In Saltburn, when Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) is introduced to Elspeth Catton (Rosamund Pike) she says “I have a complete and utter horror of ugliness. From childhood. I don’t know why”, a phrase that has become classic and well defines the universe of the rich among the British nobility. She then comments that many believe she is the inspiration for the song Common People, which is a big hint at the story and the best definition of Elspeth’s personality.

For those who followed the New Brit wave of the 1990s, the reference was both hilarious and brilliant, so much so that I swore it would be the song at the end of the film, instead of Murder on The Dancefloor. Because trying to discover who the muse of the band Pulp‘s song was is one of the most popular pastimes of the last 30 years. Something like someone trying to get Carly Simon out of who she wrote You’re So Vain for. Nobody really knows!

The quote is perfect on everything in Saltburn. Without giving spoilers, Oliver is what the “common people” would be like in England: without a title of nobility, with financial difficulties. And the Catton family, like the character in the song by the band led by Jarvis Cocker, ‘adopts’ a simple person to “understand what he is like”. In other words, a snobbery disguised as kindness, which Jarvis’ precise lyrics describe and criticize in the anthem of a generation.

Although defining a British culture, it is not difficult to see that even 30 years ago there was an inversion of values by ‘ennobling poverty’, as he points out. Paternalism was already fashionable, creating “slum tourism” and therefore the story behind the song helps to feed the curiosity of those who are “Greek” and want to “meet ordinary people”, like Elpesth.

In 1988, after 10 years leading the band Pulp, Jarvis took a break from his career and went to study cinema in London, at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, where he continued composing, but without performing in shows. Although he describes the rich young woman who approaches him as of Greek origin, by his own admission, this is not the case. According to him, there was a girl he met on a sculpture course, and he met a student who claimed he didn’t even remember her name. The two would have gone to a pub and he was interested in her, but he found some aspects of her personality unpleasant, especially when she mentioned wanting to go live in a poor neighborhood and “live like ‘common people’.” Shocked by the lack of idea, but aware that the phrase had an effect, he used the concept to start a new song. In the storytelling, he reversed the situation – he wanted to sleep with his colleague, but he sings that she says “I want to sleep with common people like you” and so on. It’s hilarious.

Just as we realized at the end of Emerald Fennell‘s film, Jarvis Cocker is also right when he sings that the girl “can never be like common people”, because even if she gets an apartment where “the cockroaches climb the wall”, at the end of After all, “if [she] called [her] father, he could stop everything. “, in contrast to the real common people who can only “watch [their] lives disappear from view”.

The video, which features actress Sadie Frost alongside the vocalist, was one of the biggest hits of the 1990s and Common People became one of Pulp‘s biggest hits. I was sorry not to appear in Saltburn… but wait, the soul of the song was there!

She came from Greece she had a thirst for knowledge
She studied sculpture at Saint Martin’s College
That’s where I
Caught her eye
She told me that her dad was loaded
I said, in that case I’ll have rum and Coca-Cola
She said fine
And then in thirty seconds time she said

I wanna live like common people
I wanna do whatever common people do
Wanna sleep with common people
I wanna sleep with common people
Like you
Oh what else could I do
I said I’ll, I’ll see what I can do

I took her to a supermarket
I don’t know why
But I had to start it somewhere
So it started there
I said pretend you’ve got no money
She just laughed and said
Oh you’re so funny
I said; yeah
I can’t see anyone else smiling in here
Are you sure?

You wanna live like common people
You wanna see whatever common people see
Wanna sleep with common people
You wanna sleep with common people
Like me
But she didn’t understand
She just smiled and held my hand

Rent a flat above a shop
Cut your hair and get a job
Smoke some fags and play some pool
Pretend you never went to school
But still you’ll never get it right
‘Cause when you’re laid in bed at night
Watching roaches climb the wall
If you called your dad he could stop it all, yeah

You’ll never live like common people
You’ll never do whatever common people do
You’ll never fail like common people
You’ll never watch your life slide out of view
And you dance and drink and screw
Because there’s nothing else to do

Sing along with the common people
Sing along and it might just get you through
Laugh along with the common people
Laugh along even though they’re really laughing at you
And the stupid things that you do
Because you think that poor is cool

Like a dog lying in a corner
They will bite you and never warn you
Look out, they’ll tear your insides out
‘Cause everybody hates a tourist
Especially one who thinks it’s all such a laugh
Yeah and the chip stains and grease
Will come out in the bath

You will never understand
How it feels to live your life
With no meaning or control
And with nowhere left to go
You are amazed that they exist
And they burn so bright
Whilst you can only wonder why

Rent a flat above a shop
Cut your hair and get a job
Smoke some fags and play some pool
Pretend you never went to school
But still you’ll never get it right
‘Cause when you’re laid in bed at night
Watching roaches climb the wall
If you called your dad he could stop it all
Yeah

Never live like common people
Never do what common people do
Never fail like common people
You’ll never watch your life slide out of view
And then dance and drink and screw
Because there’s nothing else to do

Wanna live with common people like you
Wanna live with common people like you
Wanna live with common people like you
Wanna live with common people like you
Wanna live with common people like you
Wanna live with common people like you
I wanna live with common people like you
Oh, la, la, la, la
Oh, la, la, la, la
Oh, la, la, la, la
Oh, la, la, la, la
Oh you

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