There's a thing called "slumming it" where wealthy people play at being poor, hanging out with poor people, sleeping with them, etc. The girl in the song is doing that and the singer is calling her out on it, saying that it doesn't matter how much she thinks she's being 'real', it's still a game to her and she can stop whenever she wants but the poor people are stuck with it.
I'm British but I know that slumming it in the United States used to refer to white people going to live in black areas in New York City in the early 20th century.
Wow. I wasn't expecting Pulp. Jarvis Cocker is iconic. I love his sass. In the song he says he met her at a college. She came from a wealthy family. She took a liking to him, who came from a very different background. It's about the class divide, and rich people treating poor people like a novelty.
It's hard to overstate the impact of Common People back in the day. When Pulp stood in for Stone Roses at Glastonbury, this song would have taken the roof off if there was one.
The answer to "which one is the better band, Oasis or Blur?", is Pulp. You can do Disco 2000, or Sorted For The E's and Wizz, or Babies. This song is inspired in something that actually happened to Jarvis Cocker when he was at Uni.
Some would say Suede... Pulp acted out a lot of the fantasies Blur and Oasis avoided. Upbeat goth music sums it up quite well, actually; whereas Suede acted out a lot of the darker stuff.
There's a verse and bridge missing from this video version but included in the album track, and they really drive home the song's message: "Like a dog lying in a corner They will bite you and never warn you - Look out! they'll tear your insides out 'Cause everybody hates a tourist Especially one who thinks it's all such a laugh Yeah, and the chip stains and 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 left to go You're amazed that they exist And they burn so bright While you can only wonder why..." Class divide, in short. This is Pulp's biggest hit but I personally like "Disco 2000" more, including its similarly quirky video.
Adding to this the blanked-out lyric, due to what I can only describe as overbearing prudishness: 'And dance, and drink, [and screw], because there's nothing else to do' Plus its absence ruins a rhyming couplet
Absolutely agree. All the verses are necessary to make the song whole, but one takes what one gets. I also like their song “Mile End” that was used in Trainspotting.
As an economically poor Australian boy who was in a long term relationship with a rich English girl...this song is insanely accurate. Love her to death even after we broke up... but she truly encompassed every aspect of this song. Amazingly accurate portrayal of the divide between the have's and have not's in this twisted world, and a catchy song to boot. :)
@@charliegeorge9393 'Charlie George' - the hair, the footballer - those were the days. Mistaking Sheffield for - Lower middle class suburban southern England - That takes some doing.
It's too bad you guys didn't listen to the album version as it contains a whole extra set of verses which complete the song. As someone else pointed out, this song references the the class system in Britain, which still exists to this day. Jarvis Cocker told the story about how this is based on someone he actually met while attending St Martins College in London as an art student. The girl's father is rich "she told me that her dad was loaded" and coming from this very privileged background is curious how the other half.. actually 99% live. She's slumming for the fun of it and is so clueless that doesn't even realize she insults him by claiming she wants to sleep with common people like you.. The anger in this track builds as he point out that however much she might want to play at being less privileged or poor, she will never understand since while she watches "roaches climb the wall"she can call her dad who can stop it all. In the part you didn't hear, he calls her out and warns her that if you think poor is cool, "like a dog lying in a corner, they'll bite you and never warn you - look out they'll tear your insides out 'cause everybody hates a tourist". Classic song with a good dose of social commentary.
Spot on - the longer version really fills the whole song out - poverty safaris & never being able to understand - You are amazed that they exist And they burn so bright Whilst you can only wonder why Pulp pulling no punches.
It's a horrible phenomenon, but on the plus side where else are you gonna get the chance to bang hot rich women (or men)? Also I'd forgotten Jarvis had such 'interesting' dance moves, great blast from the past.
We are seeing this in film nowadays - misery tourism, poverty tourism, call it what you will, but growing up poor or lower class sucks and no amount of filmic representation makes it better. There but for the grace of God go I.
The bit about sleeping with common people and him in particular is his invention. He did ask out a girl like the one he's singing about, but she turned him down.
The song is about a rich girl who thinks it's cool and trendy to check out how "common people" live. But he is saying you cannot ever know what it's like, because at any time she can "Call her Dad and stop it all." Go to a supermarket and pretend you can't afford what you want, she laughs at the idea - and he's like, "take a look around, no one is laughing." And sorry, not even close to "Goth" - this is pure BritPop.
This was/is a class anthem, regulary voted among the most beloved british pop songs. And in my experience women in europe are much more straight forward tan in the US, that's maybe what Brad confused with "agressive"
As an interesting aside, it is rumoured that lady in the song is the wife of one time Greek Finance minister Yanis Varoufakis (legend). She fits the profile, right age, Greek, wealthy background and studied sculpture at St Martins College. Yanis when asked about this could neither confirm or deny the allegation that his wife was the lady in question.
This was during the era when higher education was still free in the UK (well around the time when free education actually ended anyway), and St Martins is a very prestigious art college full of rich kids, and quite a few common people like myself too, I was studying at art college myself at the time, and this song is a playful look at some richer student's fascination with the more common students, I dated several girls in college who were from quite wealthy families, being a council estate kid certainly made you a curiosity, things have changed somewhat now, but the song is very much of its time.
It still is. I watched a video of them playing in Dublin last year. The crowd sang it word for word 28 years after it was released........God was it really 28 years ago 😮
If you want to condense British music in the 1990s, especially the so-called BritPop, it essentially came down to Oasis - Wonderwall, Blur - Girls and Boys or Parklife, and Pulp - Common People. Also, I almost always say you shouldn't have the lyrics on for a first-time listen, but for this one, you should have. Brilliant stuff.
Sadie Frost is the lady, apparently rich society girls like to "rough it" from time to time which means hanging out with/hooking up with the poor. Some even pretend to be poor to do so
@@19thcenturyman95 No idea, I don't need to try as I'm already poor! 😅 This is the song meaning though .... The song is a critique of gentrification, and the wealthy wanting to be "like common people" - ascribing glamour to poverty. This phenomenon is referred to as slumming or "class tourism".
