"Sorted for E's & Wizz" is a song by the English band Pulp. Taken from their UK number one album Different Class, it was released as a double A-side single with "Mis-Shapes" in September 1995 and reached number two on the UK Singles Chart as well as number six in Ireland. It was Pulp's second successive number-two UK hit in 1995.
Lyrics
The song describes going to a rave "somewhere in a field in Hampshire", taking drugs. "Getting sorted" means being adequately provided for; in this case, having procured drugs for a concert. The latter part of the song discusses the emptiness of the experience and the comedown the next morning:
The song was first performed at the Glastonbury Festival in 1995, where Cocker explained his inspiration. "'Sorted for E's and wizz' is a phrase a girl that I met in Sheffield once told me... and she went to see The Stone Roses at Spike Island and I said "what do you remember about it?". And she said "Well there were all these blokes walking around saying 'Is everybody sorted for E's and wizz?'" And that's all she remembered about it and I thought it was a good phrase."
Controversy
Before the release of the single, the Daily Mirror printed a front-page story headed "Ban This Sick Stunt" alongside a story by Kate Thornton which said the song was "pro-drugs" and called for the single to be banned. The pre-release single had an inlay which Thornton alleged showed how to make an origami 'wrap' or parcel with the intention of "offering teenage fans a DIY guide on hiding illegal drugs". In an interview with music paperNME on the same day, Thornton was quoted as saying: "We wanted to see the sleeve pulled and we thought it was a crusade we would take up single-handedly. I think the sleeve is something that will concern our readers, although it may not concern yours." The band agreed to change the artwork, while continuing to assert that Thornton had misinterpreted the meaning of both the sleeve art and the song's lyrics. Lead singerJarvis Cocker released a statement two days later saying: "...'Sorted' is not a pro-drugs song... Nowhere on the sleeve does it say you are supposed to put drugs in here but I 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." The Daily Mirror printed his statement, but he was unhappy that the front-page article written by Thornton contained the misquote "I don't want the sleeve to get in the way of what the record is saying, which is an anti-drugs message", which he felt oversimplified the song's meaning once again. He also criticised Thornton's decision to contact the father of a victim of an ecstasy-related death for a response. The Daily Mirror campaign continued, publishing their readers' response to a poll to have the song itself banned. The original sleeve was replaced with a plain white sleeve once the initial pressing had sold out.
Release
Pre-release orders reached well over 200,000, even before its Monday 25 September release according to Nick Rowe, marketing director for Island Records, the biggest pre-release total in the label's history to that date. By 25 September, this had increased to 400,000 copies. The high expectations of the single's success prompted bookmaker William Hill to refuse taking bets on the single charting at number one. Reviewing the single's other A-side "Mis-Shapes" in 13 September issue of Smash Hits, Mark Sutherland wrote: "Unlike Common People, nothing short of brazen horsefixing will prevent it reaching Number One." Although the single had higher first-week sales than "Common People" and was the band's closest shot at the number one spot, the single charted at number two behind Simply Red's "Fairground", which had a lead of more than 20,000 copies.
