Toronto – There are two things that make Pulp‘s His ‘n Hers a classic album: simplicity in storytelling and potent, nostalgic emotion. At its heart and soul, this record is about broken hearts in a rear-view mirror. Yet oddly, it’s not at all bitter, but really the opposite–whenever I listen to this album now, I’m struck by how perfect its memory of positive pain is. Listening to songs like Do You Remember The First Time? now, it’s hard not to longingly remember a time when I wasn’t entirely jaded by the idea of a relationship.

Romance is just better when you’re young.

Some folks may argue with me here, and I’m not saying you can’t fall in love at any advanced age. But no matter how hard one may try, it’ll never encapsulate the magic (or horror) of the first time. Not because it’s better or worse, but mainly because you’ve already jumped in the pool so to speak. The first time you swim, you remember it. A lot of things are like that by virtue of their novelty–first day of school, first job, first crush, first love/first unrequited love, certainly the first time you had sex, and so on and so forth.

We had briefly discussed the idea of “youth is wasted on the young” in last night’s podcast, and seeing as we’re all in the depths of our 30’s now, it all rings so true. So maybe that was the case for His-n-Her-era-Jarvis Cocker as well, who would’ve been exactly our age at the time he wrote and released “Do You Remember the First Time?” (likely 30 or 31).

Initial impressions of this song suggest that this is in reference to losing one’s virginity, but when you start listening to the lyrics (and this is really where the album makes the most impact), it becomes more vague. Maybe he’s talking about the first time he had sex with a woman he loved. Maybe he’s talking about the first time he nailed someone he thought he loved. Maybe he’s talking about being the “other man” in an on again-off again. Maybe he’s talking about being gay. The scenarios are endless, but the longing remains the same.

Everything is better when you look at it in hindsight, from far away.

Everything that is, with the exception of my first time. I was 17, shut my eyes, and hoped for the best. I’ll spare you the rest of the details, but I suppose that was TMI for most, anyway.

You say you’ve got to go home
cos he’s sitting on his own again this evening.
I know you’re gonna let him bore your pants off again.
Oh God, it’s half past eight, you’ll be late.

Do you remember the first time?
I can’t remember a worse time.
But you know that we’ve changed so much since then,
oh yeah, we’ve grown.
Now I don’t care what you’re doing,
no I don’t care if you screw him.
Just as long as you save a piece for me,
oh yeah

Toronto – The last track on the last album Pulp ever released, Sunrise is an epic track that literally feels like a Sunrise. How could one explain it? Just listen to the rousing coda to end off the song that gradually picks up in tempo generating a Scott Walker influenced wall of sound before exploding into more guitars. Pulp reportedly turned down a million dollars from Coca Cola, who wanted to use this song.

Of course I am writing this track because for the first time in about three months it seems, we have managed to see some sun in Toronto. Still, a great song for a splendid occasion

Toronto – Maybe the best Pulp music video out there, this single from 2001’s We Love Life featured a parody live-aid video that included a host of lookalikes of celebrities such as George Michaels, Elton John, Bono, Paul McCartney and Robbie Williams. This track also has the distinguished title of being the last single Pulp released before going into hiatus. A song about how a loved one’s new relationship is not the same as the original one with the singer, Bad Cover Version also takes a nice subtle cheap shot at the Stones. While I’m not sure that it will ever be listed among the best Pulp songs, this track certainly can be counted as among the most clever ones.

Pulp – Bad Cover Version by beautifulcynic

Toronto – One of the two top charting singles for Pulp in 1995, Sorted for E’s and Wizz was released as a double A side single along with Mis-shapes. The sleeve work for the single caused some controversy in England as it depicted a certain way to sneak drugs into various places. The track itself was an instant classic, a song about going to a Stone Roses concert show at Spike Island under a haze of drugs. Obviously I wasn’t living in that era, but I would suspect this track nicely summarizes the way that misguided e-filled youths lived their lives back then. Despite the track being almost fifteen years old, it can still resonate with the times of today,especially with all these music festivals seemingly on a weekly basis (Primavera, Coachella, Osheaga, Pitchfork, Bonnarroo, etc). Just take a look at the opening lines

Oh, is this the way they say the future’s meant to feel?
Or just 20,000 people standing in a field?

Makes you wonder if this has been done all before. One of my favorite tracks, check it out.

Oh, is this the way they say the future’s meant to feel?
Or just 20,000 people standing in a field?
And I don’t quite understand just what this feeling is
But that’s okay cos we’re all sorted out for E’s and wizz
And tell me when the spaceship lands cos all this has just got to mean something

What if you never come down?