Common People
Encyclopedia
"Common People" is a song by English alternative rock
band Pulp
. It was released as a single in 1995, reaching number two on the UK singles chart
. It also appears on the band's 1995 album Different Class
. The song is about those who were perceived by the songwriter as wanting to be "like common people" and who ascribe glamour to poverty. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as slumming or "class tourism". The song was written by Nick Banks
, Jarvis Cocker
, Candida Doyle
, Steve Mackey
and Russell Senior
. In 2004, a cover version featuring William Shatner
and produced by Ben Folds
brought the song to new audiences outside Europe.
knew at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
. Taking this inspiration, the narrator explains that his female acquaintance can "never be like common people", because even if she gets a flat where "roaches climb the wall" ultimately, "if [she] called [her] dad he could stop it all", in contrast to the true common people who can only "watch [their] lives slide out of view". In his lyric Cocker embellished the situation for dramatic effect - in real life the woman in question said she "wanted to move to Hackney
and live like 'the common people'", but in the song her character also declares: "I want to sleep with common people like you." A BBC Three
documentary failed to correctly locate the woman, who, Cocker stated, could have been in any fine art course but that "sculpture" sounded better. The lyrics were in part a response by Cocker, who usually focused on the introspective and emotional aspects of pop, to more politically-minded members of the band like Russell Senior
. Furthermore, Cocker felt that 'slumming' was becoming a dominant theme in popular culture and this contributed to the single's rushed release. Cocker said "it seemed to be in the air, that kind of patronising social voyeurism... I felt that of Parklife
, for example, or Natural Born Killers
- there is that noble savage
notion. But if you walk round a council estate, there's plenty of savagery and not much nobility going on."
he bought from Music and Video Exchange in Notting Hill
. He said it "seemed kind of catchy but I didn't think too much about it", while it reminded Steve Mackey
of Emerson, Lake & Palmer
's version of Fanfare for the Common Man
. Eventually, the riff was championed by keyboardist Candida Doyle
who recognised its importance. Cocker then wrote the lyrics inspired by his time in London.
The band realised they had "written something that had slight pretensions to anthemic" and wanted a production value that matched this description. Chris Thomas
was chosen and the final single was produced in two weeks using over 40 tracks
of recording with many layers of synthesiser added in the creation of the record. To keep the single at around four minutes, the final verses that begin "Like a dog lying in a corner" were omitted, although they appear on the album version. These include the peak of the crescendo where Cocker reduces to an intense whisper and describes the life of "common people".
featured an appearance from actress Sadie Frost
and a dance routine improvised by Cocker on the day of shooting. The video also features a homage to the Eleanor Rigby
sequence in the film Yellow Submarine, with everyday people stuck in repeating loops lasting less than a second. For location shooting, it used Stepney's Nightclub on Commercial Road
in the East End of London
. The nightclub still has its original décor, including a 70s dance floor, and was described as a "cultural icon" when under threat of demolition in 2007.
Four posters available on the 2011 tour showed a classic Pulp record sleeve, with photography notes beneath. For Common People (day time) it read:
LOCATION: Frank's Sandwich Bar, Addison Bridge Place, London W4 (eat-in and takeaway available)
TIME: 4:05pm, Wednesday 30th November 1994
PHOTOGRAPHER: Donald Milne
CAMERA: 1979 Hasselblad 500CM with 80mm lens
FILM STOCK: Fuji Super G-400 (pushed 2 stops)
DESIGN: The Designer's Republic™
ORIGINAL SLEEVE NOTES: "There is a war in progress, don't be a casualty. The time to decide whose side you're on is here. Choose wisely. Stay alive in '95."
. In 2007, NME
magazine placed "Common People" at number three in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever. Rock: The Rough Guide said that on Different Class, Cocker was "[s]tripping away the glamour from Britpop
's idealization of the working class" (it had been performed on a TV programme called Britpop Now), and described the song as the centrepiece of the album and "one of the singles of the 90s."
In a poll by the Triple J
in July 2009, the Pulp original was placed at number 81 in their "Hottest 100 Of All Time" from over 500,000 votes cast.
In September 2010 Pitchfork Media
listed "Common People" at #2 on their list of the Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s.
12"
CD1/cassette
CD2
, a "Vocoda
" mix and a radically different "Motiv8
club mix", also appeared on the "Sorted for E's & Wizz
" singles. These later featured on the 2-disc version of Different Class released in 2006.
produced a cover version of "Common People" for William Shatner
's album Has Been
that brought the song to a new international audience, it previously being largely unknown in America. This version begins with an electronic keyboard Britpop or disco sound, but quickly moves into a drum kit and guitar-heavy indie rock
style. Shatner's spoken-word presentation of Cocker's tirade against class tourism surprised reviewers who were familiar with the fact that some of Shatner's previous work
had been widely mocked.
