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
Death II
Pulp Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And there is nowhere left to go,
But watch my spirit melt away,
Down at the D-I-S-see-O.
I must have died a thousand times,
The next day, I was still alive.
And I still believe in you,
Yes I do.
No. I was not crushed, I did not cry
You know that everything's O.K.
It's just sometimes I wake at night,
All alone and see your face.
Oh, thousands feel the same,
But the night-time falls away.
Oh no but still sometimes I feel,
Oh sometimes I feel like Jesus Christ now, Hey,
I feel this night will never end,
And I will never see the day.
Oh I was nothing when you came,
I'm no-one now you've gone away.
Oh all I do is just O.K.
All of my nights,
And all of my days.
Oh-oh if you came home right now,
I'd run away,
Oh run away now.
O.K. now
Alright.
You can go out and make love to whoever, or whatever you like babe
So I go out and fill my eyes with other women,
Oh they look good to me and I think that I might kiss them,
Oh now it's two a.m. and I'm still stood here waiting,
So I go home and wonder why I bothered going.
Yeah every week turns out the same,
The sun, the wind, the snow, the rain.
Oh no but still sometimes I feel,
Oh sometimes I feel like Jesus Christ now, Hey,
I feel this night will never end,
And I will never see the day.
Oh I was nothing when you came,
I'm no-one now you've gone away.
Oh all I do is just O.K.
All of my nights, and all of my days.
Oh-oh if you came home right now,
I'd run away.
I can't believe it.
I can't remember your face anymore.
Or the sound of your voice.
Or any touch of your skin,
Is a legend.
By the way,
Did I tell you that I loved you?
Oh if I didn't I'm so sorry.
You know I,
I really,
I really meant to tell you.
It's O.K. there's no need to hurry.
But the bed is full of memories,
Full of memories of you.
Oh I've tried to get them out but,
But there's nothing I can do.
Oh if I knew the moon I'd ask him,
Shine his light in through your window,
And send your body home to me today.
Hey,
I feel this night will never end,
And I will never see the day,
Oh I was nothing when you came,
I'm no-one now you've gone away
Oh all I do is O.K.
All of my nights,
And all of my days.
Oh-oh if you came home right now,
I'd run away,
Run away,
Run away.
The lyrics of Pulp's Death II paint the picture of a heartbroken person trying to deal with the fact that their loved one has left them. The song oscillates between different emotions such as helplessness, loneliness, and anger. The singer's predicament is described as a night-time experience where they are stuck at home, seeing their ex-lover's face when they close their eyes, and are unable to move on. They reminisce about their past relationship, talking about how they died a thousand times, but the next day they were still alive, unable to shake off the pain. The singer still believes in and loves their partner, but their partner has moved on, leading the singer to see other people. Despite this, the singer is unable to connect emotionally with anyone else and feels just 'OK' in life.
The lyrics then turn to the singer's regret for not expressing their love for their ex-partner enough. They talk about all the things they cannot remember now, such as their voice, touch, or face, making it seem as if this relationship was all muddled up in their head. The singer then imagines the moon shining its light and sending their ex-partner's body home to them. However, the song ends with the singer facing the reality that their ex-partner is gone, and they're left with a bed full of memories.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh now the lonely nights begin,
The singer is feeling alone since his/her loved one is no longer around.
And there is nowhere left to go,
The singer feels like there is no place he/she can go to escape from his/her loneliness.
But watch my spirit melt away,
The singer feels like he/she is losing his/her sense of self and identity.
Down at the D-I-S-see-O.
The singer goes to a club to try to forget about his/her loneliness.
I must have died a thousand times,
The singer is using hyperbole to describe the pain of being without his/her loved one.
The next day, I was still alive.
The singer is saying that even though he/she feels like he/she is dying inside, he/she is still alive and has to keep going.
And I still believe in you,
The singer still has feelings for his/her loved one despite everything that has happened.
Yes I do.
The singer is adamant that he/she still loves his/her loved one.
No. I was not crushed, I did not cry
The singer is denying that he/she was hurt by the breakup.
You know that everything's O.K.
The singer is trying to convince himself/herself that everything is fine even though it's not.
It's just sometimes I wake at night,
The singer is confessing that he/she still thinks about his/her loved one at night.
All alone and see your face.
The singer still pictures his/her loved one's face despite the breakup.
Oh, thousands feel the same,
The singer feels like he/she is not alone in his/her heartbreak.
But the night-time falls away.
The singer is saying that even though he/she feels bad at night, the feeling fades away during the day.
Oh no but still sometimes I feel,
The singer is admitting that he/she still feels pain despite trying to move on.
Oh sometimes I feel like Jesus Christ now, Hey,
The singer feels like he/she is carrying a heavy burden, similar to the way Jesus carried his cross.
