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Post Info TOPIC: Forget About Tina, Get In A Bad Mood
Eamonn


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I'm still in a funny relationship with the song Grown-Ups (we do like each other but are wary).

The mid-section(s) has plenty of lyrical zingers but the line "Forget about Tina, get in a bad mood" got me thinking - have we ever had a classic ****er call-back before?

Self-referencing can of course come in different guises ("****er's masterful control of the bicycle", "I am not Jesus though I have the same initials", "I found myself face to face with a version of myself from 15 years earlier..." etc.) but in terms of actually mentioning another Pulp song or a character from a song - the obsession with Tina bleeding into the next track on the album is "low-key" genius - I'm sure he must have been clever and done it previously? Inside Susan is a self-contained trilogy so I'm not sure it counts, but I'm sure I'm missing something obvious or obscure...



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Ian


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David is mentioned in "Babies" and referred to in the title of "David's Last Summer" though I don't think that he is mentioned in the lyrics. Is it even the same person?

The same Susan also features in "The Babysitter".

"Common People" and "Mis-Shapes" are both mentioned in "Cocaine Socialism".

Going off on a tangent here, but something I just thought of: in "Space", Jarvis says "How many times have you wished upon a star? Now you can touch it, you can touch the stars, go on" then in "Dishes" he says "I am not worried that I will never touch the stars". Hmmmmm.

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Eamonn


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Great shouts!

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saw119


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Aren't MLG and S:SC about the same woman? Jarvis notes say S:SC is the morning after the night before of MLG.

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Ian


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Also, Spike Island is where Jarvis got his inspiration for "Sorted For E's and Wizz". Essentially, Jason Buckle was shouting "Spike Island come alive" at the same time/same place people were walking round asking if everyone was sorted for E's and Wizz...



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Eamonn


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I think it was the DJ shouting that phrase in between tracks and Jason remembered it and told Jarvis which tickled him.

Forgot about S:SC being the aftermath of MLG. ..

Wasn't there talk of a Pulp musical in recent years? Think Nick mentioned it at one of his book promos. There's a lot more scope for compelling storytelling than the musical based on Hawley's music imo.

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Sturdy


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Could be wrong but I like to imagine that "and he wants you" in Lipgloss is a sneaky nod to I Want You. Kind of works theme-wise.

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SarahAWilson


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Eamonn wrote:

I think it was the DJ shouting that phrase in between tracks and Jason remembered it and told Jarvis which tickled him.

Forgot about S:SC being the aftermath of MLG. ..

Wasn't there talk of a Pulp musical in recent years? Think Nick mentioned it at one of his book promos. There's a lot more scope for compelling storytelling than the musical based on Hawley's music imo.

 I asked this at Rough Trade East about s jukebox musical in the wake of " Standing at the Sky's Edge". Nick said it had been planned, but due to Covid it all fell through.



-- Edited by SarahAWilson on Friday 26th of September 2025 01:37:54 PM

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lipglossed


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That Jarvis ****er. He's always at it, that Jarvis ****er.


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blueowl0708


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Your Sister's Clothese / Babies - or is that too obvious

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Ste


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Maybe too on the nose, but there's Catcliffe Shakedown's

'Those boys who said "Hey mister we just want your car 'cos we're taking a girl to the Reservoir" are outside the pub'

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Eamonn


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Ah yes, of course.

The direct mention of Misshapes and Common People on Cocaine Socialism is the obvious one I was thinking of but these are all meta-gold.

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saw119


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Does that mean we should include those chubby 12 years in union jack shorts addicted to coffee whitener and frankfurters?

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OlympusMons


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Grown ups also references (it isn't even) Sunset which closes the album.

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Ian


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Jarvis mentions his name in "The Professional": "C0cker's short for... sucker". We know what the missing lyrics should be but some Island exec probably thought it was too extreme.

There is also that Barry Adamson song he provided the vocals for: I enter a room and all the girls say: "C'mon Jarv, can I be the first? Oh, you make us so hot we feel we're gonna burst.". I have just listened to that for the first time in years, it's quite interesting and the lengthy outro is vaguely similar to "My Sex" in terms of Jarvis noises. The whole album is pretty odd but it's quite interesting. 

There are some recurring lyrics on "More":

  • The Universe: Spike Island / Grown Ups / Partial Eclipse
  • A feeling: Spike Island / Grown Ups / Farmers Market / Background Noise


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Ste


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saw119 wrote:

Does that mean we should include those chubby 12 years in union jack shorts addicted to coffee whitener and frankfurters?



I guess it should instead be the "pudgy fifteen-year olds addicted to coffee whitener" :D

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Sturdy


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Mother, brother lover of course.

And don't the sun, the moon, the wind and the rain pop up a few times on Separations?

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saw119


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Ste wrote:
saw119 wrote:

Does that mean we should include those chubby 12 years in union jack shorts addicted to coffee whitener and frankfurters?


 


I guess it should instead be the "pudgy fifteen-year olds addicted to coffee whitener" :D

 They grow up so fast.



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Eamonn


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Sturdy wrote:

Mother, brother lover of course.

And don't the sun, the moon, the wind and the rain pop up a few times on Separations?

 

The Elements - Selected Jarvis ****er Lyrics Volume Two



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Eamonn


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Ian wrote:

Jarvis mentions his name in "The Professional": "C0cker's short for... sucker". We know what the missing lyrics should be but some Island exec probably thought it was too extreme.

There are some recurring lyrics on "More":

  • The Universe: Spike Island / Grown Ups / Partial Eclipse
  • A feeling: Spike Island / Grown Ups / Farmers Market / Background Noise

 You could add A Sunset to themes of the universe. Lyrics are credited to "the earth" after all.