Folds abruptly replaces Shatner's voice with that of "bitter Cockney" singer Joe Jackson
, and then alternates and blends the two into a duet, bringing along a large chorus of young voices on the line "sing along with the common people" and finally replacing Shatner and Jackson in the song's concluding crescendo. This version won critical praise and widespread appeal and was the centre of a popular "viral video
" phenomenon on YouTube
which took the form of a wide variety of user-interpreted videos which used it as a soundtrack.
In a listeners' poll by Australian radio station Triple J
, this cover version was ranked number 21 on their Hottest 100 of 2004
.
In 2007 a ballet called Common People, set to the songs from Has Been, was created by Margo Sappington
and performed by the Milwaukee Ballet
.
covered the song as "Gothic People", with subtly altered lyrics referencing clichés of the goth subculture
.
In the Indian-themed BBC sketch show Goodness Gracious Me
, a parody called "Hindi People" is sung. Channel Four satire show Bremner, Bird and Fortune
showed a version with David Cameron
singing about how he wants the votes of "common people".
Australian music-based quiz show Spicks and Specks uses five rounds of different games chosen from a large repertoire of options, each named after a well-known song. One of these is "Common People", in which each team is given three celebrities and must figure out what they have in common.
Tori Amos
has performed this song numerous times live in concert, on her "Original Sinsuality", "Summer of Sin" and "American Doll Posse" tours.
Catalan band Manel
has also covered the song, translating the title into "La Gent Normal".
Scouting For Girls
performed an acoustic version of the song at V Festival
2010.
My Chemical Romance
performed a live version of the song on BBC Radio 1
's Live Lounge
in 2011.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Pulp
Pulp (band)
Pulp are an English alternative rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978. Their lineup consists of Jarvis Cocker , Russell Senior , Candida Doyle , Mark Webber , Steve Mackey and Nick Banks ....
. It was released as a single in 1995, reaching number two on the UK singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. It also appears on the band's 1995 album Different Class
Different Class
Different Class is an album by English Britpop band Pulp. It was released in 1995 at the height of Britpop, and led to the band being regarded as part of that movement. Two of the singles on the album – "Common People" and "Disco 2000" – were especially notable, and helped propel Pulp to...
. The song is about those who were perceived by the songwriter as wanting to be "like common people" and who ascribe glamour to poverty. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as slumming or "class tourism". The song was written by Nick Banks
Nick Banks
Nick Banks is the English drummer in the British band, Pulp. He lives in Sheffield with his wife Sarah Banks, two children , and his dog Geoff...
, Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Branson Cocker is an English musician and frontman for the band Pulp. Through his work with the band, Cocker became a figurehead of the Britpop movement of the mid-1990s. Following Pulp's hiatus Cocker has led a successful solo career...
, Candida Doyle
Candida Doyle
Candida Doyle is a keyboard player and occasional backing vocalist with the band Pulp, which she joined in 1984...
, Steve Mackey
Steve Mackey
Steve Mackey is a British musician and record producer best known for playing bass guitar in the band Pulp. He also played bass for Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker in the latter's solo career, and worked as a songwriter and producer with artists such as M.I.A...
and Russell Senior
Russell Senior
Russell Senior is the guitarist and violinist of the band Pulp.Senior grew up in Sheffield. Whilst at University in Bath, he formed the "Dada Society" and appeared as the lead role in a dramatic adaptation of Kafka's The Trial...
. In 2004, a cover version featuring William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
and produced by Ben Folds
Ben Folds
Benjamin Scott "Ben" Folds is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and television personality. From 1995-2000, Folds was the frontman and pianist of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five. Since the group disbanded, Folds has performed as a solo artist and has toured all over the world...
brought the song to new audiences outside Europe.
Inspiration
The inspiration for the song came from a Greek fellow student Sophia Phoca, who Pulp singer/songwriter Jarvis CockerJarvis Cocker
Jarvis Branson Cocker is an English musician and frontman for the band Pulp. Through his work with the band, Cocker became a figurehead of the Britpop movement of the mid-1990s. Following Pulp's hiatus Cocker has led a successful solo career...
knew at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. The school has an outstanding international reputation, and is considered one of the world's leading art and design institutions...
