Synopsis

The "Mis-Shapes" video turns Pulp's outsider anthem into a confrontation between two sides of Jarvis Cocker. He appears both as the band's performer and as a hostile, beer-spitting "blokey" figure who represents the people the song challenges. The band perform amid a crowd of intimidating young extras, giving the setting an uneasy, adversarial atmosphere rather than a celebratory one. By placing Cocker in both roles, the video dramatizes the tension between misfits and the aggressive social groups they have learned to avoid.

Factoids & Trivia

• Jarvis Cocker was initially wary of acting in the video, joking that pop stars acting can be "very tragic." He eventually committed to the role by getting very drunk during filming.

• The background extras were recruited from a particularly rough nightclub. According to Cocker, they were genuinely intimidating the crew and other people on the set, rather than simply performing menace.

• Cocker's two characters reflect the song's central idea: a rallying cry for outsiders to unite against the intolerant "townies" who traditionally held the social power.

• "Mis-Shapes" was released on September 25, 1995, as a double-A-sided single with "Sorted for E's & Wizz." The release reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart.

• The song was inspired by Cocker's experiences in Sheffield during the 1980s, when groups of similarly dressed men would confront people whose clothes or appearance marked them as different.

• The title came from misshapen chocolates that Cocker's mother bought cheaply. He regarded their imperfect appearance, despite their normal taste, as a fitting metaphor for social outsiders.