Pulp
“This Is Hardcore” is a landmark 1998 single by Pulp, using the imagery of pornography as a dark metaphor for fame, exhaustion, and aging, set against lush, cinematic orchestration. It crystallizes the band’s shift from Britpop exuberance toward grimly confessional art rock.
Song Details
- Artist: Pulp
- Album: This Is Hardcore (1998)
- Release Date: 11 March 1998 (single), on This Is Hardcore album released 30 March 1998
- Length: 6:25 (album version)
- Producer: Chris Thomas
- Notable Chart Performance: Peaked at No.12 on the UK Singles Chart.
Background and Themes
- Lyrical Content:
The song is a bold, unflinching exploration of the parallels between the adult entertainment industry and the destructive side of celebrity. Jarvis Cocker, the band’s frontman, described its subject as a mix of revulsion and attraction: “It’s about being turned on by something you know is wrong. There’s a certain sadness—quite rightly so—and I wondered what happened to the people in the films, especially the women, once they’d been used up by the voracious appetite of the industry. It’s a metaphor for how fame can do the same”. - Musical Style:
“This Is Hardcore” stands out for its dramatic, film noir-like arrangement. The soundscape features sweeping strings by Anne Dudley, ghostly piano, booming drums, and a recurring sample from Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra’s “Bolero on the Moon Rocks.” The structure abandons traditional pop forms in favor of a sinuous, cinematic progression that swells and recedes, never settling into easy resolution.
Lyrics (Excerpt)
You are hardcore
You make me hard
You name the drama and I’ll play the part
It seems I saw you in some teenage wet dream
...
Oh, this is Hardcore:
There is no way back for you
Oh, this is Hardcore:
This is me on top of you
And I can’t believe that it took me this long
That it took me this long.
Video and Cultural Impact
- The music video, directed by Doug Nichol, is an opulent homage to classic Hollywood, with stylized dance sequences and a sense of faded glamour that visually mirrors the song’s themes of used-up allure and emptiness.
- Critically, “This Is Hardcore” is acclaimed as one of Pulp’s bravest and most artful statements, marking a dramatic departure from Britpop and influencing a wealth of subsequent “grown-up” alternative pop cycles.
Legacy
“This Is Hardcore” persists as both a musical and thematic high-water mark in Pulp’s discography: a bold, uneasy confrontation with fame’s aftertaste, personal decline, and the spectacle of pop itself847. The song’s inventiveness, emotional candor, and stylish execution have cemented its place as a cult classic in late-’90s British pop.
