Sorry for the lack of regular posting, it's been a little crazy what with school starting, cramming myself in buses & hallways next to preening undergrads, and feeling the fall chill creeping into the air. Anyhow, I thought I'd follow up on the Jarvis Cocker reference from last post. For those who don't know, Jarvis was the lead singer of Pulp, the definitive Britpop band of the 90s, before the moniker was appropriated by actual pop music and its successor, Britrock, became safe, chorusy stadium anthems.

For a few heady years, Britpop lead the way in cheeky, bitter, well-crafted rock music. Though the spotlight shone brightest on Oasis and Blur, Pulp was forging new paths ahead of them, infusing wry singalongs with social commentary, loneliness and class hatred. At Pulp's head was the sexy, introverted geek-king Jarvis Cocker. Songs like "Last Day of the Miners' Strike" and "Misshapes" showed keen empathy with his own, working class background.


Raised on a diet of broken biscuits - Jarvis Cocker

Some lead singers are mere shadows without their bands [cough Thom Yorke cough]. Not Jarvis - he's talented enough to pursue a number of solo projects, including DJing, guest spots with UNKLE, Lush and most recently, Charlotte Gainsbourg. And now, he's released his most socialist song yet - "Cunts are still running the world". It's a rebuttal to the Live8 crowd, who think raising awareness of poverty includes hobnobbing with the greedy bastards responsible for it. Actually, he says:

It's in no way a criticism of Geldof & co. but I remember thinking at the time: "Where does engaging with these politicians/businessmen really get you?" - ( 12 months on & the cunts still haven't paid up as far as I can make out) - maybe the problem is something more ..... fundamental.

But with lines like "the cream cannot help but always rise up to the top / Well I say: Shit floats", I think Geldof, Bono and the rest of the reformist clowns are implied.

The lyrics are below (thanks to Damien Mulley), and you can hear it at Jarvis' myspace page. He's caustic and anti-capitalist - it's wonderful to see people grow more revolutionary as they get older.

Well did you hear, there’s a natural order.
Those most deserving will end up with the most.
That the cream cannot help but always rise up to the top,
Well I say: Shit floats.
If you thought things had changed,
Friend you’d better think again,
Bluntly put in the fewest of words,
Cunts are still running the world,
Cunts are still running the world.

Now the working classes are obsolete,
They are surplus to societies needs,
So let ‘em all kill each other,
And get it made overseas.
That’s the word don’t you know,
From the guys thats running the show,
Lets be perfectly clear boys and girls,
Cunts are still running the world,
Cunts are still running the world.

Oh feed your children on Cray fish and Lobster tails,
Find a school near the top of the league,
In theory I respect your right to exist,
I will kill ya if you move in next to me,
Ah it stinks, it sucks, it’s anthropologically unjust,
But the takings are up by a third, Oh So
Cunts are still running the world,
Cunts are still running the world.

Your free market is perfectly natural,
Or do you think that I’m some kind of dummy,
It’s the ideal way to order the world,
Fuck the morals, does it make any money?
And if you don’t like it? Then leave.
Or use your right to protest on the street,
Yeah, use your rights but don’t imagine that it’s heard, Oh no no,
Cunts are still running the world,
Cunts are still running the world.