Jarvis Cocker: Running The World

Is it just us, or is the world a bit weird now? The fact that you can have Jarvis fricken Cocker as a virtual friend on MySpace, among all the Tom, Dick and Killersfan1275s you’ve added in an attempt to look popular? That you can see his ‘Top 8’ and read his blog, as if he was a mere mortal? And what do you get when you visit ‘JarvSpace’, apparently his first outing in cyberspace? The paternal figure peering out through the trademark specs, plus one song, ‘Running The World’. A spectacular lamentation on the state of the world and its leaders, it features that familiar deep voice telling you “cunts are still running the world” over Lloyd-Webber-esque spectral orchestration.

Of course this is not Jarvis’ first extra-curricular outing (check out Relaxed Muscle now if you haven’t already), nor is it by any means the first anti-Bush sentiment. But forget Green Day, Neil Young and REM and don’t even mention misery guts Bob ‘I’m so outraged I turn sympathisers off the issue’ Geldof. No-one has epitomised the current worldwide feeling of helplessness and resentment in such a concise and beautifully-weary way. This has to be right up there with ‘Give Peace A Chance’, or at least Paul Hardcastle’s ‘19’. Just listen to the likes of: “Well did you hear there’s a natural order?/Those most deserving will end up with the most/That the cream cannot help but always rise up to the top/But I say ‘Shit floats’”.

Then get all outraged over world poverty while feeling guilty about using a Rupert Murdoch-owned networking site and blog about it for your 63million uninterested third degree ‘friends’.