In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
I thought that you were joking,
When you said "I want to see you,
To discuss your contribution,
To the future of our nations heart and soul",
"Six o'clock my place Whitehall",
But I arrived just after seven,
But you said "it doesn't matter,
"I under stand your situation and your image I'm flattered,
I'd just like to tell you,
That I love all of your albums,
Could you sign this for my daughter?,
She's in hospital her name is Miriam,
Now ill get down to the gist:,
Do you want a line of this?,
Are you a socialist?,
I'm doing fine,
Buzzing all the time,
Just one hit,
And I feel great,
And I support,
The welfare state,
You must be a socialist because your always of out on the piss,
In your private members bar,
Yes you are, you superstar,
Well you sing about common people,
And the misshapes and the misfits,
So can you bring them to my party,
Can you get them all to to sniff this?,
All I'm really saying is,
Come on and rock the vote for me,
All I need is come on, roll up that note for me,
The gist of all this is,
Do you want hist or do you want misses?,
Are you a socialist,
Socialist, socialist,
You can be just what you want to be,
Just as long as you don't try and compete with me,
And we've waited such a long time for a chance to help our own kind,
Please come on and tow the party line,
You owe it to yourself,
Don't think of anyone else,
We promise we won't tell,
We won't tell,
We won't, tell.
When you said "I want to see you,
To discuss your contribution,
To the future of our nations heart and soul",
"Six o'clock my place Whitehall",
But I arrived just after seven,
But you said "it doesn't matter,
"I under stand your situation and your image I'm flattered,
I'd just like to tell you,
That I love all of your albums,
Could you sign this for my daughter?,
She's in hospital her name is Miriam,
Now ill get down to the gist:,
Do you want a line of this?,
Are you a socialist?,
I'm doing fine,
Buzzing all the time,
Just one hit,
And I feel great,
And I support,
The welfare state,
You must be a socialist because your always of out on the piss,
In your private members bar,
Yes you are, you superstar,
Well you sing about common people,
And the misshapes and the misfits,
So can you bring them to my party,
Can you get them all to to sniff this?,
All I'm really saying is,
Come on and rock the vote for me,
All I need is come on, roll up that note for me,
The gist of all this is,
Do you want hist or do you want misses?,
Are you a socialist,
Socialist, socialist,
You can be just what you want to be,
Just as long as you don't try and compete with me,
And we've waited such a long time for a chance to help our own kind,
Please come on and tow the party line,
You owe it to yourself,
Don't think of anyone else,
We promise we won't tell,
We won't tell,
We won't, tell.
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There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Dreamwalker
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Amazing
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Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Your choice in all of this is: Do you want hits? Or d'you want misses?
This is truly a great Pulp song. Listen to it
This seems to be pretty straightforwardly about Tony Blair and New Labour and how they'd moved away from socialist values and the use of image and celebrities to get them into power in the '97 general election, with such cringe inducing sights as Blair and Noel Gallagher cracking jokes about Cocaine in number 10. This song is just a satire of that whole time and ideas. I must agree a truly great Pulp song.
Wait, this IS Glory Days
hastalavictoria, Jarvis wrote the lyrics to 'Cocaine Socialism' first, but decided he didn't want it do discourage people from voting Labour. So he re-wrote it as Glory Days, because the tune was too good to waste.♥
csa has it down pretty much. also important to mention how it's a play on champagne socialism. just like rich people being all glamorous and leftist and hip, but the champagne of the past had turned into the cocaine of britpop. almost like a common people type meaning but being specifically political as opposed to the personal as political from CP.
Sounds very much like Glory Days.