some huge political statement. In fact, it’s pretty small, more like a middle finger up and a laugh than any grand social leveller. You see, you should take me seriously, Very seriously indeed, Cocker teases and threats, but all it really comes down to is silliness as he continues, Cause I’ve been sleeping with your wife for the past 16 weeks / Smoking your cigarettes / Drinking your brandy. In the most literal way, he paints himself as having fucked the elite, breaking into their world by placing himself in their home and helping himself to their life. Without the need for an outright statement, this image alone is the band’s unique and brilliant class commentary.

You see, I spy for a living, Cocker sings as he returns to his observation post. Pointing out the minute details of things that are fine for the rich but not for the poor, he’s making big comments through the smallest things, knowing he doesn’t need to add any more to it because the people who get it will get it. Take, for example, the hi-octane middle eight as he described in detail the classic Ladbrook Grove looks of roach burns in designer dresser; it’s something that is chic for the rich but would be scruffy on a poorer woman, in the same way that the wealthy invented ‘thrifting’ to separate themselves from the lesser ‘charity shopping’. As he paints his occupation or even his life’s work as merely observing these things, even that is a comment on how the working class will always be locked out of this world, only ever really able to break in for a romp but never truly belonging.

Y todas las noches eclosionan mi plan, no es un caso de mujer contra hombre / es más un caso de cuanto a los que no tienen, dice, volviendo a esa imagen de apertura de un niño y una niña. Porque nunca fue tan simple, nunca lo es. En este mundo, con sus diversas desigualdades y formas sutiles de que ciertas sectas se retrasen mientras que otras corren por delante, con los muchos perdiendo a los pocos, nunca puede ser tan simple. Pero durante cinco minutos, Cocker convierte ese hecho en un evento emocionante mientras los pinta frente a ellos como una emocionante competencia que ganará su voz villana y asquerosa. Marque sus palabras, mis señores y damas, prevaleceré, no puedo fallar porque espía.

hendrix hart