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

there is no emotion
Pulp Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

As I lay
Down in the bedroom,
There came a sound
From far away.
As I strained
My ears to listen
I could hear
A thin voice say:

"In your heart
There's no emotion,
And your soul,
Your soul just dried away.
There's no love,
No love left in your body;
Standing empty forever,
And colder
Every day."

So I spent
A night without you,
Oh yes, I spent
A night outdoors.
Staring in
To unknown faces,
Trying to feel
Just like before.

In your heart
There's no emotion,
And your soul,
Your soul just dried away.
There's no love,
No love left in your body;
Standing empty forever,
And colder every day.

Oh yeah.
No I don't
Believe in voices,
Because I hear
Them all the time,
Scraping tears
From hardened faces
With their stupid ugly rhymes.

In your heart
There's no emotion,
And your soul,
Your soul just dried away.
There's no love,
No love left in your body;
Standing empty forever,
And colder every day.
Standing empty forever,
And colder every day.

And this is where the story starts,
Holding hands
That hold you forever,
Only love
Will keep you together.
Holding hands
That hold you forever,
Holding hands
That throw you forever
Away,

Away,
Oh.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Pulp's There's No Emotion paint a bleak picture of emotional emptiness, using haunting vocals and a trance-like melody. The song is essentially about a person who has lost all feeling, both in their heart and soul, and is unable to form any emotional connections with anyone else. The verses describe the singer laying in their bedroom, hearing a voice telling them that they lack emotion and love. The chorus repeats this statement, emphasizing the point that there is nothing inside of them.

The second verse shifts focus to the singer spending a night without their lover, trying to recapture some sense of feeling by immersing themselves in a crowd of strangers. However, this attempt ultimately falls flat, as they cannot escape their internal emptiness.

The final verse brings a hint of skepticism to the song, as the singer proclaims that they don't believe in voices. They perceive these voices to be scraping tears from hardened faces with "stupid ugly rhymes." However, the final repetition of the chorus brings the song back to its original theme of an empty heart and soul.

Line by Line Meaning

As I lay Down in the bedroom, There came a sound From far away. As I strained My ears to listen I could hear A thin voice say:
The singer was lying in bed when they heard a faint voice from a distance. They listened hard, and finally could hear someone say something.

"In your heart There's no emotion, And your soul, Your soul just dried away. There's no love, No love left in your body; Standing empty forever, And colder Every day."
The thin voice told the singer that they have no emotions or love in their heart or soul, and that they are empty and getting colder every day.

So I spent A night without you, Oh yes, I spent A night outdoors. Staring in To unknown faces, Trying to feel Just like before.
After hearing the voice, the singer spent a night away from someone they care about, outside and looking at strangers, trying to feel the way they used to.

"Oh yeah. No I don't Believe in voices, Because I hear Them all the time, Scraping tears From hardened faces With their stupid ugly rhymes."
The artist doesn't believe in voices because they hear them all the time. The voices are making people cry and their words are ugly and ignorant.

"And this is where the story starts, Holding hands That hold you forever, Only love Will keep you together. Holding hands That hold you forever, Holding hands That throw you forever Away, Away, Oh."
The story begins with holding hands that will keep you together forever, only love can do that. But, the same holding hands can also throw you away forever.

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: CANDIDA DOYLE, JARVIS COCKER, PETER MANSELL, RUSSELL SENIOR

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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