‘Common’ can be kinda used as an insult in the UK. It def means working class at least. Common people means the working class. She’s a rich girl from an higher class. Class is subtle in the UK. This is one of the best songs about it
_Some other great Pulp songs:_ Disco 2000 Babies Do You Remember the First Time? Something Changed Sorted for E's & Wizz Underwear This Is Hardcore Razzmatazz
I think the part you guys are missing is that British society has notable differences from American society (might seem obvious, but most Americans don't realize). This song is about the class divide in Britain. Sure, there are rich and poor here in America, but there is generally no cultural bias against the movement of people out of the lower SES class. It's not so open in English culture, and such an attitude of the girl in the song resonates with people as such. It's also a great song, with emotion but also fun.
I am not sure you guys quite get Britain. It’s different to the US seriously! People think and behave differently and the personal threat level is much lower.
To fully grasp this song you have to fully comprehend the class system that exists in England. This song and PULP themselves were HUGE in the British Pop explosion of the mid 90's. Every song his band recorded was incredible.
No. You really don't. Americans might think that they are all middle class or temporarily disadvantaged millionaires but we know what it's like to hate rich people. Especially rich people trying to be authentic left leaning poor people.
It's about a rich girl out slumming, and being called out for it. I really like that thoughtful look Brad has while listening to anything, like, you are paying so much attention to the song -it's awesome.
Great song! Pulp is a band from the formerly industrial heartland (South Yorkshire) city of Sheffield. A local hero of sorts, singer/lyricist Jarvis Cocker's voice was heard in the Sheffield streetcars announcing stations. (He is also the singer in the Christmas Ball scene during the movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, along with members of Radiohead, etc.) And I find the William Shatner, Joe Jackson, Ben Folds version of "Common People" hilarious, too. About the story in the song, lots of kids - male and female - from well-heeled families may go through a period where they rebel and want adventures, and sometimes those adventures mean going "slumming", hanging out at working-class bars, seedy clubs, etc. Seeking a taste of forbidden fruit... Most of those kids end up returning to their more comfortable and familiar surroundings after some adventures, after their time as "class tourists". ("'Cause everybody hates a tourist...") The song is written and sung from the perspective of bemused fury of one of those (common) people who may be the objects of this "slumming" behaviour by those rich kids. And despite the description of the young woman coming from a rich family in Greece, keep in mind that the UK has had distinct social class issues (looking both downward and upward) for centuries. "Laugh along with the common people Laugh along even though they're really laughing at you And the stupid things that you do Because you think that poor is cool"
Like there was so much bitterness raging in the poor youth bereft of real prospects in life by Margaret Thatcher's "leadership". This is a song I'd call Dickensian.
@@StfuFFS and still running on Thatcherite ideology. John Major was in fact his predecessor's deputy in government. And while Thatcher's second and third term saw the revitalization of British economy, John Major could not handle the rapidly unfolding economic crisis - despite his participation in the First Iraqi War as a successful wartime prime minister. As they put it very aptly in The Thick of It: "It's the economy, stupid!".
Still running on Thatcherite philosophy of government and unable to tackle social differences, lower classes could not benefit from Thatcher's economic success.
@@translator074 this is a song about the upperclass thinking that poor is cool and the struggle of being working class and dating rich girls. Not really sure how Margaret Thatcher is being blamed for something that has literally existed since money was invented 4000 years ago but ok.
I'm really glad you listened to this song, as it's an absolute classic of the Britpop era, and UK pop in general. It's actually quite a deep song but it's hard to unpick without having lived through the 90s in the UK. The album version with the two extra verses is much harder hitting than this shorter radio edit. But the song is essentially an expression of anger and bewilderment at rich people thinking that they know what it is like to be poor. It perfectly encapsulated the mood of the UK in the mid 1990s when there had been many years of social oppression that was about to be torn down, and hence was probably THE defining song of the Britpop era. The band Pulp are from Sheffield, one of the cities in the north of the country that was hardest hit. The strangely non-dark vibe for quite a dark subject probably comes from the northern UK mentality of taking a certain pride in the fact that they struggle through hardship. See the 'Four Yorkshiremen' sketch for an example of what I mean!
Pulp was, IMO, the best of the Britpop bands, like Blur and Oasis. that made a point of pulling their influence from earlier British bands rather than the dominant American grunge bands that were popular at the time. Pulp's big influence was the Kinks, particularly lyrically. The Kinks were big on songs which said as much about the narrator as about what the narrator is talking about. And that is something that Jarvis Cocker picked up on, including on some purposely petty songs about ex-girlfriends. So Pulp songs often have a surface level and a deeper level meaning. The surface level meaning is about a rich girl who thinks it would be cool at playing at being poor, and a poor boy who helps her until he gets fed up with the idea that being poor can be hip and tells her off. The deeper part is the part that Brad picks up on, namely the sexual aspect. The singer's willing to go along with this is likely because of the allure of sex with a rich girl, and the loss of patience likely follows from his having had sex with the rich girl and no longer having to put up with her behavior. A commentator to a reaction video like this said that Cocker claimed that this song was inspired by a real incident, except that the girl had no interest in sex with him, and when Cocker realized that he lost interest in the girl, and so things went no further than her expressing her interest to live like common people. I also suspect that the "rum and coca cola" line is a call back to the Kinks Lola in which the singer drinks coca cola with a similar lyrical effect. Pulp narrators often seem to be Kinks narrators empowered by technology to be somewhat more forward.
You ought to be writing material for a channel about music! I did not know about the connection to the Kinks, but I did pick up on the multilayered aspect of the lyrics of Pulp songs. That's what made Pulp stand out from the pack, and made them such a definitive voice in the Britpop era - these incisive lyrics, and Jarvis' delivery of them (as well as his distinctive look and style, dance moves, and showmanship).
@@thanksamill the best bit was,after he got arrested and Bob mortimer who is a solicitor turned up to help him and in walks 50 of jackos solicitors Bob said your on your own 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Finally Pulp! 👏 Thank God for the Britpop, Indie stream. Groups like Pulp has hard time winning regular decade streams (mostly mainstream music , bigger bands, or hard rock wins those). "Disco 2000" is another nice song from them, see the video. Pulp was influenced by other new wave, post punk bands like The Jam, Talking Heads, Roxy Music, The Fall, New Order, and also The Beatles. In the UK, race, ethnicity isn't emphasized , they emphasize more on class system over there. A lil different compared to the US.
Jarvis is a freaking legend. A weird, straightforward, brilliant legend and he writes amazing lyrics. I'm not British but I know about the class system in Britain. And this song is one of my all-time favourites ever. This band is better than Oasis in my opinion. Clever lyrics with memorable melodies, telling stories about difficulties regarding life and love.
