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hello yall here’s another song thread from me and this time we are gonna talk about the masterpiece known as do you remember the first time? by pulp 
do you remember the first time? was the second single off pulp’s fourth studio album, his n hers, which was released in 1994. this was the first single of the band to reach the UK top 40.
in order to promote the release of the track, jarvis cocker and steve mackey produced a short film featuring celebrities’ stories about losing their virginity. here is a clip from the said film wherein the celebrities were asked about their age when that happened.
though, im not really going to talk about how this song is about first sexual encounters (though it could be perceived that way). the way i see it, this song is abt the story of reconnecting with an old lover about your past relationship, perhaps even your first love & heartache.
by the way, pulp used to open their gigs with this song, which i truly believed was quite a good idea. i love the intro to dyrtft?, i think it sets the mood and the feeling that the song is going for.
the instrumentals feel nostalgic (most pulp songs do, tbh) and i like how they make the song sound upbeat and lively, but it still has that hint of despair in it. for me, it epitomises the whole concept of “dancing through the pain”, truly pulp at its finest.
moving over to the lyrics. what’s interesting abt pulp songs is that most of them talk about the past. they manage to dwell on the feelings of nostalgia and yearning and fuse these two together in order to tell a story that is bound to break your heart once u pay attention to it.
pulp manages to tell numerous stories of heartbreak, but they present it with a cheerful, quite humorous (and sexual) facade in order to mask that. dyrtft? embodies this wherein it comes off as a story about losing one’s virginity and reminiscing about it when in fact it’s rooted
in something much deeper than that. as i’ve mentioned, it could be a song abt reminiscing about your first love (and heartbreak!) w/ that certain person. it could also be a song abt jarvis luring his first love to cheat w/ him, but thats not what ill be focusing on for this one.
jarvis talks about how his first love had seemingly moved on and found someone new, and is in a relationship that is more stable and fulfilling. though, he believes that that stability she found in her current relationship is boring and unexciting.
now we know that this person also has doubts in her current relationship. she’s not sure if that is what she really want for herself. jarvis jokes about how her current partner doesn’t please her sexually, hence the line abt buying a toy “that can reach the places he never goes.”
he reminds them of the good times they had together through the first two lines in the chorus, but he himself knows that what they had was in the past and should remain in the past. they’re different people now, and they can’t expect to feel the same love they did before again.
i truly believe that “we’ve changed so much since then, oh yeah, we’ve grown” has got to be one of the most subtly PAINFUL lines in a pulp song. it’s so simple yet it speaks volumes. it reminds him that no matter how much he tries, he’s not gonna lure that person back to him.
years have passed, they both have changed and have grown on their own. they are not the same person that they were before. clinging unto the past wouldn’t make sense anymore. even though this is the case, jarvis still refuses to be forgotten by his past lover.
“as long as you save a piece for me” also makes sense if u put the whole cheating thing into consideration, but in a ~romantic~ aspect id like to think of it as him wishing that they’d both still carry the memories of the relationship they had as they carry on w life separately.
what i think is interesting abt the second verse was how the line changed from you’ve “got to” go to you “wanna” go home. his first love has realised that the relationship she has now isn’t as bad as it seems, and that she actually prefers to bear with it all if that makes sense.
this is where jarvis realises that he is indeed the one who’s lonely. the last line is meant to be sarcastic, but it hints the fact that he may be feeling jealous that his past lover could get that love and stability w another person, but for some reason he can’t.
he’s still clinging and stuck in the past. he’s holding onto something that’s already over and gone. the “we’ve grown” line serves more of a reminder to himself that he should no longer hope for the past to come back, because it’s already out of his reach.
no matter how much he tries, his need and longing for a love that he had before could not be fulfilled by attempting to bring the past back to life. he know that he needs to move on and needs to let go of this person he’s been clinging onto for so long.
though, he still hopes that the memory of their “first time” won’t be neglected nor disregarded. he hopes that as they both go on with their lives without each other, they’d still carry a piece of what they had with each other.
that’s all for this thread uwu i hope u all liked it n that it made sense
uhhh stream his n hers stan pulp and stay safe!!!! <333
uhhh stream his n hers stan pulp and stay safe!!!! <333
