May 22nd, 2009 7:56am
Out Of My Depth
Jarvis Cocker “I Never Said I Was Deep”
“I Never Said I Was Deep” is great partly because we all know in our hearts that Jarvis Cocker is not the miserable, idiotic cad that he portrays in the song. If you have any investment in Jarvis, you no doubt idealize the guy somewhat — he’s the smart, classy guy who always knows how to put horrible people in their place — but he’s deliberately messing with that here, kinda nudging you to think that maybe he actually is singing from his perspective. (Still, probably not!) This is a surprisingly sympathetic depiction of unthinking douchebaggery; casting the dink in question as a confused fool who knows when he’s doing the wrong thing, but cannot stop himself from always acting on his worst impulses. He’s selfish but helpless, and the pathetic tragedy of his existence elicits just enough empathy from the listener to blind us to the reality that he has absolutely none at all, and that’s his major problem.
Buy it from Amazon.
5/27/09 3:29 pm
Jarvis Cocker is great - right now I’m really into him and A Camp - anybody how likes great music would love this band. And they’re going on tour this summer, which is awesome. Check them out! …You won’t regret it…
5/29/09 7:58 am
[...] The Jarvis Cocker song featured here last week examined the inner life of a terrible boyfriend, but this track by the Apollo Ghosts comes at the same topic from a perspective more of us are likely to share: The friend or sibling who struggles to be supportive of someone whose taste in suitors is extremely and consistently poor. I can’t imagine anyone reading this has ever not felt exactly like this about someone or other at some point, or all the time. The song is simple and direct; the sentiment is pitch-perfect, even if the guy’s voice is not. Crucially, the singer conveys the careful diplomacy involved in delivering this sort of tough love, coating the bitter pill of brutal honesty with a large amount of sugary affection. [...]