PULP - ACRYLIC AFTERNOONS - Are You Sorted?
Are You Sorted?
Here's what all the fuss was about...
1. Take a square section from a standard magazine page.
2. Bring the opposite corners together.
3. Fold to form a triangle.
4. Fold one corner over from about one quarter of the base length.
5. Bring the opposite corner over in the same way.
6. Tuck this corner into the pocket formed within the other fold.
7. Fold the square portion of the packet in half.
8. Wrap the top of the triangle section over and around the folded square
section.
9. Fold the triangular flap over.
10. Tuck the top of the triangular flap into the pocket formed by
the base of the packet.
11. Fully insert the triangle and fold.
Here's an
article with Jarvis talking about drugs.
I'm not too sure where it's from, but it's quite an interesting read...
I honestly was not expecting the kind of controversy that followed the release of our new single. I don't want the sleeve to get in the
way of this record being taken seriously because Sorted For E's & Wizz is not a pro-drugs song. Because of the controversy
surrounding it yesterday I'm quite prepared for the sleeve to be
changed and the diagrams removed. The design of the sleeve (the CD's
cover carried an illustrated guide to making a special envelope to
hide the drug speed) was nothing to do with me or the band, flippant
as that may sound. I did see the sleeve before it went out to print
but, to be honest I didn't take much notice of it at the time because
it didn't offend me. Nowhere on the sleeve does it say 'you are supposed to put drugs in here' but I can understand the confusion. I
wouldn't want anything we do to encourage people to take drugs because they aren't a solution or an answer to anything. I don't think anyone who listens to Sorted would come away thinking it had a pro drugs message. If they did I would say they had misinterpreted
it.
It's basically a factual account of something that happened to me
in 1989 when I first moved to London and the rave scene was
really big. At the time I thought there was going to be a major shift
in people's mentality because everyone was being friendly and
getting off on being nice to each other. After a while it became
apparent to me it was all drug induced and I became disenchanted with
it. I thought it would filter through to people's everyday lives and
we would realise it's better to be nice to one another rather than
kicking each other's heads in at night-clubs. The change in mentality
didn't happen and it was very surprising to me. I don't think
drugs are good, but on the other hand I don't think you can ignore
them. Every weekend two million people go out and take something
illegal, which is having a big effect on our society. To pretend it
doesn't exist is a bad thing, which is why I was really pleased when
radio stations decided to play Sorted. I thought the mere fact that it mentioned drugs would get it banned. The last record which dealt
with this topic was Ebeneezer Goode by the Shamen which I thought was
a despicable record. With a clever play on words they
covered the fact that they thought E's were good and got it to Number
One.
In my mind drugs are worse than cigarettes or alcohol
because they are underground and suppliers make them in their bathroom and people end up taking something which is physically
damaging. I have tried to help friends who have problems with drugs,
but you can only help to a certain extent. The need to get into
that state comes from inside them and the need to get straight also
has to come from inside them. I've sat with a friend for a week to
stop them buying drugs but you can't sit with them for the rest of
their lives. My point is you can only help so much, then they must
help themselves. But I don't think people who take drugs are breaking
the law, they see it as recreational. I would not offer advice on
drugs to anyone who asked for it. I'd tell them to talk to someone
with real knowledge of drugs. I have knowledge of taking drugs
first hand - but I fell out of a window when I was drunk once, and I
wouldn't offer advice on that either. If the police enforced the
fact that marijuana was illegal half of London would be arrested
overnight, but they turn a blind eye. I think it's a joke that
marijuana is considered a soft drug, it's one of the worst drugs around. The people who use it sell their posessions to get hold of it, they can't get it together and do anything and they sit on their backsides all day doing nothing. That's no way to spend your life. I've always said that people in bands are the worst role models ever because they're self-centred, big headed and egotistical. I accept that I may be seen as a role model, but I don't want to preach and offer my opinions. In my songs I try to write about things that have happened to me in a plain and simple way. Drugs exist and they aren't going to go away, but they don't gove anyone something they don't have already. They just bring things out that already exist in their personality. If they were really happy and things were going well they wouldn't take them.
Interview by Kate Thornton.
Back to the Features Page
The summer of '89: Centerforce FM, Santa Pod, Sunrise 5000,
"Ecstacy Airport", ride the white horse, the strings
of life, dancing at motorway service stations, falling
asleep at the wheel on the way home. There's so many
people - it's go to mean something, it needs to mean something.
IT DIDN'T MEAN NOTHING.