Tom Wilson's online emporium of fun

Still Running the World

It’s hard to pick up a newspaper these days (at least in the English press) and not find it contains the line “During these troubled times which we’re living through….” Troubled times indeed: by the time this article gets printed, Israel may well have nuked half a dozen Middle Eastern countries; Islamic terrorists might have blown up a load of planes over London ; Bush might have done something stupid in Iran …

Welcome to the world of fear. Nice, isn’t it? Bet you’re not even sure you want to keep on reading; and if you do, I bet you want something nice and comforting, a short anecdote about wide-eyed puppy-dogs or smiling gap-teethed children with ice-cream all down their faces. Indeed, columns which usually start with warnings of “these troubled times” usually end by discussing something as mundane as a new brand of ultra-soft toilet paper. It’s as if the threat of international terrorism gives second-rate journalists a carte blanche to write some stomach-churning feel-good nonsense that nobody in their right mind would want to read. So. Let’s get things straight. The history of the twentieth century has been pretty much “troubled” – Holocaust? Cuban missile crisis? CIA coups in South American countries? Yup, pretty troubled if you ask me. And things aren’t going to stop being “troubled” in the near future. You’d better get used to it. In fact, the most worrying thing about the world today is that things look depressingly similar to how they always did.

Praise the Lord, then, for Jarvis Cocker. I’m sure you’ve heard of him – the iconic, geeky stick-insect frontman of the 90s band ‘Pulp’. Glasses? Greasy hair? Tank tops like your granddad wears? Remember him? Good.

The great thing about Jarvis is that he always had a social conscience. When Pulp finally made it big, first with the hit song ‘Common People’ and then with their album ‘Different Class,” it was thanks to their uncanny ability for social comment. Rich kids pretending to be poor, school-friends that have grown up, girls trapped in the sex industry, raver kids on drugs – all fell under the steely scrutiny of Cocker, who turned these observations into a picture of what it was like to be alive in the middle of the 90s.

The good news is that after a brief absence, Jarvis is back. Pulp, having been in existence for over a quarter of a century, haven’t as much as spit up, as been put into hibernation. Having messed around with a few alter-egos and side-projects (including the rather surreal ‘Relaxed Muscle’, a group which was basically Jarvis Cocker in heavy make-up, wearing a skeleton costume and calling himself ‘Darren Spooner’) it looks like he’s just finished his first solo album. And, thanks to the power of the internet, you can listen to the first track from the LP, for free, on Jarvis’ Myspace web-page.

The song ‘Running The World’ is Jarvis’ own contribution to “these troubled times”. His verdict? Nothing’s changed. It’s all the same. In the words of this wonderfully sweary song, “The cunts are still running the world.” If you don’t know what a cunt is*, don’t ask your mum, or your boss, or your school teacher. Take it from me, it’s rude. And Jarvis is right. Idiots are still running the world.

As a track, it sounds like Pulp at their very best, with its rousing, sing-along chorus, pop-stylings and no less than 15 instances of swearing (I should know – counted them). You can even download it, from itunes, which I urge you to do right away. This is Jarvis doing exactly what he does best, telling it how it is, and, angry and depressing as the song’s subject matter might sound, its more of a call to arms than a sigh of resignation. Wonderful stuff. As Jarv puts it on his web page, “Fuck maturity. Fuck mellowing. Lets be unreasonable. Are you with me?” Most definitely.

* Remember the piece would be translated. Aha! It makes sense!