Man in the Corner Shop by The Jam

Album: Sound Affects (1980)

License This Song

lyrics

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

This is a slice of social commentary from Paul Weller, lead singer and songwriter for the Jam. "The whole song is a comment or piss-take, whatever way you look at it, me being flippant about the class system," Weller explained in Daniel Rachel's The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters. "It keeps coming back to the man in the corner shop: the person underneath who's jealous because he thinks he's making all the money, but the man in the corner shop's struggling and the boss in the factory also gets his cigarettes from the corner shop. So it becomes a central focus people come back to, but then they're all equal in the eyes of the Lord, the church."

Comments: 3

Adam from LondonPatrick is correct for the first verse. It's the lyrics of the second verse which Rambo is commenting on, I believe, and his suggestion is not only correct in the logical sense, but also if you listen to the song - it's clear Paul is saying 'he is jealous is the man in the corner shop'.

The factory worker is jealous of the man in the corner shop, who is jealous of the boss of the factory; which puts the lie to the church's assertion that we're all created equal.
Patrick from LondonNo Rambo, it is the last customer who is jealous of the man in the corner shop, who in turn envies the boss from the factory.
Rambo from UkIts "he is jealous is the man in the corner shop" Not "Of" Otherwise lyrics wouldn't make sense

see more comments

More Songfacts:

Me And Julio Down By The SchoolyardPaul Simon

Mickey Mantle and John Madden both appear in the video for "Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard" by Paul Simon. Biz Markie and Big Daddy Kane do a rap intro.

Cake By The OceanDNCE

The song title "Cake By The Ocean" originated from DNCE's Swedish producers using the wrong name for the drink "Sex on the Beach."

The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)Betty Everett

After Cher revived "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)" in 1990, Salt-N-Pepa released "Shoop" and Whitney Houston had a #1 hit with "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)."

GypsyFleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac's "Gypsy" is about Stevie Nicks' best friend, who died of leukemia.

She BangsRicky Martin

The Ricky Martin song "She Bangs" found new life when William Hung performed it so horribly on a 2004 episode of American Idol that it went viral.

MMMbopHanson

Hanson's megahit "MMMbop," released when they were teenagers, is surprisingly profound. Zac Hanson told Songfacts it "represents a frame of time or the futility of life."