PJ Harvey's new one (1 Viewer)

[Cornu Ammonis]

Do the lyrics not piss anyone else off? Her voice does sound amazing on it though. Still not sure if I'm liking it as much as everyone else here seems to be. Will keep going with it.

I think the lyrics are fantastic on this one, the WW1 could have gone arseways on her but it works really well.

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

So we're all agreed that oh shit 's girlfriend is full of crap?

 

[oh shit]

mate you don't know the half of it

 

[JohnnyRaz]

are there any tour dates lined up for this one?

 

[Brush]

PJ Harvey, Sounds like a name a pluming contractor would have.

 

[JohnnyRaz]

or a well established gardening shop..

 

[ann post]

are there any tour dates lined up for this one?

loads, everywhere but ireland.

 

[philbrooks]

loads, everywhere but ireland.

Possibly a good idea her gig could have been a warm up for the Queen

 

[hermie]

I think the lyrics are fantastic on this one, the WW1 could have gone arseways on her but it works really well.

"What if I take my problem to the U-nited Nations" makes me cringe everytime. I am getting over it though because it is a really good album. My main bone of contention now is why it doesn't end with 'Hanging in the Wire'. Would've been a lovely closer, the last two tracks are weak.

 

[Lili Marlene]

That's a quote from Summertime Blues hermie


is it not?

 

[hermie]

That's a quote from Summertime Blues @hermie


is it not?

ah right yeah, she loves a good allusion ("gonna wash that man right outta my hair"). still annoying

 

[egg_]

I've listened to it about 20 times now, and I think I don't really like it

I'm finding the ww1 concept kinda irritating. We know it was a nasty business, Polly, but we have other shit to worry about now, unless you've got some fresh insights to share with us. Am I missing something?

 

[oh shit]

well yeah, there are still a good few wars on egg, and the relationship between england and her wars as fucked up today as it was 100 years ago. seeing this as some sort of irrelevant museum piece is, to my mind, spectacularly missing the point. it feels to me like the most relevant record in years. maybe that's just from being irish and living in england, but i don't think so.

 

[oh shit]

ah right yeah, she loves a good allusion ("gonna wash that man right outta my hair"). still annoying

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_and_the_Iraq_War

 

[ann post]

the split opinions on this have me interested now.

 

[egg_]

well yeah, there are still a good few wars on egg, and the relationship between england and her wars as fucked up today as it was 100 years ago. seeing this as some sort of irrelevant museum piece is, to my mind, spectacularly missing the point. it feels to me like the most relevant record in years. maybe that's just from being irish and living in england, but i don't think so.

Hmmm
It's not so much that it's about ww1, but that she's made an anti-war record containing lines like "I saw bodies falling like lumps of meat". That's just trite, and has put me off to the extent that I'm not inclined to listen to it again

 

[hugh]

I've listened to it about 20 times now, and I think I don't really like it

I'm finding the ww1 concept kinda irritating. We know it was a nasty business, Polly, but we have other shit to worry about now, unless you've got some fresh insights to share with us. Am I missing something?

I hear what you are saying Egg but I don't think she has to necessarily offer fresh insights in order for it to qualify as a decent piece of work. If she was a historian, then yes, but she's not. She has created a suite of songs around a theme and made a record that is thematically consistent without falling into the dreaded concept album trap. In terms of the broader historical understanding of WW1, and England's relationship with wars in general, I'm sure what she has done is not startlingly original (though to be honest I wouldn't be qualified to judge) but within the world of pop/rock/indie songwriting it would seem to me that it is. I think it's really well constructed and subtly alludes to all sorts of relevant stuff (e.g. the Jamaican "blood and fire" sample alluding to England's colonies and imperial wars).

Hmmm
It's not so much that it's about ww1, but that she's made an anti-war record containing lines like "I saw bodies falling like lumps of meat". That's just trite, and has put me off to the extent that I'm not inclined to listen to it again

Well, is it really? Comparing dead bodies to lumps of meat is a pretty common analogy, sure ...... but that is a song that is written from the point of view of a soldier (it's not Polly Harvey speaking) so taken that way it might be pretty authentic, no?

 

[ann post]

I like this album now, listened twice this morning. I agree a few lyrics are minor cringe but only in the context of other stuff.

 

[egg_]

I don't think she has to necessarily offer fresh insights in order for it to qualify as a decent piece of work ... that is a song that is written from the point of view of a soldier (it's not Polly Harvey speaking) so taken that way it might be pretty authentic, no?

Hmm hmmm
Maybe
I guess what it boils down to is it just doesn't move me, and I think the lyrics are the problem. Liked it for the first few listens, but then started to get put off

 

[hermie]

well yeah, there are still a good few wars on egg, and the relationship between england and her wars as fucked up today as it was 100 years ago. seeing this as some sort of irrelevant museum piece is, to my mind, spectacularly missing the point. it feels to me like the most relevant record in years. maybe that's just from being irish and living in england, but i don't think so.

Well to me, this is exactly what it is (not necessarily a bad thing). What am I missing? What are the key symbols that give it context? Why specifically WWI when other conflicts would possibly be better analogies to ongoing wars? And I'll probably be shot down for asking this but is Iraq really that burning an issue in 2011?

Seriously, I'd love to get more out of the lyrics because I'm really liking everything else about the record but I have to say I'm egg on this. It's not just the subject matter, a lot of the words/phrases are not only trite but often clunky as well and take away from otherwise really strong songs. In my opinion.