The Meaning Behind “Spike Island” by Pulp and How Jarvis Cocker Remembers the 90s

Pulp’s first album in 24 years is aptly titled More. And “more” is a word you might use to describe Britpop and the indie rock bands that dominated 90s pop culture in the U.K. The “big four” of Britpop are Oasis, Blur, Suede, and Pulp. And though Oasis and Blur publicly duked it out over chart dominance, Pulp and its frontman Jarvis Cocker provided an intellectual wit to Cool Britannia. On Pulp’s latest single, “Spike Island”, the band looks back on the 90s, and Cocker shines a light to expose the fuzzy memories behind nostalgia’s mask.

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A Not-So Legendary Gig

“Spike Island” by Pulp gets its title from a 1990 concert by The Stone Roses attended by nearly 30,000 people. The concert was comically disorganized and took place in a field in Widnes, Cheshire, England, near chemical factories. But the legend around the disappointing concert provides Cocker with a metaphor for how nostalgia polishes bad memories.

“Something stopped me dead in my tracks
I was headed for disaster, and then I turned back
I was wrestling with a coat hanger. Can you guess who won?
The universe shrugged, shrugged, then moved on.”

Cocker also describes his experience as one of Britpop’s biggest stars. A somewhat reluctant pop star, and the verse below explains how he gave in to a media-born persona. Additionally, Cocker further uses The Stone Roses gig as a wider metaphor for Britpop and the haze of 90s culture and hype.

“Not a shaman, or a showman, ashamed I was selling the rights
I took a breather and decided not to ruin my life
I was conforming to a cosmic design, I was playing to type
Until I walked back to the garden of earthly delights.”

Full-Time Pop Star

Writing in his memoir Good Pop, Bad Pop, Cocker called the 90s the “most disconcerting” years of his life. Regarding fame, he said that he was “definitely a suspicious, anguished, vain guy.”

“When I imagined—at the age of 14—what my life would be like as soon as I became a pop star, I assumed that I wouldn’t live in a house, but in a luxury hotel, with a butler, without sheets to change or clothes to wash,” he said. “I would spend the entire day lying in bed watching episodes of Batman.”

Following the commercial success of Pulp’s 1995 album Different Class, Cocker said he lived alone in New York and dedicated himself full-time to “being a star.” He added that “it was horrible.” It all came to a head when Cocker rushed the stage during Michael Jackson’s performance at the 1996 BRIT Awards.

But just like Pulp’s triumphant performance at Glastonbury in 1995, filling in for The Stone Roses, Cocker survived Britpop’s chaotic hype, and himself. Pulp remains unparalleled among Britpop legends Oasis, Blur, and Suede.

Although pop stardom consumed him, Cocker retained some perspective. You can hear this in Pulp’s biggest hit, “Common People”, where he criticizes class tourism and how some idealize poverty.

So, “Spike Island” by Pulp confronts nostalgia with the perspective of someone who lived and survived the hullabaloo of Britpop. In typical Pulp fashion, the latest single extracts these fuzzy memories with irony. And Cocker delivers his verdict in yet another timeless anthem: It’s all “just a feeling.”

Photo Courtesy of Rough Trade Records