“Common People (f/ Joe Jackson)” – William Shatner
(Words/music: Nick Banks, Jarvis Cocker, Candida Doyle, Steve Mackey, Russell Senior, available on Has Been, Shout! Factory 2004)
Generally, I’m not a fan of gimmick cover songs; perhaps naively, I want bands to cover songs for a reason other than being ironic. Maybe I went overboard in high school on mall punk covers of ‘80s songs, but I generally approach cover songs with a skeptic eye. This made me nervous when I heard that William Shatner and Ben Folds were tackling Pulp’s “Common People.” Different Class got a lot of spins in college (and I still listen to the first side of the album a fair amount), and even though I came around to “Common People” a half a decade after it was a hit, I fell for it entirely. I loved Jarvis Cocker’s vocal delivery as he toed the line between melody and spoken word. I loved how his narrator sets the scene, viewing this woman with a mix of scorn, awe, and a tiny bit of attraction. I also loved the dramatic build in the song – both in the music and in Cocker’s lyrics. Not only could he craft an interesting story, he knew how to tell it.
When I finally succumbed to my curiosity and listened to Shatner’s version, I felt relieved that it was ridiculous for all the right reasons. Shatner and Folds (the executive producer of Shatner’s Has Been album) take the song and tug at the most absurd strands. They push the tempo and let Shatner slide into his familiar vocal delivery. Oddly enough, his syncopated over-enunciation brings out the smarminess in the lyrics; Shatner’s narrator just seems less tactful than Cocker’s reserved smugness. Just as Pulp’s version gets bigger and bigger as the track progresses, Folds keeps adding onto the track, first with Joe Jackson’s energetic chorus and later with a chorus of “common people” to sing the hook. By the time Shatner and Jackson “sing together” with Shatner over-performing and Jackson rushing through the verse, it’s impossible to resist the song. By making it so overblown, Shatner simultaneously plays to his strengths (his eccentricities and his deadpan delivery) and reveals the original as an absurdly wonderful pop song. Ultimately, however, the song works because it’s an excellent composition both melodically and lyrically; all Shatner, Folds, and Jackson do is turn it inside-out to reveal the giddy energy propelling it forward.
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