This is such a classic song and hits true on so many levels. The girl is not literally saying that she wants to 'sleep with common people' it's just that her actions are so obvious that she might as well be. It's the story of a rich privileged girl hanging out with the working class crowd to gain some cred and he's calling her out on it saying that she can play pretend all she likes but she'll never know the authentic experience/struggles of the working class. The term 'common' is like a slur amongst the British aristocracy.
Jarvis Cocker based her character on someone he actually met at St Martnin’s (the uk’s top design college);as a student back in the day . I think she was a rich Greek girl. Incredibly influential song on the U.K. music scene in the 90”s. Still gets everyone going when it’s played .
HahA, the edited version. Dance and drink and screw is the full line. Haha, jeez. Such a great tune. A real bookend for Lennon's tune on the lives of us less rich ordinary folks, Working Class Hero
Honestly you guys were the best rock reactors on youtube, hands down. Just genuinely likable and attractive people, reacting with humor and insight. It sucks that the corporate world has bashed you like it has so many others.
If you want to explore Pulp a bit more, "Disco 2000" was their other big hit, but for a darker, weirder and generally more interesting journey, I suggest you listen to "I Spy".
Brad is spot on. When a posh girl or whatever says they want to sleep with you coz you're common, you have to use the 'what's that?' trick. You say "ok, but only if you can tell me what that is over there" and when they look round, you leg it 🏃♂😂
The class system in the UK is far more prevalent than it is in the US , this song is purely about the working class way of life in the UK. It was the song for a generation here and still stands the test of time.
There were actually a lot of wealthy Greek students studying in universities in the UK in the 90s. I can imagine some the ones I knew behaving like this.
This song was a hit during the 90's in Europe. What a band pulp was oh my god. During late 80's and early 90's there were Oasis, Blur, The verve, The stone roses, Radiohead and happy mondays dominating the britpop industry but for me the best band was pulp and sadly they did not get the recognition they deserved, what a great thing watching you reacting to one of their best songs, I truly recommend Razzamatazz my favorite song by them, cheers!
'"Common People" was typical Pulp - a biting satire of posh people ‘roughing it’ and acting like tourists by hanging with the "common people". roughing it A term used to describe some form of hard living. Like sleeping in a tent at muddy festival grounds. I was roughing it the last time I attended Glastonbury. The mud was up to my ears.
This was Sleaford Mods before Sleaford Mods. Cocker has always had his thumb in the eye of convention (like his dancing during a Michael Jackson performance/award presentation - look for the video). I sometimes wonder if there wasn’t a veiled shot at some of his contemporaries *cough, Blur, cough* who were a bit Posh but tried to play down their affluence. Also, if you look for it on the RUclipss, there is a really cool series of videos about the song and its making and it turns out that the girl in the song IS real, and she is rich and Greek. Check it out.
Jarvis calls out crap. He once got on stage at a music awards show as Michael Jackson was performing and took the mickey. He was reacting to Jackson portraying himself as a Christ-like figure while people bowed before him and kissed his robes or somesuch. Security tried to get him and ended up chasing him all around the stage and up and over a walkway above it. It was pure farce and totally hilarious. 🤣
HUGE FAN of Pulp. Loved this when I was a student. It's all about posh people "slumming it" in northern Universities. It's funny to me also, as I had a housemate who was super rich and had a BOX OF WINE delivered to him every month (1990s guys) I think the posho kids still do this a lot
this rich girl mentioned at the front was indeed a real girl from Greece. After some 20 years she was married a professor of economics who was for some months a ninistry of economics in the goverment.
Heres one you’ll like: Hold Me Now, by the Thompson Twins. An early 90s masterpiece and a big hit at the time. Pulp comes from a kind of genre, like Supergrass (ie Caught by the Fuzz) and the Killers (mr Brightside).
Upbeat Goth music....😂 Brilliant observation! Pulp started back in the early 80's and only came to fame in the 90's in the UK, some of those early tracks are very The Smith's.
The son was inspired by a real event. The difference was that in real life she never said anything about sleeping with him. It was just a rich girl saying that she wanted to live like common people, and he thought that was kind of a dumb thing to say, so he wrote about it.
This song often reminds me of backpackers in places like Vietnam and Cambodia, who think they are so cool because they are eating where locals eat etc, not considering the fact that those same locals would love to eat and drink at the places those backpackers can actually afford, not to mention having the struggle of their lives reduced to a social media opportunity. Unrelated to that, St Martin's College, mentioned at the start, is where The Sex Pistols played their first gig, supporting Adam Ant's first band.
Is it weird that this song makes me cry? I always get a little choked up when he gets to the part that goes "you can call your Daddy he can stop it all".
The term 'common people' is used by those from wealthy or aristocratic backgrounds to refer to ordinary people. It is a pejorative term indicating that they look down on those people. At the beginning of the song you are told that she is from a wealthy family in Greece.
Amazing, an anthem for my 18 year old self! Saw Pulp live in Manchester in '96 and this blew the top off the Manchester Arena. The lyrics meant so much to me back then, a certain mocking bitterness aimed at the entitled. Glad everything has changed in 2022....
Sadly, Steve Mackey, bass player in the band, passed away this week. While common people was their most successful hit, I wonder if, as a tribute you could do a first listen to another track they made, the fear? It’s from the this is hardcore album. Rip Steve
Pulp were definitely in my top play rotation throughout my teens! 'The Fear' is an awesome song that became an awkward parallel to my own life as I ended up going through periods of extreme anxiety.
I've known a few people that like to "rough it" there's no need but they do it for "fun" Trouble is though sometimes it really ain't fun, they can call their parents to bail them out, the ordinary common man can't. Yes there's boys and girls like this, I think in the last verse that was cut out he says "they shine so bright while you can only wonder why" I've known rich kids that went to private school and are as thick as mince who's parents get them careers, whilst poor kids as bright as buttons are ignored, not all of them but most. Jesus, this song is quite deep really.
It's about a rich girl slumming and wanting to get with a poor "commoner" out of morbid curiosity. But as the singer points out, you're not truly poor if you can call your dad to get you out of your roach-infested apartment. The song was, and remains, a pointed look at the class divide, mostly in Europe, but it's probably relatable here in the U.S., too. Pulp is part of the Britpop subgenre, which included Oasis, Radiohead, Blur, Elastica, Suede, and a few others.
