Música: Jarvis Cocker answers your questions: 'Go on, then, give us the horrible ones'
'Kick the Murdochs as hard as you can': Jarvis Cocker, photographed in west London on 23 November. Photograph: Karen RobinsonThere aren't any, of course: everyone loves Jarvis. Even at the height of his Britpop fame, no one shouted abuse at him in the street. "I don't know why. It's weird, really." He did get some grief the other day, though, after he'd complained about a plan to build a tall block on top of a cinema near where he lives (it would put his place in shadow). "I was stood outside my house and someone went: 'Thank you, you twat, for fucking up the cinema.' I said: 'You're welcome.'"
Our readers, though, are made of slushier stuff. Several questions were simply marriage proposals. So many, in fact, that I did ask Jarvis. But – sorry, ladies – he politely declined, as he has a steady girlfriend: "And it's a little bit sudden. But thank you for your interest. It's been noted. I'll file it away." There were also many fans, such as Ascotgirl, on guardian.co.uk, who wanted to know if he was writing any new Pulp songs, after the success of the band's reunion gigs this summer. Jarvis was cagey about that one: he said that he didn't want to speak for the group, and also he felt that the concerts had been brilliant partly because Pulp hadn't done any press about them, they'd just announced them, accompanied by a few cryptic questions on their website.
It's been yet another good year for Jarvis, what with the Pulp gigs, the launch of his book of lyrics, Mother, Brother, Lover, and the continued success of his 6Music show. Not that you'd know it: good year or bad year, Jarvis himself doesn't really seem to change. He's still thoughtful, still funny, still more low-key than you might think. He still comes out with answers that you don't quite expect.
Before he starts doing that, though, we talk of other things, including The X Factor – "all conversations inevitably come round to the X Factorquestion" – and whether anyone can be a rock star these days. "In some ways, I always thought you're better off behaving like a rock star when you're a normal person. Because if you do it as a rock star, you'll end up in the papers and your life will be made a misery. Whereas if you want to get off your head and shag loads of women in Romford, as a Romfordian, then you can do it."
Re X Factor, Jarvis "took a position" after last year's series, where the contestants murdered David Bowie's "Heroes" on one show, the performance culminating with the stage opening up, "and all these soldiers walked on. Because it was for heroes. Like suddenly we're in a totalitarian state. I just thought, that's it, I'm out." Still, he does sneak a look now and then: "I do like Gary Barlow's 'It. Was. Absolutely. Fantastic. I am going to keep my head in this position because I have been told I look good on camera like this.'"
We also have a long talk about the press, and the Leveson inquiry. "Tabloids invoke freedom of speech, but they're not interested in that, they're just interested in who's shagging whom, who's got drunk. And if you take that pretend, faux moral standpoint, you end up with people in public life being completely boring. Like they've had their genitals removed." Jarvis isn't interested in who celebrities are shagging: "People might be a bit iffy, but that's between them and their conscience.
"That atmosphere of fear that tabloids cause – and I experienced that a bit, back in the bad old days – it makes you not want to go out, and it makes you act more weirdly because it makes you more self-conscious, and it makes you want to get more off your head because you block it out. Amy Winehouse passed away this year and it was all 'drugs killed Amy Winehouse'. I think that the press killed Amy Winehouse as much as drugs did, because it sends people into that place where they've got no peace, and so they just try to escape. And sometimes you use drugs and drink to do that. For 30-odd years Murdoch has really affected the way this country operates, people walking round like, 'Oh, we can't offend him,' because he's too important. You know, they say don't kick somebody when they're down, but in the case of the Murdochs… They'll never be down again, so just kick as hard as you can."
I feel like applauding. But it's time for your questions! Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Jarvis Cocker.
Does the phrase "national treasure" make you gag or feel proud? (Screwdriver Cat, online at guardian.co.uk)
I don't get up in the morning and think, "Oh, look at you, you national treasure, you! You're really shiny today!" But it's nice. Everybody wants to be loved, don't they? Especially in the career that I chose: slight emotional neediness is part of it. My route so far through life hasn't been particularly logical, or even thought out. So I think that's a good message to the kids: that you don't have to follow the normal paths, you can be haphazard. I'm not really explaining it very well because it seems a bit self-congratulatory. But if you get recognised for what you do, even if what you do might be a bit all over the place, then… I appreciate that.
