Saturday, April 12, 2014 10:45am ET by  
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Pulp's 'Common People' voted ultimate Britpop anthem

'Common People' by Pulp has been named the ultimate Britpop song by a BBC Radio 6 Music Poll. 

6 Music’s search for the defining anthem of the era drew in 30,000 votes and sees the likes of Oasis, Blur, The Verve and Suede making the top ten list.

Taken from the album ‘Different Class’, ‘Common People’ tells the story of a girl from a wealthy family that Jarvis Cocker met whilst studying at Central Saint Martins who wishes to live like “common people, like you”.

The song provided the climax to Pulp’s headlining Glastonbury set in 1995 when the group replaced The Stone Roses at the top of the bill.

‘Common People’ was denied the No. 1 spot in the UK singles chart and stalled at No. 2 behind Robson Green and Jerome Flynn's ‘Unchained Melody’.

DJ Steve Lamacq – who counted down the audience-voted Britpop list – said of ‘Common People’:

“It is one of the defining records of Britpop because it seemed to embrace the essence of the time so perfectly. It was a big, bold anthem, but with a great narrative. And it seemed to sum up a feeling of 'us and them', as if to illustrate how the indie mavericks had taken on the pop stars and - for once - they'd won."

The top ten favourite Britpop anthems as voted by BBC Radio 6 Music listeners is as follows:

  1. ‘Common People’ Pulp
  2. ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ The Verve
  3. ‘Don't Look Back in Anger’ Oasis
  4. ‘Wonderwall’ Oasis
  5. ‘Parklife’ Blur
  6. ‘Animal Nitrate’ Suede
  7. ‘Girls & Boys’ Blur
  8. ‘Slight Return’ The Bluetones
  9. ‘Disco 2000’ Pulp
  10. ‘Girl From Mars’ Ash

Watch the video for 'Common People' below: