Cliff Notes – The surprising identity of the woman who inspired Pulp’s Common People
- The mysterious ‘art student from Greece’ in Pulp’s “Common People” is speculated to be Danae Stratou, a prominent installation artist and wife of former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis.
- Jarvis Cocker, the song’s writer, initially described the woman as having a fascination with living like “common people,” a notion he found naïve and patronising.
- Despite claims linking Stratou to the song, Cocker has stated he does not recall her name and noted discrepancies in her appearance, leaving the true identity of the muse uncertain.
The surprising identity of the woman who inspired Pulp’s Common People
When Pulp released Common People in 1995, the song instantly became a landmark track in British pop culture.
With its biting commentary on class, privilege, and the romanticisation of poverty, it came to define a certain type of young person at the time. But for years, one question lingered over the track: Who was the mysterious ‘art student from Greece’ who inspired Jarvis Cocker’s scathing lyrics?
The mystery of the Common People muse has persisted for decades. That was until an intriguing claim surfaced, suggesting that the woman in question might be none other than Danae Stratou, a prominent Greek installation artist and wife of Yanis Varoufakis, Greece’s former Minister of Finance.
In an interview years after the song’s release, Jarvis Cocker revealed that Common People was based on an encounter with a fellow student during his time at Central Saint Martin’s College in London.
He recalled meeting a young Greek woman at a pub, who, despite her affluent background, seemed fascinated by the idea of ‘living like common people.’
Cocker was studying film at the time, and the woman was studying painting – though both briefly dabbled in sculpture.
The woman’s desire to experience life in a ‘scummy’ area, such as Hackney, struck Cocker as naïve and somewhat patronising. As he later described it, the woman found the idea of living in a working-class neighborhood “exotic” and wanted to move there to fully embrace the lifestyle, an exercise in class tourism.
Cocker’s recollection of the meeting is clear: ‘She came from Greece, she had a thirst for knowledge, she studied sculpture at St. Martin’s College.’ The line became an iconic opening to one of the most memorable songs of the 90s.
But the identity of this woman remained shrouded in mystery.
In 2021, Greek publication The Athens Voice suggested that the enigmatic art student was Danae Stratou, a highly regarded Greek installation artist.
Stratou, who is married to Yanis Varoufakis – who became finance minister in 2015 – studied sculpture at St. Martin’s between 1983 and 1988, fitting the timeframe mentioned by Cocker.
Varoufakis himself weighed in on the claim during an interview with the BBC, acknowledging that Stratou was indeed the only Greek sculpture student at St. Martin’s during those years.
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He said: ‘Well, I wouldn’t have known her back then. But I do know that she was the only Greek student of sculpture at St Martin’s College at that time. And, from personal experience, she is a very fascinating person.’
Stratou, who later became a professor at the Superior School of Fine Arts in Athens, now lives in Austin, Texas, where her latest works continue to explore themes of identity and the human experience.
Her installation art, which often involves immersive environments, has received acclaim around the world.
However, Cocker himself contradicted this narrative in a 2020 interview. ‘I was studying film, and she might’ve been doing painting, but we both did sculpture for two weeks,’ Cocker said.
‘I don’t know her name. It would’ve been around 1988, so it was already ancient history when I wrote about her.’
When asked if it was Stratou, he said, ‘It wasn’t her because she had blonde hair and the girl had dark hair.’
Still, at other times Cocker has admitted his memory is hazy about the specifics of the girl’s appearance, meaning its still possible its Stratou.
Other candidates have arisen over the years, with the Cypriot artist, Katerina Kana, claiming in a 2012 interview with a Greek magazine that she was the one to tell Cocker she wanted ‘to live like common people.’
The song rose in popularity once again recently, thanks to the film Saltburn, in which Rosamund Pike’s character claims she inspired the song, introducing the classic to a whole new generation.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the muse’s identity, Common People has cemented its place as one of the most iconic songs of the 90s.