Out Of My Depth

Jarvis Cocker “I Never Said I Was Deep”

“I Never Said I Was Deep” is great partly because we all know in our hearts that Jarvis Cocker is not the miserable, idiotic cad that he portrays in the song. If you have any investment in Jarvis, you no doubt idealize the guy somewhat — he’s the smart, classy guy who always knows how to put horrible people in their place — but he’s deliberately messing with that here, kinda nudging you to think that maybe he actually is singing from his perspective. (Still, probably not!) This is a surprisingly sympathetic depiction of unthinking douchebaggery; casting the dink in question as a confused fool who knows when he’s doing the wrong thing, but cannot stop himself from always acting on his worst impulses. He’s selfish but helpless, and the pathetic tragedy of his existence elicits just enough empathy from the listener to blind us to the reality that he has absolutely none at all, and that’s his major problem.

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