Stuck in my head: Pulp, "Like a Friend"

Back in the day, I bought the Great Expectations soundtrack solely for the one Duncan Sheik song on it (this was before iTunes and back when my parents gave me $20 to amuse myself at the mall on a frequent basis). Several of the tracks still hold up today, and one in particular: Pulp's "Like a Friend." I ended up buying their full-length LP This is Hardcore and loved it.

This song and its lyrics are hitting me kind of hard tonight... I met up with an old friend recently and it resolved a lot of things but also aroused some intense feelings. I think it's mostly nostalgia in knowing that the relationship has permanently changed. [I had a lot more written here and deleted it. No one needs specifics. The song says enough.]




Don't bother saying you're sorry.
Why don't you come in?
Smoke all my cigarettes - again.
Every time I get no further.
How long has it been?
Come on in now,
Wipe your feet on my dreams.

You take up my time,
Like some cheap magazine,
When I could have been learning something.
Oh well, you know what I mean.

I've done this before,
And I will do it again.
Come on and kill me baby,
while you smile like a friend.
And I'll come running,
Just to do it again.

You are the last drink I never should have drunk.
You are the body hidden in the trunk.
You are the habit I can't seem to kick.
You are my secrets on the front page every week.
You are the car I never should have bought.
You are the train I never should have caught.
You are the cut that makes me hide my face.
You are the party that makes me feel my age.

Like a car crash I can see but I just can't avoid.
Like a plane I've been told I never should board.
Like a film that's so bad but I've gotta stay til the end.
Let me tell you now:
It's lucky for you that we're friends.