I used to think that the line where he asks for a Rum and Coca Cola was just "In that case I'll have a Coca Cola" . We couldn't afford to have Coca Cola when I was growing up so just having the Coke bought for me by a rich person would have been special.
The UK is a very class oriented society. Americans I don't think grasp this. I only understood it when I lived there, for about year. The ruling class, mostly the descendants of the Normans who conquered England, almost 1000 years ago. That's how ingrained their class system is. Descendants of the Normans own everything, while descendants of the Saxons are mostly lower classes, still a millennia later
So much to unpack here, and I think a very good case of why you can't just look at lyrics and place them in the modern day and assume you know what is going on. 90s Britain was an interesting time, full of new technology, new hope, after the economic issues of the 70s and 80s and the decimation of industry. There was a feeling that nothing was off limits, that you could better yourself, that you could even mix with those from wealthier backgrounds, especially in educational settings, more so than there is today, and especially in Britain where the class system has often prevented this, or at least shunned this, though maybe that was just an illusion, who knows. I think the song is a social commentary on both those from more of a working class background, like Jarvis Cocker, the lead singer of Pulp who wrote the song based on an experience he had whilst studying at St Martin's College, a very well renowned at college in London, and a girl from a better off background, who saw it as cool hanging out with maybe talented, interesting arty types that they were attracted to who has talent and charisma, and I think this is why it resonated with the youth of Britain at the time. I'm not sure the same is true now, except that rich people have anyways been fascinated by talented young arty types throughout history. I'm not sure I'd exactly call it slumming it, and I'm not totally sure it applies to the example you have in the video of a billionaire's daughter living the hippy lifestyle though perhaps there are still some parallels between the two, I just think the gap between the super rich and even the middle classes has grown so much wider since then that is hard to compare to today.
Love to see you've at last started to discover the world of Pulp. This video of "Common People" was a censored & edited version however. They censored the last word from "and then dance and drink and screw" but also ediited out an entire section prior to the repeat of the bridge, (The bit beginning "rent a flat above a shop". The missing lyrics are: "Like a dog lying in a corner, They will bite you and never warn you. Look out, they'll tear your insides out", "'Cause everybody hates a tourist, especially one who thinks it's all such a laugh," "Yeah and the chip stains and 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 left to go", "You're amazed that they exist, and they burn so bright whilst you can only wonder why?"
There's a thing called "slumming it" where wealthy people play at being poor, hanging out with poor people, sleeping with them, etc.
The girl in the song is doing that and the singer is calling her out on it, saying that it doesn't matter how much she thinks she's being 'real', it's still a game to her and she can stop whenever she wants but the poor people are stuck with it.
I'm British but I know that slumming it in the United States used to refer to white people going to live in black areas in New York City in the early 20th century.
@@ajs41
Interesting, TY for the additional historic reference. 👍😎
Little rich girls on a poverty safari
"Slumming it"? Oh, you mean like Jarvis Cocker.
@@SvetlanaVladimirova8590 Jarvis certainly wasn’t
Wow. I wasn't expecting Pulp. Jarvis Cocker is iconic. I love his sass. In the song he says he met her at a college. She came from a wealthy family. She took a liking to him, who came from a very different background. It's about the class divide, and rich people treating poor people like a novelty.
The lady in question went on to be married to the Greek Minister of Finance.
allegedly Danae Stratou
Shame it was the worse version
The class divide is much more definitive in English culture.
Benefits of a classical education. Higher thinking is nothing to be frowned at.
It's hard to overstate the impact of Common People back in the day. When Pulp stood in for Stone Roses at Glastonbury, this song would have taken the roof off if there was one.
Wow. That’s hard to believe. It’s such a terrible song and the music is even worse than the lyrics. Can’t imagine getting pumped up for this
Iconic band - unless you’ve seen them live you wouldn’t understand. 90s was incredible for music in the UK
Every time Stone Roses is mentioned I think of how "I want to be a door". Because that's what my little girl ears were hearing. haha
@@CoboProdz you have no taste.
I think he’s more a Bieber kind of guy
The answer to "which one is the better band, Oasis or Blur?", is Pulp.
You can do Disco 2000, or Sorted For The E's and Wizz, or Babies.
This song is inspired in something that actually happened to Jarvis Cocker when he was at Uni.
Fully-agree. Still have a soft spot for "Charmless Man", though. lol
😂👏👍
I had Different Class on repeat for weeks when it came out. Such a good album.
And don't forget Suede, another top band. Still going too. 😁
Some would say Suede... Pulp acted out a lot of the fantasies Blur and Oasis avoided. Upbeat goth music sums it up quite well, actually; whereas Suede acted out a lot of the darker stuff.
There's a verse and bridge missing from this video version but included in the album track, and they really drive home the song's message:
"Like a dog lying in a corner
They will bite you and never warn you -
Look out! they'll tear your insides out
'Cause everybody hates a tourist
Especially one who thinks it's all such a laugh
Yeah, and the chip stains and 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 left to go
You're amazed that they exist
And they burn so bright
While you can only wonder why..."
Class divide, in short. This is Pulp's biggest hit but I personally like "Disco 2000" more, including its similarly quirky video.
Yes. It's the best verse and I hate that it was kept out of radio edits here!
Adding to this the blanked-out lyric, due to what I can only describe as overbearing prudishness:
'And dance, and drink, [and screw], because there's nothing else to do'
Plus its absence ruins a rhyming couplet
Absolutely agree. All the verses are necessary to make the song whole, but one takes what one gets. I also like their song “Mile End” that was used in Trainspotting.
Absolutely correct it really detracts from the song to not have that person there. Still catchy as hell though
@@Jabberwok28 Trainspotting soundtrack is excellent! Not single duff. Damon Albarn's "Closet Romantic" is one of his best tracks.
As an economically poor Australian boy who was in a long term relationship with a rich English girl...this song is insanely accurate. Love her to death even after we broke up... but she truly encompassed every aspect of this song. Amazingly accurate portrayal of the divide between the have's and have not's in this twisted world, and a catchy song to boot. :)
Pulp were an incredible band. This song is quintessentially British, it epitomises the British university student experience.
@Penderyn a band from Sheffield...