 

As for that line in The Professional - I imagine it was Jarvis self-censoring and intentionally omitting the naughty word, it's more subtle and also works in the context of being a "professional". It's a living, can't you see?



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lipglossed


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saw119 wrote:
Ste wrote:
saw119 wrote:

Does that mean we should include those chubby 12 years in union jack shorts addicted to coffee whitener and frankfurters?


 


I guess it should instead be the "pudgy fifteen-year olds addicted to coffee whitener" :D

 They grow up so fast.

 Not really they only aged three years between 1995 and 2001!



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Ian


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Jesus is mentioned in quite a few Pulp songs:

  • Dishes: I am not Jesus though I have the same initials
  • Slow Jam: I had a word with Jesus...
  • Countdown: Jesus Christ now baby
  • Death II: Jesus Christ now hey
  • Do You Remember the First Time?: Jesus, it must be great
  • Background Noise: Jesus Christ now, what a feeling?
  • Joyriders: Hey you in the Jesus sandals
  • The Boss: Oh, Jesus Christ, I know I'm gonna lose the game
  • Sheffield: Sex City: Jesus, even the sun's on heat today
  • Underwear: Give yourself to him, oh Jesus!
  • Bad Cover Version: (perhaps an oblique mention) I heard an old girlfriend has turned to the church
  • Relaxed Muscle - The Heavy: Jesus Christ it's only half-eleven

Granted, most of these are exclamations. Only "Dishes" and "Slow Jam" refer specifically to Jesus. 

The town/city is mentioned several times on "Separations":

  • Love is Blind: The city is shining
  • Don't You Want Me Anymore: I'm gonna show this town who's master / And then the whole damn town...
  • Separations: Now the sun shines on a new town
  • My Legendary Girlfriend: We went walking through the sleeping town
  • Countdown: But I walked my way round town (and several other mentions)
  • Death Comes to Town: And I will take the first boy in every house in town (and the title of course)


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Sturdy


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Eamonn wrote:
Sturdy wrote:

Mother, brother lover of course.

And don't the sun, the moon, the wind and the rain pop up a few times on Separations?

 

The Elements - Selected Jarvis ****er Lyrics Volume Two

 I was trying to bring them all to mind but couldn't so I've had a look:

 

Don't You Want Me Anymore - "On the night that I was leaving the moon rose in the sky... You're going to love me more than ever, and the sun will shine again"

 

She's Dead - "Those years of endless rain, they just washed her away"

 

Separations - "As the sun shines down on the land... Now the moon is high in the sky... Now the sun shines on a new town... Where the moon hangs high above him now... The same moon that she's praying on tonight, but the wind catches their words and the moon swallows them whole... Now the moon is high in the sky"

 

Countdown - "and stars and moon are falling down"

 

Legendary Girlfriend - "And oh the stars came out tonight, and the moon came on his face... And the sun and the moon and the stars all came down today"

 

Death II "Oh, if I knew the moon I'd ask him to shine his light in through your window"

 

This House Is Condemned - "He sees the moon, he sees the stars, he sees the sky"

 

Death Comes to Town - "And the sunlight on your window in the morning, And the wind that blows the blossom from the trees"

 

More than I thought! It must've been deliberate, but why?



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hawalius1


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The Professional also nods to the back catalogue - "just another song about single mothers and sex" (anything from Little Girl all the way through to Seductive Barry).

Weeds II also feels very self-aware with the "funny little dance" comment, I'm sure Jarvis mentioned in an interview that this was about his un selfconscious moves that he was forced to become aware of.

The start of The Fear samples the end of Bar Italia, how's that for a callback.

Possibly the Safeway and Tesco namechecks in After You are harking back to the shuffling supermarkets in F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.

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Ian


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Jarvis hints in the sleevenotes that there is a link between "Frightened" and "The Fear".

There are also quite a few Pulp songs that talk about travel/transport i.e. wandering the streets at night, on a train or bus, along the river

  • Boats and Trains
  • Blue Glow: essentially the whole song depicts Jarvis wondering the streets at night
  • Goodnight: You make your way down the yellow streets past rows and rows of houses; curtains drawn tight against the cold night air
  • Being Followed Home: I don't think an example is needed here
  • My Legendary Girlfriend: So I woke her, and we went walking through the sleeping town (this contains an earlier line similar to "Goodnight": Outside I can see all the houses - curtains shut tight against the night)
  • Don't You Want Me Anymore: Soon as I get off this train
  • Separations: With a smile, he gets off the train
  • OU: She's at the station because she's leaving town
  • Sheffield: Sex City: And now I'm wandering up and down your street calling your name
  • Inside Susan: literally depicts Susan's bus journey
  • Street Lites: I'll walk it off in the rain somehow / On the back seat of the top deck
  • Catcliffe Shakedown: The train that crosses the viaduct
  • The Professional: She will meet me from the train and she won't know a thing...
  • Like a Friend: You are the train I never should have caught
  • Wickerman: Yeah, a river flows underneath this city, I'd like to go there with you now my pretty and follow it on for miles and miles
  • After You: Don't stop 'til the train has pulled into the station
  • Tina: Saw her this morning on the train
  • Grown Ups: It was the night they let me out of the home, it was the night I caught the bus on my own
  • Background Noise: I got on a train, started thinking about being single again

Another interesting fact: whilst there are plenty of songs about Sheffield, only two have the name of the city in the title, "Sheffield: Sex City" and "I Scrubbed the Crabs that Killed Sheffield", only the latter mentions it in the lyrics. 



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