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
The Never-Ending Story
Pulp Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He comes round again to see,
He can't keep himself away.
He touches her hand and it starts again.
His work is an ugly mess.
He prods and it cries in pain.
He kicks and it starts to scream.
He hurries away when she cannot see.
He comes round again to see,
He can't keep himself away.
He touches her hand and it
Starts again.
Moving so slowly,
Droplets of kindness
That poison and choke
When this thing should have died long ago.
The entrails are soft and warm,
This time it must be the end.
One touch and it lives again.
He keeps it alive to be part of its pain
And that's mercy.
And that's compassion.
And that's being good friends in a crisis.
What's one corpse between friends?
Oh
Oh-oh-oh
Leave it, boy.
Just leave it alone.
Stop scratching, or it'll never heal.
Just let it lie in peace.
Get out of the way,
Get out of the way,
The brakes cannot last for long.
He knows he must let it go,
He knows but he keeps a hold.
He touches her hand and it
Starts again.
Ah!
Ah!
Ah!
Moving so slowly,
He drops it so gently,
Urging its life
To a peak to torment it again!
The lyrics to Pulp’s song “The Never-Ending Story” suggest a dark and twisted story of a man who cannot let go of a past relationship. Despite the relationship being over, he repeatedly returns to see his former partner, unable to keep himself away. He has a destructive nature, as evidenced by references to his “ugly mess” of work and his violence towards something that “starts to scream” when he kicks it. This violent and obsessive behavior towards something that should have long been gone is juxtaposed with notions of mercy, compassion, and being a good friend in a crisis.
The imagery presented in the lyrics is unsettling and disturbing, with “entrails” that are “soft and warm” and the singer interacting with something that is presumed to be dead. The repetition of the phrase “he touches her hand and it starts again” makes it clear that the singer is perpetuating the cycle of his destructive behavior. The song concludes with an urgent plea for the singer to let go and move on, with the warning that “the brakes cannot last for long.”
Overall, “The Never-Ending Story” suggests a dark and twisted love story in which the singer is unable to move on and instead perpetuates a cycle of obsessive and destructive behavior towards a former partner. The lyrics are graphic and unsettling, ultimately ending with a plea for the singer to let go and move on before it’s too late.
Line by Line Meaning
When all should be done and gone,
Despite it being over, he can't resist returning.
He comes round again to see,
He comes back to the scene.
He can't keep himself away.
He cannot stay away from her.
He touches her hand and it starts again.
Their relationship restarts with a touch from him.
His work is an ugly mess.
His creation is vile and disordered.
He prods and it cries in pain.
He hurts his creation and it suffers because of it.
He kicks and it starts to scream.
He abuses his creation and it begins to cry out in agony.
He hurries away when she cannot see.
He leaves when she can’t watch him do it.
Moving so slowly,
Everything is going at a sluggish pace.
Droplets of kindness
These small and rare moments of kindness.
That poison and choke
Although he is trying to be kind, he is only making things worse.
When this thing should have died long ago.
This should've ended a long time ago.
The entrails are soft and warm,
Despite it being dead, the insides are still warm.
This time it must be the end.
He thinks that this time it's finally over.
One touch and it lives again.
One touch and the relationship comes to life again.
He keeps it alive to be part of its pain
He maintains the relationship to torture it.
And that's mercy.
He thinks that what he's doing is an act of mercy.
And that's compassion.
He believes that what he's doing is compassionate.
And that's being good friends in a crisis.
He thinks that this is normal behavior in a time of crisis between friends.
What's one corpse between friends?
He's disregarding the fact that the relationship is dead.
Oh
Expression of realization.
Oh-oh-oh
Expression of realization.
Leave it, boy.
He is advising himself to leave their relationship alone.
Just leave it alone.
He just needs to let it go.
Stop scratching, or it'll never heal.
If he keeps meddling, the relationship will never heal and will only fester.
Just let it lie in peace.
He just needs to leave it alone and let it rest.
Get out of the way,
He needs to get out of the way of himself and his destructive tendencies.
The brakes cannot last for long.
He can't keep under control forever and stop himself.
He knows he must let it go,
He knows that he needs to let the relationship go.
He knows but he keeps a hold.
He is aware of what he's doing, but just can't resist.
Ah!
Expression of realization.
Ah!
Expression of realization.
Ah!
Expression of realization.
Moving so slowly,
Everything is moving slowly again.
He drops it so gently,
He leaves the relationship gently.
Urging its life
He wants their relationship to continue.
To a peak to torment it again!
He wants the peak of the relationship to be torturous again!
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: CANDIDA DOYLE, JARVIS COCKER, PETER MANSELL, RUSSELL SENIOR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@johnnygonzalez1683
kickass tune, gives me the chills