@Penderyn Quite a few will tell you that the North of England feels greater kinship with Scotland or Wales than the South...
@Penderyn cool your boots. They're not southern but they're well loved down south.
@@charliegeorge9393 'Charlie George' - the hair, the footballer - those were the days.
Mistaking Sheffield for - Lower middle class suburban southern England - That takes some doing.
@@seang3019 Those from the south shouldn't raise their voice to speak - so shush.
It's too bad you guys didn't listen to the album version as it contains a whole extra set of verses which complete the song. As someone else pointed out, this song references the the class system in Britain, which still exists to this day. Jarvis Cocker told the story about how this is based on someone he actually met while attending St Martins College in London as an art student. The girl's father is rich "she told me that her dad was loaded" and coming from this very privileged background is curious how the other half.. actually 99% live. She's slumming for the fun of it and is so clueless that doesn't even realize she insults him by claiming she wants to sleep with common people like you.. The anger in this track builds as he point out that however much she might want to play at being less privileged or poor, she will never understand since while she watches "roaches climb the wall"she can call her dad who can stop it all. In the part you didn't hear, he calls her out and warns her that if you think poor is cool, "like a dog lying in a corner, they'll bite you and never warn you - look out they'll tear your insides out 'cause everybody hates a tourist". Classic song with a good dose of social commentary.
Spot on - the longer version really fills the whole song out - poverty safaris & never being able to understand -
You are amazed that they exist
And they burn so bright
Whilst you can only wonder why
Pulp pulling no punches.
Poverty tourist basically.
It's a horrible phenomenon, but on the plus side where else are you gonna get the chance to bang hot rich women (or men)? Also I'd forgotten Jarvis had such 'interesting' dance moves, great blast from the past.
We are seeing this in film nowadays - misery tourism, poverty tourism, call it what you will, but growing up poor or lower class sucks and no amount of filmic representation makes it better. There but for the grace of God go I.
The bit about sleeping with common people and him in particular is his invention. He did ask out a girl like the one he's singing about, but she turned him down.
A little bit of trivia. The lady in the video is the actress Sadie Frost, ex wife of actor Jude Law and Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp.
The song is about a rich girl who thinks it's cool and trendy to check out how "common people" live. But he is saying you cannot ever know what it's like, because at any time she can "Call her Dad and stop it all." Go to a supermarket and pretend you can't afford what you want, she laughs at the idea - and he's like, "take a look around, no one is laughing."
And sorry, not even close to "Goth" - this is pure BritPop.
This was/is a class anthem, regulary voted among the most beloved british pop songs.
And in my experience women in europe are much more straight forward tan in the US, that's maybe what Brad confused with "agressive"
As an interesting aside, it is rumoured that lady in the song is the wife of one time Greek Finance minister Yanis Varoufakis (legend). She fits the profile, right age, Greek, wealthy background
and studied sculpture at St Martins College. Yanis when asked about this could neither confirm or deny the allegation that his wife was the lady in question.
Yanis Madarfakis?😂😁
This was during the era when higher education was still free in the UK (well around the time when free education actually ended anyway), and St Martins is a very prestigious art college full of rich kids, and quite a few common people like myself too, I was studying at art college myself at the time, and this song is a playful look at some richer student's fascination with the more common students, I dated several girls in college who were from quite wealthy families, being a council estate kid certainly made you a curiosity, things have changed somewhat now, but the song is very much of its time.
Upbeat apathetic is about the best description I've ever heard, for this song.
Great song ...for a short period of time back in the 90s.this was the biggest song in the UK
It still is. I watched a video of them playing in Dublin last year. The crowd sang it word for word 28 years after it was released........God was it really 28 years ago 😮
Ahhhh, Pulp Iconic social commentary that actually spoke to a whole generation, great review by the way.
Unless you've suffered yet still strive, you will never be like COMMON PEOPLE
If you want to condense British music in the 1990s, especially the so-called BritPop, it essentially came down to Oasis - Wonderwall, Blur - Girls and Boys or Parklife, and Pulp - Common People. Also, I almost always say you shouldn't have the lyrics on for a first-time listen, but for this one, you should have. Brilliant stuff.
Sadie Frost is the lady, apparently rich society girls like to "rough it" from time to time which means hanging out with/hooking up with the poor. Some even pretend to be poor to do so
@@19thcenturyman95 No idea, I don't need to try as I'm already poor! 😅 This is the song meaning though ....
The song is a critique of gentrification, and the wealthy wanting to be "like common people" - ascribing glamour to poverty. This phenomenon is referred to as slumming or "class tourism".
‘Common’ can be kinda used as an insult in the UK. It def means working class at least. Common people means the working class. She’s a rich girl from an higher class.
Class is subtle in the UK. This is one of the best songs about it
This is a slam of the class system in the UK. Its more or less a story of rich girl going out "slumming", thinking its cool.
_Some other great Pulp songs:_
Disco 2000
Babies
Do You Remember the First Time?
Something Changed
Sorted for E's & Wizz
Underwear
This Is Hardcore
Razzmatazz
William Shatner, of Star Trek fame, did a great cover of this song a few years ago with Joe Jackson singing some parts as well. Really fun!
I actually like it more than the original
Shatner's was my first time hearing this song
@@crikeythesplund Same
Yes
Shatner's bassoon
This song is incredibly British and sums up Britain as a whole. Love it
I think the part you guys are missing is that British society has notable differences from American society (might seem obvious, but most Americans don't realize). This song is about the class divide in Britain. Sure, there are rich and poor here in America, but there is generally no cultural bias against the movement of people out of the lower SES class. It's not so open in English culture, and such an attitude of the girl in the song resonates with people as such. It's also a great song, with emotion but also fun.
I am not sure you guys quite get Britain. It’s different to the US seriously! People think and behave differently and the personal threat level is much lower.
To fully grasp this song you have to fully comprehend the class system that exists in England. This song and PULP themselves were HUGE in the British Pop explosion of the mid 90's. Every song his band recorded was incredible.
No. You really don't. Americans might think that they are all middle class or temporarily disadvantaged millionaires but we know what it's like to hate rich people. Especially rich people trying to be authentic left leaning poor people.
It's about a rich girl out slumming, and being called out for it.