Do the subjects of your songs know they've been written about? And if so, how do they feel about it? I'm thinking about Susan ("Inside Susan") and Deborah ("Disco 2000"). (Child of the Nineties, online)
Well, no – because often the names will get changed. But I have had issues with people. One girlfriend used to punch me. I could see her point, because I do tend to be a bit closed off emotionally. You know when you get into that thing where people want to discuss the relationship? I'd rather discuss what was on telly, avoid the issue, discuss anything other than the relationship. And so this girl, quite rightly, found it a bit much that when she came to concerts you would get all this emotion splurged out on the stage. Her phrase was, "The only time I find out what's on your mind is if I come to one of your concerts." All I can say in my defence is that I wasn't really doing it in a snidey way.
With lyrics, the starting point always has to be from a real place. But sometimes you think: it would have been better if this or that had happened, or you just try out ways of thinking. The most entertaining songs don't always come from a nice place. In songs where I think I'm being really sensitive, they seem quite boring actually. I've found that the songs that come out of nastier, more misanthropic places are better. Like, if you take "I Spy", I'd been to the Brit awards for the first time and I used to get very nervous at those things because I thought I shouldn't be there. So my great plan was to get as hammered as possible and then just go on to autopilot. Anyway, the next morning I couldn't find my glasses anywhere and I worked out that they must be in a nightclub. So I was super-hungover, trying to navigate through people on the tube without my glasses on, and the first words to "I Spy" came into my head: "Can't you see the giant that walks among you, seeing through your petty lives?" But actually, at that moment, I certainly didn't feel like a giant – and I could see fuck all.
Is there a song of yours that you think should have received wider recognition? (Chris D Broughton, online)
I would have loved "Cunts Are Still Running the World" to have been an international No 1, but radio play was quite difficult for that one…
How do you feel about the music industry's current situation and the way it affects up-and-coming bands? (Ela, The Mocks, via email)
If you get involved in music expecting to make a living out of it, then you've picked the wrong thing to do. That shouldn't really be in your mind. You've just got to do it because… there's got to be something missing inside you, and I think that's the reason for people to be creative in anything. You try to replace that missing bit by creating something. It's like making a cork [laughs].
I was talking to the artist Mark Leckeycorrect, and he made a good point. He said that pop music was where the energy was when we were young, and he reckoned that in any time in history there is somewhere where the energy is, where people are drawn to and say, "That's where it's happening." And it seemed to be pop music when we were growing up. What's the thing now? I don't know, I'm too old!
What was your reaction to the riots in the summer? (Roddy Hawkins, via email)
They seemed like radical consumerism. The working class has been turned into a consuming class – a situation has been created where people value their worth by what they can afford. [The rioters were] a consuming class who haven't got any money, so of course they're going to nick stuff. But I certainly don't agree with the riots. I can understand them, but I can't condone them – it's one of those things where you have to take on the responsible adult role. I have tried to avoid that all of my life, the responsible adult role, and we've been brought up to think that edgy things are good. But when edgy goes from being like a cool, flirting-with-danger thing to an actual thing of "Oh, yeah, everything is getting smashed up and burned for a laugh. Isn't it exciting?", that isn't good, is it?
The unfortunate side effect is [the authorities]can then bring in all these draconian things, like when there was a student march the other week. They let slip: "Oh, yeah – we might have some rubber bullets" or "We might get the water cannon out." When there is something that actually has an agenda, not just "Oh, I want some trainers", that's going to get stamped on. I went on that march and I was amazed, because there were as many police as there were people marching. It was crazy.
If you could return to the Britpop era, would you do anything differently? (Tom Crawford, via email)
It would have been good if the revolution had actually occurred. When I went to raves, I thought, "Wow, this is a revolution, people being nice to each other, a new consciousness is coming in!" And similarly with Britpop: I thought, "Here are all these marginal, alternative indie types getting in the charts, it's going to loosen society up." In both those cases it didn't make much difference. Britpop ended up being slightly overweight men with their shirts untucked, getting sucked off while watching The Italian Job.
I'm always thinking the revolution could still happen, though. At the moment there's a feeling – I got that when I was on that student march the other day… it's just getting more interesting.
What do you think of Occupy London St Paul's and the latest wave of anti-capitalist protest, and how can it be won? (gazmack1917, online)
I haven't been down to St Paul's, but I think it is interesting what's happening there. There was a thing that Howard Jacobson said. He said: "If you were in a restaurant and you ordered ox cheek and it came and you didn't like it, you would just send it back. You wouldn't say, 'This ox cheek hasn't been cured for long enough and I think you should have cooked it for five minutes less'", or whatever. Because some people were saying about those protests at St Paul's that the alternatives aren't thought out. But if you don't like something, you don't necessarily have to give a point-by-point analysis of how it should be changed. Just say, "This doesn't work."
