Razzmatazz (song)
| "Razzmatazz" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Pulp | ||||
| B-side | Stacks, Inside Susan, 59 Lyndhurst Grove | |||
| Released | February 1993 (U.K.) | |||
| Format | 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, CD single | |||
| Recorded |
Razzmatazz: October 1992, Maison Rouge Studios, London. Inside Susan, a story in three songs: December 1992, Protocol Studios, London. | |||
| Genre | Indie rock, Britpop | |||
| Label | Gift | |||
| Writer(s) | Jarvis Cocker/Pulp | |||
| Producer(s) | Pulp | |||
| Pulp singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Razzmatazz" is a song by the British rock group Pulp. It was their final single for Gift Records and received much critical acclaim. It was released independently of an album, although it appeared as a bonus track at the end of the US version of His 'n' Hers.
All the tracks on the single were re-released within eight months by Island Records on their Intro – The Gift Recordings compilation.
Lyrics
Razzmatazz
The lyrics of "Razzmatazz" are written from the perspective of an angry narrator who has been dumped by his very cocksure girlfriend. The girl believes that all that's needed is a "little bit of razzmatazz" in the months after the song's narrator leaves her. However, the narrator relates that within three weeks she has put on weight and started to date a man who looks like "some bad comedian". She has stopped going out all the time, instead preferring to sit in and watch television eating "boxes of Milk Tray", clear signs of depression which gets so bad that her mother wants to have her committed. By the time the narrator bumps into her at the doctors waiting for "a test", she is going to parties and leaving alone. The song's chorus points out that everything has changed for the girl; she is no longer desirable to men, and her old tricks don't work anymore.
B-sides
The single's three B-sides are a three-part storytelling the life of a woman named Susan. "Stacks" deals with her early adolescence in Rotherham, its chorus warning that there are much better ways to spend her time than hanging around and going with boys. In "Inside Susan" she is in her later teens, and the song is a spoken-word account of her thoughts as she travels on a bus (including recollections of a party where she got drunk on cider). Finally "59 Lyndhurst Grove" finds Susan the second wife of an architect "somewhere in South London," cheating on him with a lover and living a monotonous conventional life. It also recalls a party, though one much more reserved with friends and children.
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Jarvis Cocker, Russell Senior, Steve Mackey, Nick Banks and Candida Doyle.
- 7" vinyl
- "Razzmatazz" – 3:39
- "Inside Susan" – 5:35
- "59 Lyndhurst Grove" – 3:33
- 12" vinyl / CD single
- "Razzmatazz" – 3:39
- "Stacks" – 2:42
- "Inside Susan" – 5:35
- "59 Lyndhurst Grove" – 3:33
Sleeve notes
- "I played these songs to Susan the other day - she just laughed and said I was being spiteful because she wouldn't sleep with me when we first met. She also said to tell you that she's perfectly happy where she is at the moment, thank you very much."
Personnel
- Jarvis Cocker: Vocals, Piano
- Russell Senior: Guitars
- Candida Doyle: Synthesizers, Organ
- Steve Mackey: Bass Guitar
- Nick Banks: Drums