Though they predate Brit-pop by over a decade, Pulp have been forever linked to the movement due to their hit albums and their biggest hit, “Common People,” which was once voted Britain’s favourite Brit-pop song. Later a Rolling Stone poll found the same thing about their readers, so the song is indelibly linked to moment in time where a band ten years older than their contemporaries somehow broke through and helped define an era.
Taylor Goldsmith, one half of LA folk rockers Dawes, chose this iconic song for his recent appearance on AV Undercover. In the pre-performance interview/chit chat, Goldsmith says it was the story-song nature of “Common People” that drew him to it, as that stands out so much from the other Brit-pop songs. Goldsmith has been listening to and playing it for years when he was younger but hadn’t played it in some time.
As with many solo acoustic covers of big hits, the focus is on the lyrics more than it is in the original, which has a big sound that kind of distract the listener. Goldsmith plays it a tiny bit slower than the original and gives it the folk balladeer treatment. He adds some speak-singing and alters his register to give the song some dynamics it would otherwise be lacking in such a performance.
The result is a pretty performance – occasionally interrupted by the distant sounds of somebody’s children – fully celebrating the nature of “Common People” as one of the great put-down songs in music history. Check it out:
