Freaks was released in 1987 to little commercial success and features a much darker sound than its predecessor, It. Russell Senior sings lead vocals on "Fairground" and "Anorexic Beauty". "Master of the Universe" was released as a single in an alternative version called the "sanitised version"; it replaces the word "masturbates" with "vegetates".
"I Want You" is the only song from the album to have been performed live regularly, most notably during the UK Forest Tour in the Summer of 2002.
The album was reissued and remastered by Fire Records in 2012 along with 1983's It and 1992's Separations. This re-release took several delays as the first stated release date was 8 August 2011 while the albums finally came out on 13 February 2012. An announcement in the interim stated that the albums would be remastered with new bonus tracks to be added to the track listings as well as new artwork and liner notes from music journalist Everett True.
The reissue bonus disc is in fact Masters of the Universe compilation aside from two tracks: "They Suffocate at Night" which appears on the album itself and "Master of the Universe (sanitised version)" which again appears on the album without censorship.
Personnel
Pulp
Jarvis Cocker – lead vocals, guitar, drums on "Anorexic Beauty"
Russell Senior – violin, guitar, lead vocals on "Fairground" and "Anorexic Beauty"
Candida Doyle – organ, piano, backing vocals on "There's No Emotion"
Peter Mansell – bass, guitar on "Life Must Be So Wonderful"
Magnus Doyle – drums, percussion, guitar on "Anorexic Beauty"
Additional personnel
Jonathon Kirk – mixing assistance
Graeme Durham – mastering
The Robert Winterman Design Group – sleeve design
Fairground
Pulp Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Nature sometimes makes mistakes.
Was it the mother or the father to blame,
Inside the damp grass and tilted tent?
As the signs outside proclaimed,
Nature sometimes makes mistakes.
Was it the mother or the father to blame,
Inside the damp grass and tilted tent?
Won't you come with me to the fairground?
Your head
Will be spinning,
I said your head
Is your feet.
And the man at the side of me starts a lewd laugh
(ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!)
At the cat with two heads and the dog with eight legs.
(ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!)
The man has come between us,
His cheeks rattle like a fence,
(ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!)
He's come between us, and he starts a lewd laugh.
(ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!)
I sought shelter from the storm in a small inn by the coast.
In the children's room three identical sisters sat,
Except for the one who was hideously deformed;
Her grotesque features seemed to parody her sisters' beauty,
Ridiculing and mocking everything I held dear.
Won't you come with me to the fairground?
Your head
Will be spinning,
I said your head
Is your feet.
And the man at the side of me starts a lewd laugh
(ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!)
At the cat with two heads and the dog with eight legs.
(ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!)
The man has come between us,
His cheeks rattle like a fence,
(ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!)
He's come between us, and he starts a lewd laugh.
(ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!)
The fish-eyed foetus floated blankly in the yellowed waters, still as wax.
The man came between us,
My sister and I,
Ridiculing and parodying everything we held dear,
Making a mockery of our former emotions.
Dragging it all down to his level.
Won't you come with me to the fairground?
Your head
Will be spinning.
And the man at the side of me starts a lewd laugh
(ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!)
At the cat with two heads and the dog with eight legs.
(ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!)
The man has come between us,
His cheeks rattle like a fence,
(ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!)
He's come between us, and he starts a lewd laugh.
(ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!)
And then we went for rides.
[Jarvis:] Roll up, roll up, nice rides...
Come on, spin those cars boys and make the girls scream!
The louder you scream the faster we go!
Come on, roll up, go on, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,
For the ride of a lifetime.
There's plenty of seats, come on, don't be shy!
Roll up, come on, come on!
And then we went for rides.
The lyrics to Pulp's song Fairground seem to be telling a story about visiting a rundown fairground, where the attractions are strange and unsettling. The first verse suggests that the fairground includes a tent where a baby with deformities is on display. The chorus invites the listener to come to the fairground, but the repeated refrain of the man's lewd laugh hints at a sense of danger or even exploitation. In the second verse, the singer seeks shelter from a storm in a small inn by the coast, where he encounters three identical sisters and a fourth sister who is hideously deformed. The final verse is more cryptic, with the image of a "fish-eyed fetus" floating in yellow waters. The singer suggests that the man's mockery has somehow tainted his relationship with his sister.
Overall, the lyrics to Fairground explore themes of exploitation, cruelty and the idea of the freak show that was popular in travelling fairs. The song raises questions about who is really being exploited in such situations: the performers or the visitors who come to gawk at them. The lyrics are rich in metaphors and unsettling imagery that paint a vivid picture of a surreal and unsettling world.
Line by Line Meaning
As the signs outside proclaimed,
Despite what the signs say, sometimes things don't go as planned.
Nature sometimes makes mistakes.
Nature can create imperfections and abnormalities.
Was it the mother or the father to blame,
Who is responsible for the imperfections - the parent's genes.
Inside the damp grass and tilted tent?
The setting of the fairground; everything is not perfect and polished.
Won't you come with me to the fairground?
Join me in experiencing something out of the ordinary.
Your head Will be spinning, I said your head Is your feet.
The sights and experiences of the fairground can alter your perception of reality.
And the man at the side of me starts a lewd laugh (ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!)
An unsettling presence juxtaposed against the excitement of the fairground.
At the cat with two heads and the dog with eight legs. (ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!)
Even more anomalies exist at the fairground.
The man has come between us, His cheeks rattle like a fence, (ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!)
The unsettling presence has created an uncomfortable barrier between the artist and others around him.
I sought shelter from the storm in a small inn by the coast.
The artist sought refuge from something unpleasant.
In the children's room three identical sisters sat, Except for the one who was hideously deformed;
The hideous deformity highlights the imperfection in everything.
Her grotesque features seemed to parody her sisters' beauty, Ridiculing and mocking everything I held dear.
The deformity represents an opposing force to beauty and what is cherished.
The fish-eyed foetus floated blankly in the yellowed waters, still as wax.
A grotesque image that amplifies the theme of imperfection.
The man came between us, My sister and I, Ridiculing and parodying everything we held dear, Making a mockery of our former emotions. Dragging it all down to his level.
The unsettling presence continues to cause disruptions, corrupting the singer's sense of what matters and what is good.
And then we went for rides.
The fairground still provides a temporary escape from the uncomfortable presence.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: CANDIDA DOYLE, JARVIS COCKER, PETER MANSELL, RUSSELL SENIOR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind