Just watched it back and yeah, bloody beautiful innit? So...what makes it a Pulp song? Or, rather, why has Jarvis deemed it to be one? Did anyone hear the original?
Maybe entire sections have been added by the band? Mark has some distinctive guitar figures on this, presumably his own work.
Are Jarv Is..members involved in this? They didn't appear to be playing live (Andrew on bass maybe, but I didn't notice Emma or Adam). Does that mean a separation between both bands exists in Jarvis' mind when it comes to writing? Candida being front and centre, Mark playing prominent parts...was that a Pulp-flex?!
Its a really beautiful song. Reminds me of Blue Girls with the piano so high in the mix which is a very good thing as its a longstanding favourite thats so rarely heard.
-- Edited by jarvcore on Sunday 16th of July 2023 02:03:28 AM
Très belle chanson, as we say in French. More "Jarv is" than Pulp but hey it's a 2019 song and from "le haut du panier" of the Jarv is songs...
Now we need a proper version.
Still, I hope for a new new Pulp song as teased. Maybe London, as a "bouquet final"
Just watched it back and yeah, bloody beautiful innit? So...what makes it a Pulp song? Or, rather, why has Jarvis deemed it to be one? Did anyone hear the original?
Maybe entire sections have been added by the band? Mark has some distinctive guitar figures on this, presumably his own work.
Are Jarv Is..members involved in this? They didn't appear to be playing live (Andrew on bass maybe, but I didn't notice Emma or Adam). Does that mean a separation between both bands exists in Jarvis' mind when it comes to writing? Candida being front and centre, Mark playing prominent parts...was that a Pulp-flex?!
So many questions. Sorry, too many. Na'nite.
Emma was on violin.
And I can see from another video that Adam is also on percussion. So ignore me!
How nice!
It reminds me a little bit of "Song to the siren". Jarvis was singing it at the Proms a few years ago. Candida and him at the keyboard is so heartbreaking. I envy everyone who was there.
I think it's the first song directly about/written to his son since "Hold Still" on Further Complications which, for me, is the best song on that album.
It takes a gifted writer not to be mawkish and cringey when singing about the love for their kids.
Factories lie empty, And (factor-in?) emptiness, Life still needs to be filled nonetheless, So go and find something to love, But promise me this one thing,
Oh please stay in sight of the mainland, Yes please stay in sight of the mainland.
I dont want you to go, But before you go theres just one thing you ought to know
Yes theres just one thing you ought to know (x2), Yes theres just one thing (x2)
You can fill your life with dreams, You can fill your life with (oat? Owt?), You can fill your life with food and drink, Or whatever floats your boat, Ill be watching from the shoreline, Ill be singing you this song, Theres so many things in store for you, Just beyond the horizon,
So please, etc, yes please etc
Youre wiser than Ill ever be, Your beautiful (?) is so for me, You fill my heart, you fill my dreams,
My only hopes that you succeed, yeah (x2), Youre my only hope (x2).
So please, please, please, please, please
[discordant music]
(?) (?) you and me, Northern lifes (?) Northern lifes just like a rope, Northern rain, northern rain turning into a flood, So dont forget your northern blood,
Yes please, etc, so please, etc
Please stay in touch with me, In this contactless society, Anywhere you may be,
Your northern star leads back to me, Yes the northern star leads back to me (x2) Youre my northern star (x2) Youre all northern stars
So please
-- Edited by superchob on Sunday 16th of July 2023 09:49:36 PM
Thanks for typing this up superchob, nice one. Couple of edits, to my ear anyway:
- You can fill your life with owt
-Northern lights will guide you home Northern lives just like your own Northern rain Northern rain turning into a flood
Agreeing with Eamonn: its definitely about his son and maintaining a bond while accepting his sons independence. A nice sentiment but a hard one to write about without sounding cheesy as hell.
Truly blown away to find out this was played on the second night!
I can't help but wonder why and what this might mean for Pulp. From what I've heard it would work perfectly recorded by the band IMO, and would be what I expect from the band at this stage, very much a LTOTMS style.
Is it a one off? Does Jarvis have plans to merge his band & songs from Jarv Is into Pulp? So many questions that have already been asked, but the mystery will no doubt remain until we maybe hear something one day.
Very interesting also that Jarvis said "See You Soon", maybe I'm overanalysing but it sounds like they could stick around for a bit.
Ideal situation they craft a new record early next year and tour it mid-late next year. I can dream right?
I wondered if a reason we never got an album a decade ago was because the creative process for their last two albums was supposedly quite tough, a lot of material getting rejected etc and they might have wanted to just leave the possibility of going through that again?
I suspect that much of what made them great was the material that they came up with together, rather than being a band that had merely everything brought in by the frontman. I'll take an album in any form, but hope we do get to hear them all working together that way too.
I have had a few listens and I think it's great. Pretty much what I would expect, not an immediate chartstorming hit single in a parallel universe like "After You" but a very nice, lengthy ballad. To me, it sounds like "Blue Girls" and "Loss Adjuster" with a sprinkling of "She's Dead". I haven't heard the 2019 version but I'm guessing it's nowhere near as complex as this.
Jarvis and Candida on the keyboard was an iconic moment. I'm not sure if anything like this has ever been done before (except maybe in the 1980s where Jarvis and Russell both provided vocals on "Fairground") but it's very welcome.
As Paul says above, they must have numerous unused songs lying around. We know that there's about an album's worth of material from 1999-2001, there may also be material from Jarvis solo, Jarv Is and possibly even Relaxed Muscle. We know from the existing reissues that this is likely to range from throwaway (Paula, Can I have My Balls Back Please?) to fantastic (It's a Dirty World, You're Not Blind). I think it's reasonable to conclde that there is an album's worth of decent material available.
Thanks, Superchob, for writing those out. I'm absolutely loving this song and the lyrics. He balanced those words perfectly. And totally agree with others about seeing Candida up front and centre. I'd be really happy if they did an album that was made up of previous tunes that never officially saw the light of day and a few new ones. I'd say once you're reworking old material then new ideas would probably crop up. It's one thing having the likes of the WLL demos but it'd be another thing altogether to have good quality versions of those songs. It's not like it's cheating having material lying around that you revisit and rework. I'd imagine it could be a better route also to do it as a new album than a WLL reissue. I'd just imagine a new album would pique more general interest whereas a WLL reissue has maybe a smaller market of more devoted fans. The 3 albums that already got the reissue treatment were I suppose the 3 biggest selling.
When the string-section signalled the bridge section with that busy, discordant frenzy (reminded me of the similar trick pulled in "It's Raining Today" by Sir Scott Walker), I really feared that it would be to the detriment of the song but it actually works as an effective foil (rather than jarring - certainly on repeat listens) to the strong melodic nature of the rest of the song.
I wonder if Jarvis might have a different view on making albums now he's rattled through Beyond the Pale, Aline and This Is Going to Hurt at such a pace. Making a Pulp album is obviously a slightly different undertaking to a Jarv Is album (more pressure perhaps) but if he can go into it with the confidence of knowing he's recently made 3 great records in the time it used to take him to make one, that's got to be to the good, right?
__________________
"Yes I saw her in the chip shop / so I said get yer top off"
Another thought: those partially obscured lyrics in the notebook that Jarv posted on Instagram lately are... not this. No doubt he scribbles ideas down all the time, but *maybe* it's a hint that there's more new stuff on the way?
__________________
"Yes I saw her in the chip shop / so I said get yer top off"
I wonder if Jarvis might have a different view on making albums now he's rattled through Beyond the Pale, Aline and This Is Going to Hurt at such a pace. Making a Pulp album is obviously a slightly different undertaking to a Jarv Is album (more pressure perhaps) but if he can go into it with the confidence of knowing he's recently made 3 great records in the time it used to take him to make one, that's got to be to the good, right?
One of his uber-creative streaks? I mean, some of the tracks that went into His 'n' Hers had of course been hanging around for bloody ages - Babies, She's a Lady, Pink Glove were all ancient - but as soon as the album was out, we had Common People, and then Different Class very swiftly after.
The confidence of having a breakthrough/successful album tends to generate another one.
Its really growing on me this song and I'm finding myself humming snatches of it throughout the day. I watched a YouTube video of the performance from Saturday and I'm not ashamed to say that I teared up. In the moment it was quite hard to take it in. I'm still not entirely convinced by the discordant transition after the first part of the song, it nearly falls apart, but it recovers. I'm also not super convinced it actually sounds that Pulp like but I'm not going to quibble too hard. I'm cautiously optimistic.
I really hope that whenever we get the film release of this summer's performances/the Hammersmith gig (presumably they'll take bits from other concerts. I noticed an exchange between I think it was Liam the legendary Tour Manager and a music film company after the Sheff gig on Insta); that they include that iconic moment of Jarvis and Candida side by side at the keys playing this new song. Made more poignant that it's a homage to the people and area where these two uncommon musicians met, worked and shared many moments of their lives together.