The original battle lines over capitalism were a bit simpler. It was that the people who make these things are getting paid peanuts and then the things are sold for a lot more and it was exploitation. But there's no actual product now, is there? Capitalism has gone very abstract – so it's harder to say who the enemy is.
We get told stuff like, "You don't understand this thing, so just keep out of it." Well, for a start, we can't keep out of it, because we've had to bail everything out in the first place. I think it's good that people are saying that the system we're supposedly messing up is supposed to actually work for us as well, and it doesn't. And they think we've been through a boom? It weren't that good, were it? I don't think normal people really felt like, "Yeah, wow, I was there. We were lighting cigars with fivers." It's like, "Wow, I missed that one."
People with beards usually have something to hide. What are you hiding? (GeraldLobOn, online)
I didn't grow it to hide anything, I grew it out of neglect. I was at somebody's house and I had no access to shaving facilities for a couple of weeks. I got over the itchy bit, and I thought I'd give it a go. I was horrified to see that it had quite a lot of grey in it. But then you have to get used to the fact that you're getting to a certain age. I've had it for two and a bit years now.
When we came to do the shows, a lot of people seemed to think it was very important that I got rid of the beard. There were forum discussions. I thought about it, but I did have a slight fear that I may have developed a double chin in the interim. There could be a jowl under there. So the answer to that question is that I don't think I'm hiding anything.
Is your son anything like you when you were his age? (@LizSiddall, via Twitter)
There are certain things, like the way he stands, and I saw him on stage and he did this funny thing with his mouth, which I think I do. I don't think he's as shy as I was, which I'm glad about. I was ridiculous in the shyness stakes. I set myself a goal as a parent to make him mix with other kids as much as possible so he wouldn't have that. It hampers you if every social situation you're in causes you to panic. He does like his music, so that's like me. But then he's into drumming, which I never was. He chose that.
What was the last song you heard that made you think, "Wow. What's that song called?" (JonnyMac99, online)
I really like that "Video Games" song, you know… Lana del Rey. I heard it on the radio and I legally downloaded it and then played it on my[6Music] show and I suddenly thought, "Wow, I'm playing something that's in the charts!" I got really excited about that because I was brought up on the charts and I have lamented their demise as a vital part of our British life. That's what I miss, that you used to get interesting things in the charts.
I liked that for years they were trying to find a formula to get people to buy music: picture disc, free sticker, free patch. That was something that I took so much pleasure out of, when they would spend all this money on Sigue Sigue Sputnik or Gay Dad , and it would still flop – it was like you couldn't fool the public and they would just buy what they liked, not what they were told to like.
At Wireless festival, you talked about the importance of education and university. Are all degrees worthwhile? (@Cerithebookworm, via Twitter)
It's disgusting, what's happening with the fees, especially for art colleges. Because The whole point of an art college used to be that you didn't need to have such big qualifications – you go there and just see what happens. You can't do that if you're paying £30,000. As much as I wanted to study something, I went to Saint Martin's because I just wanted to get out of Sheffield. I just looked at the colleges and it said, "This one is on Charing Cross Road", so I thought, "Great, three years in Soho. Summat's going to happen." And it did.
That thing of people rolling over and going, "Oh, it looks like I'm making things a bit untidy. I'll get out of your way. Sorry"… It seems to have been accepted quite meekly that the art colleges, as they existed in this country, are just going to disappear. The lecturers aren't going to want to teach the people who are going to end up being the only ones who can afford to go there.
It sounds like I'm going into a class war kind of thing… but a certain sector of people won't be able to go. And I've always thought the more variety you've got, the better. I don't want art colleges to be full of people from council estates because that would be boring as well. I met all these people from different countries and different backgrounds, and it were great – your horizons opened and broadened. It would be a shame if that disappeared.Towards the end of my time at St Martins, the ceramics department bought this machine that made teapots and I can remember thinking it was so pathetic. Instead of expecting people just to decorate something that is already there – moulding people to fit in with the system, to make it look pretty – what you should be doing with arts education is giving people the tools so that they can invent a totally new world of their own. Rather than fitting in with your shitty system that doesn't seem to work anyway.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/nov/27/jarvis-cocker-pulp-readers-questions
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