I really like that thoughtful look Brad has while listening to anything, like, you are paying so much attention to the song -it's awesome.
you want a real treat, checkout William Shatner, Joe Jackson & Ben Folds band version
Superb version 🎶🤩🙌👍
Nah original is better lol
Ben folds 👌
Great song! Pulp is a band from the formerly industrial heartland (South Yorkshire) city of Sheffield. A local hero of sorts, singer/lyricist Jarvis Cocker's voice was heard in the Sheffield streetcars announcing stations. (He is also the singer in the Christmas Ball scene during the movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, along with members of Radiohead, etc.) And I find the William Shatner, Joe Jackson, Ben Folds version of "Common People" hilarious, too.
About the story in the song, lots of kids - male and female - from well-heeled families may go through a period where they rebel and want adventures, and sometimes those adventures mean going "slumming", hanging out at working-class bars, seedy clubs, etc. Seeking a taste of forbidden fruit... Most of those kids end up returning to their more comfortable and familiar surroundings after some adventures, after their time as "class tourists". ("'Cause everybody hates a tourist...")
The song is written and sung from the perspective of bemused fury of one of those (common) people who may be the objects of this "slumming" behaviour by those rich kids. And despite the description of the young woman coming from a rich family in Greece, keep in mind that the UK has had distinct social class issues (looking both downward and upward) for centuries.
"Laugh along with the common people
Laugh along even though they're really laughing at you
And the stupid things that you do
Because you think that poor is cool"
well sed dude
I didn't know there was all those covers of this song. I have to find them now....
@@jco207 All three (Shatner, Jackson, Folds) are in one:
ruclips.net/video/cMXhWf0vE7c/видео.html
"bemused fury" - love it!
@@parissimons6385 Thanks. That was a delight. I found a David Bowie version too! ruclips.net/video/oFFTdNX3utY/видео.html
The Divine Comedy - Something for the Weekend, National Express, Everybody Knows
Neil Hannon is an under rated lyrical genius.
I love ‘The Certainty of Chance’. Something haunting about it!
“Daddy’s Car”. Perfection 👌
I love how Brad is more perplexed by “Dark upward vibe” than he is by “ this reminds me of black olives” 🤣🤣
What a coincidence, Pulp just reunited and announced some new tour dates
there's so much rage in this song hiding behind a pretty melody.
Like there was so much bitterness raging in the poor youth bereft of real prospects in life by Margaret Thatcher's "leadership". This is a song I'd call Dickensian.
@@translator074 but this song came out 5 years after Margaret Thatcher left office. It was John Major.
@@StfuFFS and still running on Thatcherite ideology. John Major was in fact his predecessor's deputy in government. And while Thatcher's second and third term saw the revitalization of British economy, John Major could not handle the rapidly unfolding economic crisis - despite his participation in the First Iraqi War as a successful wartime prime minister.
As they put it very aptly in The Thick of It: "It's the economy, stupid!".
Still running on Thatcherite philosophy of government and unable to tackle social differences, lower classes could not benefit from Thatcher's economic success.
@@translator074 this is a song about the upperclass thinking that poor is cool and the struggle of being working class and dating rich girls. Not really sure how Margaret Thatcher is being blamed for something that has literally existed since money was invented 4000 years ago but ok.
I'm really glad you listened to this song, as it's an absolute classic of the Britpop era, and UK pop in general.
It's actually quite a deep song but it's hard to unpick without having lived through the 90s in the UK. The album version with the two extra verses is much harder hitting than this shorter radio edit. But the song is essentially an expression of anger and bewilderment at rich people thinking that they know what it is like to be poor. It perfectly encapsulated the mood of the UK in the mid 1990s when there had been many years of social oppression that was about to be torn down, and hence was probably THE defining song of the Britpop era.
The band Pulp are from Sheffield, one of the cities in the north of the country that was hardest hit. The strangely non-dark vibe for quite a dark subject probably comes from the northern UK mentality of taking a certain pride in the fact that they struggle through hardship. See the 'Four Yorkshiremen' sketch for an example of what I mean!
“I had to get up at 2 o’clock in the morning half an hour before I went to bed…”
@@Jabberwok28 LUXURY!!!
Pulp was, IMO, the best of the Britpop bands, like Blur and Oasis. that made a point of pulling their influence from earlier British bands rather than the dominant American grunge bands that were popular at the time. Pulp's big influence was the Kinks, particularly lyrically. The Kinks were big on songs which said as much about the narrator as about what the narrator is talking about. And that is something that Jarvis Cocker picked up on, including on some purposely petty songs about ex-girlfriends. So Pulp songs often have a surface level and a deeper level meaning.
The surface level meaning is about a rich girl who thinks it would be cool at playing at being poor, and a poor boy who helps her until he gets fed up with the idea that being poor can be hip and tells her off. The deeper part is the part that Brad picks up on, namely the sexual aspect. The singer's willing to go along with this is likely because of the allure of sex with a rich girl, and the loss of patience likely follows from his having had sex with the rich girl and no longer having to put up with her behavior.
A commentator to a reaction video like this said that Cocker claimed that this song was inspired by a real incident, except that the girl had no interest in sex with him, and when Cocker realized that he lost interest in the girl, and so things went no further than her expressing her interest to live like common people.
I also suspect that the "rum and coca cola" line is a call back to the Kinks Lola in which the singer drinks coca cola with a similar lyrical effect. Pulp narrators often seem to be Kinks narrators empowered by technology to be somewhat more forward.
Great comment, verythoughtfull. Loved Pulp back in the day, still do tbh.
You ought to be writing material for a channel about music! I did not know about the connection to the Kinks, but I did pick up on the multilayered aspect of the lyrics of Pulp songs. That's what made Pulp stand out from the pack, and made them such a definitive voice in the Britpop era - these incisive lyrics, and Jarvis' delivery of them (as well as his distinctive look and style, dance moves, and showmanship).
I love the William Shatner version of this song.
Shatner's version is the greatest cover song ever!!
ruclips.net/video/zI3UfxyIdgs/видео.html
PULP!!!!! I wouldn't have expected this! Brilliant!
One of the best albums of the nineties. Amazing music but above everything Jarvis’ lyrics are genius.
On which songs? Surely not this one
@@CoboProdz I note you like a good positive comment don’t you. If you want lyrics more in keeping with your intellect I’d stick to 2 Unlimited.