. Taking this inspiration, the narrator explains that his female acquaintance can "never be like common people", because even if she gets a flat where "roaches climb the wall" ultimately, "if [she] called [her] dad he could stop it all", in contrast to the true common people who can only "watch [their] lives slide out of view". In his lyric Cocker embellished the situation for dramatic effect - in real life the woman in question said she "wanted to move to Hackney
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
and live like 'the common people'", but in the song her character also declares: "I want to sleep with common people like you." A BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
documentary failed to correctly locate the woman, who, Cocker stated, could have been in any fine art course but that "sculpture" sounded better. The lyrics were in part a response by Cocker, who usually focused on the introspective and emotional aspects of pop, to more politically-minded members of the band like Russell Senior
Russell Senior
Russell Senior is the guitarist and violinist of the band Pulp.Senior grew up in Sheffield. Whilst at University in Bath, he formed the "Dada Society" and appeared as the lead role in a dramatic adaptation of Kafka's The Trial...
. Furthermore, Cocker felt that 'slumming' was becoming a dominant theme in popular culture and this contributed to the single's rushed release. Cocker said "it seemed to be in the air, that kind of patronising social voyeurism... I felt that of Parklife
Parklife
Parklife is the third studio album by the English alternative rock band Blur, released in April 1994 on Food Records. After disappointing sales for their previous album Modern Life Is Rubbish , Parklife returned Blur to prominence in the UK, helped by its four hit singles: "Girls & Boys", "End of a...
, for example, or Natural Born Killers
Natural Born Killers
Natural Born Killers is a 1994 crime/black comedy film directed by Oliver Stone about two victims of traumatic childhoods who became lovers and psychopathic serial killers, and are irresponsibly glorified by the mass media...
- there is that noble savage
Noble savage
The term noble savage , expresses the concept an idealized indigene, outsider , and refers to the literary stock character of the same...
notion. But if you walk round a council estate, there's plenty of savagery and not much nobility going on."
Composition
Cocker wrote the chorus melody on a small Casiotone MT-500Casiotone
Casiotone refers to a series of home electronic keyboards released by Casio Computer Co. in the early 1980s.These first keyboards used a sound synthesis technique known as Vowel-Consonant synthesis to approximate the sounds of other instruments...
he bought from Music and Video Exchange in Notting Hill
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is an area in London, England, close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
. He said it "seemed kind of catchy but I didn't think too much about it", while it reminded Steve Mackey
Steve Mackey
Steve Mackey is a British musician and record producer best known for playing bass guitar in the band Pulp. He also played bass for Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker in the latter's solo career, and worked as a songwriter and producer with artists such as M.I.A...
of Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
's version of Fanfare for the Common Man
Fanfare for the Common Man
Fanfare for the Common Man is a 20th-century American classical music work by American composer Aaron Copland. The piece was written in 1942 for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under conductor Eugene Goossens. It was inspired in part by a famous speech made earlier in the same year where vice...
. Eventually, the riff was championed by keyboardist Candida Doyle
Candida Doyle
Candida Doyle is a keyboard player and occasional backing vocalist with the band Pulp, which she joined in 1984...
who recognised its importance. Cocker then wrote the lyrics inspired by his time in London.
The band realised they had "written something that had slight pretensions to anthemic" and wanted a production value that matched this description. Chris Thomas
Chris Thomas (record producer)
Chris Thomas is an English record producer who has worked extensively with The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, Badfinger, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Pulp and The Pretenders. He has also produced breakthrough albums for The Sex Pistols and INXS.Thomas is quoted as saying -Early life:Thomas was...
was chosen and the final single was produced in two weeks using over 40 tracks
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
of recording with many layers of synthesiser added in the creation of the record. To keep the single at around four minutes, the final verses that begin "Like a dog lying in a corner" were omitted, although they appear on the album version. These include the peak of the crescendo where Cocker reduces to an intense whisper and describes the life of "common people".
Music video
The accompanying music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
featured an appearance from actress Sadie Frost
Sadie Frost
Sadie Frost is an English actress, who currently runs fashion label Frost French and has designed the kitchens for a new development in the East End of London.-Biography:Frost was born Sadie Liza Vaughan in London...
and a dance routine improvised by Cocker on the day of shooting. The video also features a homage to the Eleanor Rigby
Eleanor Rigby
"Eleanor Rigby" is a song by The Beatles, simultaneously released on the 1966 album Revolver and on a 45 rpm single. The song was written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney...
sequence in the film Yellow Submarine, with everyday people stuck in repeating loops lasting less than a second. For location shooting, it used Stepney's Nightclub on Commercial Road
Commercial Road
Commercial Road , in length, is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. It runs from "Gardener's Corner" , through Stepney to the junction with Burdett Road , Limehouse from which point the route becomes the East India Dock Road...
in the East End of London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
. The nightclub still has its original décor, including a 70s dance floor, and was described as a "cultural icon" when under threat of demolition in 2007.
