Pulp is an alternative rock band that formed in 1978 in Sheffield, England,… Read Full Bio ↴Pulp is an alternative rock band that formed in 1978 in Sheffield, England, United Kingdom. The band's best known and most stable lineup consists of Jarvis Cocker (vocals), Russell Senior (guitar, violin), Mark Webber (guitar), Candida Doyle (keyboards), Steve Mackey (bass) and Nick Banks (drums). Although many members have had a long tenure with the band, the only constant member has been Cocker. In 2011, it was announced on Pulp's official website that the band's classic lineup would reunite and perform at several festivals, including Isle of Wight, that year.

Originally called "Arabicus Pulp" (although they shortened it to Pulp within a year), the band achieved sudden success some thirteen years after their formation and became known during the Britpop era as much for their music as for frontman Cocker's antics (notably conducting a stage invasion during Michael Jackson's performance of Earth Song at the 1996 BRIT Awards).

Achieving little success off the back of a Peel session in 1981, Pulp were finally able to release their debut album, It, in 1983. This album and its 1986 follow-up, Freaks, showcased a Pulp keen on Nick Drake (notably on the It single, My Lighthouse), with strong folk roots and little sign of the tendencies for storytelling and acid house music which would eventually bring forth success.

After the release and commercial flop of "Freaks", the band disbanded for a year, but reformed a year later to record a third album, Separations. Delayed for three years after its recording, Separations showed Cocker's increasing exposure to acid house, featuring multiple synths, and a hit single, My Legendary Girlfriend, which helped Pulp's career start to rocket.

Their next single, Babies, which would eventually feature on their 1994's commercial breakthrough His 'n' Hers, and it was the first example of the Pulp-sound most listeners associate with the band--cheap synths, rolling guitars, and Cocker's deadpan vocals telling a story. "His 'n' Hers" in sound, was lumped in with the Britpop movement of the time, receiving commercial and critical acclaim. However, it was the 1995 single Common People, which finally saw them become known, eventually charting at number 2 in the UK charts. Awash with Britpop guitars, catchy keyboard lines and that trademark Cocker vocal performance it has remained a favorite. A successful appearance at Glastonbury that summer cemented their fame, and their success was subsequently confirmed by the release of Different Class, which arrived at the peak of the Britpop movement and featured this song and other UK hits as Disco 2000 and Sorted for E's & Wizz.

Their last two albums, 1998's darker This Is Hardcore, -an album that marked the end of the Britpop era- and 2001's more downbeat We Love Life were commercial successes, but Pulp were no longer as famous or trendy as they had been in the height of Britpop. Following their curation of a music festival, Auto, in 2002, the band announced that they would be embarking on an "indefinite hiatus".

In 2003, Jarvis Cocker released an album as Relaxed Muscle and then two solo efforts, 2006's Jarvis and 2009's Further Complications.

On 8th November 2010, it was announced that the band with its most relevant lineup will reform to play a series of gigs in summer 2011.

Discography:
It 1983
Freaks 1986
Separations 1992
His 'n' Hers 1994
Different Class 1995
This Is Hardcore 1998
We Love Life 2001

Official website:
http://www.pulppeople.com

Blue Girls
Pulp Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

The blue girls that bake in the sun
Skin falls in flakes from each one
Like leaves from autumn trees
They float upon the breeze
These girls you have loved
Are slowly decaying

Ah

Drying out in the sun
Before your eyes
Wild stares in your face
They seem to accuse you

Oh
What have you done
To earn this prize?
The flesh underneath candy-pink
Quite a strange affair you might think
They gasp and moan for air
Beached fish on your lawn-chair
These girls you have loved
Are slowly decaying

Ah
Drying out in the sun
Before your eyes
Wild stares in your face
They seem to accuse you

Oh
What have you done
To earn this prize?
Fragments left at the end of the day
A pile of blue that is soon swept away
Goodbye, blue girls, goodbye
Would it be too much to cry?
These girls you have loved
Have slowly decayed

Ah
They dried out in the sun
Before your eyes
Wild stares in your face
They seem to accuse you

Oh

What did you do
To earn this prize?

Overall Meaning

The song "Blue Girls" by Pulp is a haunting and dark reflection on the fleeting nature of youth and beauty, and the consequences of pursuing shallow desires. The lyrics describe a group of girls who have spent too much time sunbathing, their skin damaged and flaking away like leaves from autumn trees. They are slowly decaying before the eyes of the singer, who seems to be implicated in their demise. The chorus repeats the phrase "drying out in the sun before your eyes," as if to underscore the sense of helplessness and horror at the spectacle of these young women wasting away.

The second verse hints at the culpability of the singer, who has apparently loved (or at least lusted after) these girls. They gasp and moan for air like "beached fish on your lawn-chair," a disturbing and unflattering image that suggests the shallow desires of the male gaze. The verses and chorus alternate, building the tension and sense of doom until the final lines, when the girls are reduced to "fragments left at the end of the day" and a "pile of blue" that is "soon swept away." The closing lines, "goodbye, blue girls, goodbye / would it be too much to cry?" suggest a sense of regret and loss, but also a kind of fatalistic resignation.

Line by Line Meaning

The blue girls that bake in the sun
Young women tanned by the sun's harsh rays

Skin falls in flakes from each one
Their skin flakes off and peels away

Like leaves from autumn trees
Their skin falls like the leaves of autumn trees

They float upon the breeze
The flakes of skin float away on the wind

These girls you have loved
The women you have loved

Are slowly decaying
Are gradually deteriorating

Ah
Sound of realization

Drying out in the sun
Drying out in the blistering heat of the sun

Before your eyes
Directly in front of your sight

Wild stares in your face
Intense and unsettling gazes directed at you

They seem to accuse you
Their expressions imply that you are at fault