I flipping love pulp the 90s were the best and jarvis cocker made the brits one Yr if anyone remembers 🤣🤣
Drenching Jacko!🤭
@@thanksamill the best bit was,after he got arrested and Bob mortimer who is a solicitor turned up to help him and in walks 50 of jackos solicitors Bob said your on your own 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Finally you did Pulp! Awesome.
There's actually a version of this song done by William Shatner (yes, Captain Kirk) that's surprisingly good.
I always liked Shatner's version more.
Yeah, the Shat's version is the definitive version.
Is it some sort of a joke? Just went to take a look, it's dreadful! A travesty!
Finally Pulp! 👏 Thank God for the Britpop, Indie stream. Groups like Pulp has hard time winning regular decade streams (mostly mainstream music , bigger bands, or hard rock wins those). "Disco 2000" is another nice song from them, see the video. Pulp was influenced by other new wave, post punk bands like The Jam, Talking Heads, Roxy Music, The Fall, New Order, and also The Beatles. In the UK, race, ethnicity isn't emphasized , they emphasize more on class system over there. A lil different compared to the US.
Spot on
This one deserves a second listen, with the album version and lyrics - this song packs a punch!
Jarvis is a freaking legend. A weird, straightforward, brilliant legend and he writes amazing lyrics.
I'm not British but I know about the class system in Britain. And this song is one of my all-time favourites ever.
This band is better than Oasis in my opinion. Clever lyrics with memorable melodies, telling stories about difficulties regarding life and love.
This is such a classic song and hits true on so many levels. The girl is not literally saying that she wants to 'sleep with common people' it's just that her actions are so obvious that she might as well be. It's the story of a rich privileged girl hanging out with the working class crowd to gain some cred and he's calling her out on it saying that she can play pretend all she likes but she'll never know the authentic experience/struggles of the working class. The term 'common' is like a slur amongst the British aristocracy.
This is like one of the most iconic sängs of the 90's. It was everywhere and I love it just as much today as I did then.
This might be the first video I've ever watched from you guys that was of music I'd never heard of.
She nailed it on 3 minutes.
This was very much a mid 90s vibe in the UK.
The way both of you are swaying through the song would make Jarvis smile 😊
Jarvis Cocker based her character on someone he actually met at St Martnin’s (the uk’s top design college);as a student back in the day . I think she was a rich Greek girl. Incredibly influential song on the U.K. music scene in the 90”s. Still gets everyone going when it’s played .
Correct, I think she is now married to a Greek politician……..
HahA, the edited version. Dance and drink and screw is the full line. Haha, jeez. Such a great tune. A real bookend for Lennon's tune on the lives of us less rich ordinary folks, Working Class Hero
Magnificent ironic song… and the way it builds. Fantastic !
You're diving into the Brit Pop movement with Pulp, Oasis and Supergrass. You need some Blur or Suede.
They did Girls and Boys in the watchalong when these were all recorded.
Suede - yes please! I sending that request! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
There are some live versions of this song on the tube that are absolutely fantastic. The singer is definitely a cool cat when he is performing live
Guys, I highly recommend "this is hardcore" from this band.
Honestly you guys were the best rock reactors on youtube, hands down. Just genuinely likable and attractive people, reacting with humor and insight. It sucks that the corporate world has bashed you like it has so many others.
If you want to explore Pulp a bit more, "Disco 2000" was their other big hit, but for a darker, weirder and generally more interesting journey, I suggest you listen to "I Spy".
Just listen to Different Class....which is different class.
Brad is spot on. When a posh girl or whatever says they want to sleep with you coz you're common, you have to use the 'what's that?' trick.
You say "ok, but only if you can tell me what that is over there" and when they look round, you leg it 🏃♂😂
I've been lucky enough to see this song live. Honestly, it was one of the best performances I've ever seen.
This song was huge back then on MTV
The sound of Sheffield wass huge in the 80's and 90's. Human league, Pulp, Thompson twins, ABC. Arctic Monkeys picked up the baton and ran.
The class system in the UK is far more prevalent than it is in the US , this song is purely about the working class way of life in the UK.
It was the song for a generation here and still stands the test of time.
Nah they just tip
@@TheZumph I'm not sure what you mean.
There were actually a lot of wealthy Greek students studying in universities in the UK in the 90s. I can imagine some the ones I knew behaving like this.
This song was a hit during the 90's in Europe. What a band pulp was oh my god. During late 80's and early 90's there were Oasis, Blur, The verve, The stone roses, Radiohead and happy mondays dominating the britpop industry but for me the best band was pulp and sadly they did not get the recognition they deserved, what a great thing watching you reacting to one of their best songs, I truly recommend Razzamatazz my favorite song by them, cheers!
That's a great song, love your reactions!
'"Common People" was typical Pulp - a biting satire of posh people ‘roughing it’ and acting like tourists by hanging with the "common people".
roughing it
A term used to describe some form of hard living. Like sleeping in a tent at muddy festival grounds.
I was roughing it the last time I attended Glastonbury. The mud was up to my ears.
This was Sleaford Mods before Sleaford Mods. Cocker has always had his thumb in the eye of convention (like his dancing during a Michael Jackson performance/award presentation - look for the video). I sometimes wonder if there wasn’t a veiled shot at some of his contemporaries *cough, Blur, cough* who were a bit Posh but tried to play down their affluence.
Also, if you look for it on the RUclipss, there is a really cool series of videos about the song and its making and it turns out that the girl in the song IS real, and she is rich and Greek. Check it out.
Imagine them reacting to Sleaford Mods 😂
@@RobinHood-us7sg They would def need subtitles.
So glad you found Pulp. My favourite Pulp song is Underwear.
Loved this and Disco 2000. Those songs kept people watching the BBC a year longer ;)
Jarvis calls out crap. He once got on stage at a music awards show as Michael Jackson was performing and took the mickey. He was reacting to Jackson portraying himself as a Christ-like figure while people bowed before him and kissed his robes or somesuch. Security tried to get him and ended up chasing him all around the stage and up and over a walkway above it. It was pure farce and totally hilarious. 🤣
Wow, I need to find that video
@@rafaelinho5601 ruclips.net/video/oJj3iupbnyk/видео.html
HUGE FAN of Pulp. Loved this when I was a student. It's all about posh people "slumming it" in northern Universities. It's funny to me also, as I had a housemate who was super rich and had a BOX OF WINE delivered to him every month (1990s guys) I think the posho kids still do this a lot
this rich girl mentioned at the front was indeed a real girl from Greece. After some 20 years she was married a professor of economics who was for some months a ninistry of economics in the goverment.