Sleeve Photograph
The Common People CD was released both as a 'day-time CD' (with the sleeve of the CD showing a day-time cafe picture), and as a 'night-time CD' (with the sleeve of the CD showing a night-time cafe picture).Four posters available on the 2011 tour showed a classic Pulp record sleeve, with photography notes beneath. For Common People (day time) it read:
LOCATION: Frank's Sandwich Bar, Addison Bridge Place, London W4 (eat-in and takeaway available)
TIME: 4:05pm, Wednesday 30th November 1994
PHOTOGRAPHER: Donald Milne
CAMERA: 1979 Hasselblad 500CM with 80mm lens
FILM STOCK: Fuji Super G-400 (pushed 2 stops)
DESIGN: The Designer's Republic™
ORIGINAL SLEEVE NOTES: "There is a war in progress, don't be a casualty. The time to decide whose side you're on is here. Choose wisely. Stay alive in '95."
Reception
"Common People" was Pulp's most popular single, and became a classic in the UK soon after its release. The song has featured on more than sixteen compilation albums since its original release and in 2006, an hour-long documentary on the song's composition and cultural impact was broadcast on BBC ThreeBBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
. In 2007, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
magazine placed "Common People" at number three in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever. Rock: The Rough Guide said that on Different Class, Cocker was "[s]tripping away the glamour from Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
's idealization of the working class" (it had been performed on a TV programme called Britpop Now), and described the song as the centrepiece of the album and "one of the singles of the 90s."
In a poll by the Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
in July 2009, the Pulp original was placed at number 81 in their "Hottest 100 Of All Time" from over 500,000 votes cast.
In September 2010 Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
listed "Common People" at #2 on their list of the Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s.
Track listing
7"- "Common People (7" Edit)"
- "Underwear"
12"
- "Common People"
- "Underwear"
- "Common People (Motiv8Motiv8Motiv8, a pun on the word "motivate", may refer to:* Motiv 8, alias of Steve Rodway, a Eurodance producer and remixer* Motiv8 , a warez group* "Motiv8", a song by breakbeat hardcore duo Altern-8...
Mix)" - "Common People (Vocoda Mix)"
CD1/cassette
- "Common People (Full Length Version)"
- "Underwear"
- "Common People (7" Edit)"
CD2
- "Common People"
- "Razzmatazz (Acoustic Version)Razzmatazz (song)"Razzmatazz" is a song by British rock group Pulp. It was their final single for Gift Records and received much critical acclaim. It was released independently of an album, although it appeared as a bonus track at the end of the US version of His 'n' Hers....
" - "Dogs Are Everywhere (Acoustic Version)Dogs Are Everywhere"Dogs Are Everywhere" in a non-album single released by British band Pulp in 1986. The title song is a soft ballad reminiscent of the band's first album It, but the B-sides have a darker sound closer to the band's next album Freaks...
" - "Joyriders" (Acoustic Version)
Other Pulp versions
Different versions, including the recording from Pulp's headline act at Glastonbury FestivalGlastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
, a "Vocoda
Vocoder
A vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
" mix and a radically different "Motiv8
Steve Rodway
Steve Rodway , also known under the alias Motiv 8 or Motiv8, is an Electronic dance music record producer, songwriter, remixer and sound engineer....
club mix", also appeared on the "Sorted for E's & Wizz
Sorted for E's & Wizz
"Sorted for E's & Wizz" is a song by the English band Pulp. Taken from their UK number one album Different Class, it was released as a double A-sided single with "Mis-Shapes" in September 1995 and reached number two in the UK charts...
" singles. These later featured on the 2-disc version of Different Class released in 2006.
William Shatner cover version
In 2004, Ben FoldsBen Folds
Benjamin Scott "Ben" Folds is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and television personality. From 1995-2000, Folds was the frontman and pianist of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five. Since the group disbanded, Folds has performed as a solo artist and has toured all over the world...
produced a cover version of "Common People" for William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
's album Has Been
Has Been
Has Been is William Shatner's second musical album after 1968's The Transformed Man.The album was produced and arranged by Ben Folds and most of the songs are co-written by Folds and Shatner, with Folds creating arrangements for Shatner's prose-poems, and feature guest appearances from Joe Jackson...
that brought the song to a new international audience, it previously being largely unknown in America. This version begins with an electronic keyboard Britpop or disco sound, but quickly moves into a drum kit and guitar-heavy indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
style. Shatner's spoken-word presentation of Cocker's tirade against class tourism surprised reviewers who were familiar with the fact that some of Shatner's previous work
William Shatner's musical career
Actor William Shatner has yielded a unique, much-criticized, and much-parodied body of work during his musical career. Shatner typically merely speaks the lyrics instead of singing them, often as an exaggerated interpretive reading.-The Transformed Man:...
had been widely mocked.
Folds abruptly replaces Shatner's voice with that of "bitter Cockney" singer Joe Jackson
Joe Jackson (musician)
Joe Jackson is an English musician and singer-songwriter now living in Berlin, whose five Grammy Award nominations span from 1979 to 2001...
, and then alternates and blends the two into a duet, bringing along a large chorus of young voices on the line "sing along with the common people" and finally replacing Shatner and Jackson in the song's concluding crescendo. This version won critical praise and widespread appeal and was the centre of a popular "viral video
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
" phenomenon on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
which took the form of a wide variety of user-interpreted videos which used it as a soundtrack.
In a listeners' poll by Australian radio station Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
, this cover version was ranked number 21 on their Hottest 100 of 2004
Triple J Hottest 100, 2004
The 2004 Triple J Hottest 100 was announced on 26 January 2005. It was the twelfth such countdown of the most popular songs of the year, according to listeners of the Australian radio station Triple J....
.
In 2007 a ballet called Common People, set to the songs from Has Been, was created by Margo Sappington
Margo Sappington
Margo Sappington is an American choreographer and dancer born July 30, 1947 in Baytown, Texas. She was nominated in 1975 for both a Tony Award as Best Choreographer and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography for her work on the play Where's Charley?. In 1988, her ballet Virgin Forest was...
and performed by the Milwaukee Ballet
Milwaukee Ballet
The Milwaukee Ballet is a professional ballet company located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1969 by Roberta Boorse and held its first performance on April 24, 1970. It is currently ranked among the top twelve ballet companies in the United States...
.
Other covers
UK Dark Wave band LibitinaLibitina (band)
Libitina is a British Gothic band formed in 1994 by University of Sheffield students. The band has released five albums on its own Libation Records label. Originally formed as a four-piece with Danny on vocals, the band pared down to a three-piece in early 1996...
covered the song as "Gothic People", with subtly altered lyrics referencing clichés of the goth subculture
Goth subculture
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
.
In the Indian-themed BBC sketch show Goodness Gracious Me
Goodness Gracious Me (TV & radio)
Goodness Gracious Me is a BBC English language sketch comedy show originally on BBC Radio 4 and later televised on BBC Two based on four British Indian actors: Sanjeev Bhaskar, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Syal and Nina Wadia...
, a parody called "Hindi People" is sung. Channel Four satire show Bremner, Bird and Fortune
Bremner, Bird and Fortune
Bremner, Bird and Fortune is an award-winning satirical British television programme produced by Vera Productions for Channel Four, uniting the longstanding satirical team of John Bird and John Fortune with the satirical impressionist Rory Bremner.The show started in 1999. The fourteenth series...
showed a version with David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
singing about how he wants the votes of "common people".
Australian music-based quiz show Spicks and Specks uses five rounds of different games chosen from a large repertoire of options, each named after a well-known song. One of these is "Common People", in which each team is given three celebrities and must figure out what they have in common.
Tori Amos
Tori Amos
Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
has performed this song numerous times live in concert, on her "Original Sinsuality", "Summer of Sin" and "American Doll Posse" tours.
Catalan band Manel
Manel
Manel is an indie pop band from Barcelona who sing in Catalan. They released their first album in 2008. They describe their musical style as a synthesis of pop and folk music...
has also covered the song, translating the title into "La Gent Normal".
Scouting For Girls
Scouting for Girls
Scouting for Girls are a Brit and Ivor Novello nominated band from London, formed in 2005 by Roy Stride, Greg Churchouse and Peter Ellard. Stride and Ellard met in the Cub Scouts and Churchouse met Stride on their first day at school. They have sold over 1.2 million albums and over 1.5 million...
performed an acoustic version of the song at V Festival
V Festival
The V Festival is an annual music festival held in England during the penultimate weekend in August. The event is held at two parks simultaneously which share the same bill; artists perform at one location on Saturday and then swap on Sunday. The sites are located at Hylands Park in Chelmsford and...
2010.
My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance is an American alternative rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way and have a diverse sound incorporating elements of punk, emo, glam metal, and progressive rock...
performed a live version of the song on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
's Live Lounge
Live Lounge
The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio station BBC Radio 1. Originally hosted by Jo Whiley on her mid-morning radio show and now hosted by Fearne Cotton, it exhibits well-known artists usually performing one song of their own and one by another artist, in an acoustic format...
in 2011.
Chart positions
|