Mother, Brother, Lover - Jarvis Cocker

 MOTHER, BROTHER, LOVER - JARVIS COCKER

A book of selected lyrics written by Jarvis Cocker and the obvious question it invites being 'Is Jarvis Cocker a great lyricist?' The immediate problem with this, however, is in the criteria in which the lyrics are judged as in do they retain their integrity when isolated from the music and when stood alone on a naked page? For the most part I'd say unfortunately not, that it's only when combined with the music of Pulp that they come into their own, though to be fair to Jarvis this is something he admits himself in the written introduction of his book where he highlights the instruction he includes with any lyric sheet that comes with the records - 'NB Please do not read the lyrics whilst listening to the recordings'. That's not to say he doesn't have his moments but in comparison to some genuinely great lyricists such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Elvis Costello, Lou Reed, Nick Cave and so on, they're few and far between. So is Mother, Brother, Lover an ill-advised vanity project or merely meant for Jarvis Cocker/Pulp fans only? The fact that mine is a signed copy and that this means very little to me suggests that yes, it might well be a bit of both.

I used to adhere to the Lemmy Kilmister school of thought that said if you can't say something in three minutes (in the context of the typical length of a song) then it's probably not worth saying, though nowadays I tend to rescind on that idea and sympathise a lot more with the epic song and lyric. I still believe, however, that anything too stupid to say is sung instead which is where the appeal of Jarvis Cocker lies because  at least he's always tried to inject some sense and meaning into a song. A prime and probably the best example of this being Cunts Are Still Running The World that not only makes for a good song title but is also a pretty meaningful and even sensible and reasoned thing to declare.

Another thing that makes Jarvis Cocker's lyrics of interest is his class consciousness which is actually a rare thing to find within music or for it at least to be so prominent. It's in evidence throughout his songs such as I Spy, Mile End, Catcliffe Shakedown, and Cocaine Socialism among others and of course it's there in Common People, the song that is perhaps the pinnacle of his song writing. There's a caveat, however, and that's in the way that however much Jarvis displays his awareness of where he's from and the class structure he was born into, there's a certain loathing if not even a fear of certain aspects of the working class culture he's of that actually outweighs his adversity to aspects of middle class culture he's encountered.

There's an unpredictability and a latent violence within working class culture that Jarvis encapsulates in Common People with the lines 'Like a dog lying in the corner they will bite you and never warn you - Look out, they'll tear your insides out.' It's an acknowledgment of not only something that Jarvis himself is frightened of but of something that others should be wary of too. What Jarvis does not acknowledge, however, is that this unpredictability and latent violence is a power that the working class hold and is in fact a key to their emancipation, for want of a better word. Rather than living their lives with 'no meaning or control and with nowhere left to go', the very things that Jarvis is frightened are what actually enables the working class to 'burn so bright' whilst all those possessed of wealth and privilege can only stand to be 'amazed that they exist' and be left to 'only wonder why'.

As I said, Common People is probably the pinnacle of his song writing and is a song Jarvis should be rightly proud of.

Jarvis Cocker nowadays is very close to being a national treasure, a kind of grand old dame of Britpop. He may not have a latent violent bone in his body - which of course is no bad thing at all - but because he is of the 'common people' he still has an unpredictability about him that is always going to stand him in good stead and is the ingredient that will always have him remain a person of interest. Even if his book isn't.

John Serpico