I feel this night will never end,
The singer feels like the pain will never go away.
And I will never see the day.
The singer feels like he/she will never be able to move on.
Oh I was nothing when you came,
The singer is saying that his/her loved one gave him/her purpose and value.
I'm no-one now you've gone away.
The singer feels like he/she is nothing now that his/her loved one is gone.
Oh all I do is just O.K.
The singer's life is just average without his/her loved one.
All of my nights,
The singer is saying that he/she is alone every night.
And all of my days.
The singer is saying that he/she is also alone during the day.
Oh-oh if you came home right now,
The singer is still holding out hope that his/her loved one will come back.
I'd run away,
The singer is afraid of what would happen if his/her loved one came back.
Oh run away now.
The singer is urging his/her loved one to stay away for his/her own sake.
O.K. now
The singer is ending this train of thought and moving on to a different one.
Alright.
The singer is acknowledging the end of this train of thought and moving on to another one.
You can go out and make love to whoever, or whatever you like babe
The singer is saying that his/her loved one is free to do whatever he/she wants now that they are no longer together.
So I go out and fill my eyes with other women,
The singer is trying to distract himself by looking at other women.
Oh they look good to me and I think that I might kiss them,
The singer is considering kissing other women even though he/she is still in love with his/her ex.
Oh now it's two a.m. and I'm still stood here waiting,
The singer is waiting for something to happen, even though he/she knows that nothing ever will.
So I go home and wonder why I bothered going.
The singer is disappointed in himself/herself for trying to move on and failing.
Yeah every week turns out the same,
The singer is saying that his/her life is stuck in a rut and nothing ever changes.
The sun, the wind, the snow, the rain.
The singer is listing the different kinds of weather he/she experiences, emphasizing how repetitive his/her life is.
Oh-oh if you came home right now,
The singer is still holding out hope that his/her loved one will come back.
I'd run away.
The singer is afraid of what would happen if his/her loved one came back.
I can't believe it.
The singer is expressing disbelief over the fact that his/her loved one is gone.
I can't remember your face anymore.
The singer is saying that he/she is starting to forget what his/her loved one looks like.
Or the sound of your voice.
The singer is saying that he/she is starting to forget what his/her loved one sounds like.
Or any touch of your skin,
The singer is saying that he/she is starting to forget what his/her loved one feels like.
Is a legend.
The singer is saying that his/her memories of his/her loved one are fading and becoming more like stories or legends.
By the way,
The singer is changing topics once again.
Did I tell you that I loved you?
The singer is reflecting on whether he/she actually told his/her loved one that he/she loved them before the breakup.
Oh if I didn't I'm so sorry.
The singer is apologizing for not expressing his/her love sufficiently.
You know I,
The singer is emphasizing the truthfulness of his/her love.
I really,
The singer is further emphasizing the truthfulness of his/her love.
I really meant to tell you.
The singer is saying that he/she intended to express his/her love, but it never happened.
It's O.K. there's no need to hurry.
The singer is trying to make peace with the fact that he/she didn't express his/her love before the breakup.
But the bed is full of memories,
The singer's bed reminds him/her of his/her ex and their past together.
Full of memories of you.
The singer is saying that everything in his/her life reminds him/her of his/her ex.
Oh I've tried to get them out but,
The singer is saying that he/she has tried to forget about his/her ex, but it's not working.
But there's nothing I can do.
The singer is admitting that he/she can't escape his/her memories of his/her ex.
Oh if I knew the moon I'd ask him,
The singer is saying that he/she would do anything to get his/her ex back.
Shine his light in through your window,
The singer is saying that he/she wants the moon to shine a light on his/her ex's window and bring him/her back.
And send your body home to me today.
The singer is saying that he/she wants his/her ex to return to him/her as soon as possible.
Hey,
The singer is ending this train of thought and moving on to another one.
I feel this night will never end,
The singer is saying that he/she feels like his/her pain will never go away.
And I will never see the day,
The singer is saying that he/she will never be able to move on and forget about his/her ex.
Oh I was nothing when you came,
The singer is saying that his/her ex gave him/her purpose and value.
I'm no-one now you've gone away.
The singer is saying that he/she is nothing now that his/her ex is gone.
Oh all I do is O.K.
The singer is saying that his/her life is average now that his/her ex is gone.
All of my nights,
The singer is saying that he/she is alone every night.
And all of my days.
The singer is saying that he/she is also alone during the day.
Oh-oh if you came home right now,
The singer is still holding out hope that his/her loved one will come back.
I'd run away,
The singer is afraid of what would happen if his/her loved one came back.
Run away,
The singer is urging his/her loved one to stay away for his/her own sake.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: CANDIDA DOYLE, JARVIS COCKER, NICHOLAS BANKS, RUSSELL SENIOR, STEPHEN MACKEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind