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I've only ever heard the Shatner version. I'll have to check out the Pulp version but I can't imagine that they can enunciate the "Roaches" as cool as Shatner.
I heard the Pulp version first so I'm partial to it. They do a masterful job with the roaches line, but it isn't the same as Shatner's spoken wordish version.
"Hurt" has a lot of power as the concluding track to The Downward Spiral, but I'm probably never going to listen to that album straight through ever again.
Jarvis Cocker (the man behind Pulp) is always getting robbed... he should be a gazillionaire rockstar by now. This is really just par for the course for him.
OK, I just listened to the Pulp version from p&c's link and um, well, it kind of sucked. I didn't expect it to be so tinny and whiny. I guess that I just don't get British pop.
I also heard the Shatner version first and never knew it was a cover until some NPR spot on 90's british bands. . . do I downloaded the Pulp one and I dig that more.
I have been known, at moments of exasperation with my cats, to break into you will never understand. . .etc, in their general direction. Apparently they think there are things that I will never understand either.
Love both. To me, Pulp is the missing link that takes me through the 90s (I was never into Radiohead etc. as much, or even Blur). I love Cocker's lyrics and this one is no exception -- whether it's based on a personal story or not doesn't matter so much as that he's definitely lived the elements. It fits in with a lot of his other songs like Disco 2000 (not coincidentally their other great anthem).
The Shatner/Jackson/Ben Folds (who arranged it) version is great in its own way, though. Folds is the one who figured out that it would be a great match with Shatner's spoken-lyrics approach and he nailed that.
On preview, didn't Cocker do something to piss off Michael Jackson?
At the 1996 Brit awards, Cocker jumped on the stage during Michael Jackson's performance and started to mimic his moves (he later claimed he'd been pissed off by Jackson pretending to be Jesus). Panic ensued and a few children received minor injuries. Cocker was nearly charged with assault, but narrowly escaped charges.
But great as he is, I think you should be a bit embarrassed to prefer The Shat. He lacks a certain amount of authenticity when delivering those particular lyrics.
On preview, didn't Cocker do something to piss off Michael Jackson?
I had a vague recollection that Jarvis also dropped his pants and waggled his bottom in Jackson's direction (a foolhardy thing to do, I'm sure) but I must have dreamt that. I did find this, which appears to be a quite thorough and credible account of the event.
I do adore Jarvis.
And wasn't that the same year one of the Oasis brothers snarked at Michael Hutchence and received a kiss in return?
OK, the more I listen to these two versions, the more I realize that it is all about Joe Jackson. I'm not actually sure I prefer Shatner's spoken word part at all.
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