Heres one you’ll like: Hold Me Now, by the Thompson Twins. An early 90s masterpiece and a big hit at the time.
Pulp comes from a kind of genre, like Supergrass (ie Caught by the Fuzz) and the Killers (mr Brightside).
smiths, supergrass, pulp. this is a good path. stay on this path.
Love the recent dive into British music. I hope you do some more.
Upbeat Goth music....😂 Brilliant observation! Pulp started back in the early 80's and only came to fame in the 90's in the UK, some of those early tracks are very The Smith's.
The son was inspired by a real event. The difference was that in real life she never said anything about sleeping with him. It was just a rich girl saying that she wanted to live like common people, and he thought that was kind of a dumb thing to say, so he wrote about it.
This song often reminds me of backpackers in places like Vietnam and Cambodia, who think they are so cool because they are eating where locals eat etc, not considering the fact that those same locals would love to eat and drink at the places those backpackers can actually afford, not to mention having the struggle of their lives reduced to a social media opportunity.
Unrelated to that, St Martin's College, mentioned at the start, is where The Sex Pistols played their first gig, supporting Adam Ant's first band.
Is it weird that this song makes me cry? I always get a little choked up when he gets to the part that goes "you can call your Daddy he can stop it all".
The term 'common people' is used by those from wealthy or aristocratic backgrounds to refer to ordinary people. It is a pejorative term indicating that they look down on those people. At the beginning of the song you are told that she is from a wealthy family in Greece.
Amazing, an anthem for my 18 year old self! Saw Pulp live in Manchester in '96 and this blew the top off the Manchester Arena. The lyrics meant so much to me back then, a certain mocking bitterness aimed at the entitled. Glad everything has changed in 2022....
😂
The best version of this song is when they did it live at glastonbury in 1995 when it had only been released weeks before and the crowd is wild for it
Good choice. I loved Pulp. Disco 2000 was my favourite song by them.
If you like this, you've GOT to hear the version recorded by William Shatner (Captain Kirk), it's possibly even better!
Woah woah woah, let us not get carried away.
No, the Shatner version definitely is better.
The singer dances so funny. Hahaha. Great song by the way.
Loved pulp , some great bands from the UK in the mid 90s blur oasis the verve .love the chelsea top lex from a blues fan 💙
There’s a couple of live versions of this from Glastonbury and Reading festivals and they are….something else!
And the Joe Jackson/William Shatner version! 🤣
Sadly, Steve Mackey, bass player in the band, passed away this week. While common people was their most successful hit, I wonder if, as a tribute you could do a first listen to another track they made, the fear? It’s from the this is hardcore album. Rip Steve
Pulp were definitely in my top play rotation throughout my teens! 'The Fear' is an awesome song that became an awkward parallel to my own life as I ended up going through periods of extreme anxiety.
Yes! Pulp! What a great choice... every one of theirs is a winner!
I've known a few people that like to "rough it" there's no need but they do it for "fun" Trouble is though sometimes it really ain't fun, they can call their parents to bail them out, the ordinary common man can't. Yes there's boys and girls like this, I think in the last verse that was cut out he says "they shine so bright while you can only wonder why" I've known rich kids that went to private school and are as thick as mince who's parents get them careers, whilst poor kids as bright as buttons are ignored, not all of them but most. Jesus, this song is quite deep really.
It's about a rich girl slumming and wanting to get with a poor "commoner" out of morbid curiosity. But as the singer points out, you're not truly poor if you can call your dad to get you out of your roach-infested apartment. The song was, and remains, a pointed look at the class divide, mostly in Europe, but it's probably relatable here in the U.S., too. Pulp is part of the Britpop subgenre, which included Oasis, Radiohead, Blur, Elastica, Suede, and a few others.
I used to think that the line where he asks for a Rum and Coca Cola was just "In that case I'll have a Coca Cola" .
We couldn't afford to have Coca Cola when I was growing up so just having the Coke bought for me by a rich person would have been special.
The UK is a very class oriented society. Americans I don't think grasp this. I only understood it when I lived there, for about year. The ruling class, mostly the descendants of the Normans who conquered England, almost 1000 years ago. That's how ingrained their class system is. Descendants of the Normans own everything, while descendants of the Saxons are mostly lower classes, still a millennia later
So much to unpack here, and I think a very good case of why you can't just look at lyrics and place them in the modern day and assume you know what is going on. 90s Britain was an interesting time, full of new technology, new hope, after the economic issues of the 70s and 80s and the decimation of industry. There was a feeling that nothing was off limits, that you could better yourself, that you could even mix with those from wealthier backgrounds, especially in educational settings, more so than there is today, and especially in Britain where the class system has often prevented this, or at least shunned this, though maybe that was just an illusion, who knows.
I think the song is a social commentary on both those from more of a working class background, like Jarvis Cocker, the lead singer of Pulp who wrote the song based on an experience he had whilst studying at St Martin's College, a very well renowned at college in London, and a girl from a better off background, who saw it as cool hanging out with maybe talented, interesting arty types that they were attracted to who has talent and charisma, and I think this is why it resonated with the youth of Britain at the time.
I'm not sure the same is true now, except that rich people have anyways been fascinated by talented young arty types throughout history. I'm not sure I'd exactly call it slumming it, and I'm not totally sure it applies to the example you have in the video of a billionaire's daughter living the hippy lifestyle though perhaps there are still some parallels between the two, I just think the gap between the super rich and even the middle classes has grown so much wider since then that is hard to compare to today.
Love to see you've at last started to discover the world of Pulp.
This video of "Common People" was a censored & edited version however. They censored the last word from "and then dance and drink and screw" but also ediited out an entire section prior to the repeat of the bridge, (The bit beginning "rent a flat above a shop".
The missing lyrics are:
"Like a dog lying in a corner, They will bite you and never warn you. Look out, they'll tear your insides out",
"'Cause everybody hates a tourist, especially one who thinks it's all such a laugh,"
"Yeah and the chip stains and 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 left to go",
"You're amazed that they exist, and they burn so bright whilst you can only wonder why?"
Love this band, so many excellent tunes. ‘Babies’. Try that next
She was a girl from Greece, she studied sculpture at a college and her dad was loaded.