This song is based on a girl lead singer Jarvis Cocker met at St. Martin's on the sculpture course. Jarvis revealed that nothing actually ever happened between them and that in fact, he just overheard her say that she would like to live in the East end of London. Some believe that the song reflects Jarvis' thoughts, as he does not come from a working class background.
As this was a catchy pop song, Jarvis Cocker wanted to come up with a dance routine to go with it, which can be seen in the video.
This was the commercial breakthrough for Pulp, who were formed by the then 15-year-old Jarvis Cocker in 1978. In Q magazine, Cocker said: "It was clear 'Common People' was a significant song. Eight other songs on the album were written while it was in the charts. Knowing that you had a mass audience for once in your life gave me the confidence to bring certain things out of myself."
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