Common People – Mário LOBO

Music has been throughout my life a door to other places. I’ve wondered about places because of songs, I wandered in(to) places because of songs. I’ve seen things because of songs, tried things because of songs.

Songs have already given me new thoughts about places and things.

And songs did all this by planting sounds and feelings in my mind. By picking up the words common to a specific topic, rearranging them in a different order and therefore giving me new ways to also rearrange my ideas. Songs brought me new words, new phrases, new imagens, and perceptions.

This different way of arranging words, and phrases, and images, and perceptions, and ideas makes it easier explaining others the principles I believe in and the values I guide myself by. To elaborate upon my dreams and expectations. This is, hopefully, the first (of many?) publishing about songs that for long have planted these new arrangements in my mind. Or that have always been around and I have recently rediscovered on a different light.

This song by The Pulp, rumor goes, is about Yanis Varoufakis’ wife, daughter of a Greek millionaire. Despite some good ideas, few, and a fabulous pair of balls, Yanis Varoufakis, as it came to reveal, is far from being the “defender of the working class” he himself and a cortege of modern “lefties” came to label the Greek economist.

We can further take the debate into who actually represents, and consequentially qualifies to defend, the working class. It surely does not require for one to belong the “common people” in order to do what common people do. But it does help. A great amount.

This is why workers should be represented and conducted onto the classless society by workers. Those who are one phone call away from having dad stopping cockroaches climbing up their bedroom walls will never fully grasp the difficulties, aspirations, need, and objectives of those who live their lives with no meaning of control, and with nowhere left to go.

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

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