The Violent Desire of PJ Harvey's "Rid Of Me" | New British Canon
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 20 июн 2024
- The first 1000 people to use the link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare Premium Membership: skl.sh/trashtheory08211
Before PJ Harvey was a solo artist, they were the best rock band Britain had produced since The Clash. Amongst the shoegazers, janglepoppers and the last strains of baggy, PJ Harvey were Britain’s shining blues-punk hope, showing that we had alternative music just as vis-ceral, vital and loud as American grunge. With their first album, the three-piece stampeded their way into the ample praises of NME, Spin and Rolling Stone. But their 1993 major label debut stretched the limits of how violent, uncomfortable and darkly humorous a mainstream album could be; its title-track the unlikely duality of unforgiving fury and unrepentant desire. This is New British Canon and this is the story of “Rid Of Me.”
#PJHarvey #AlternativeRock #MusicDocumentary
This video is sponsored by Skillshare.
Fact-checking by Serenity Autumn.
Soundtrack
Luar - Citrine ( / luarbeats )
Jesse Gallagher - The Golden Present
B-Side - Pen Unubis
Luar - Anchor ( / luarbeats )
00:00 Introduction
01:17 The Origin of PJ Harvey
04:06 Album Number One: "But You Leave Me Dry"
09:17 "Relationships Don't Just End, They Splatter"
16:45 "Lick My Legs, I'm On Fire/Lick My Legs of Desire"
You can also follow me here:
Twitter: / trashtheory
Facebook: / trashtheoryyt
Or support me on Patreon:
/ trashtheory
The first 1000 people to use the link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare Premium Membership: skl.sh/trashtheory08211
Trash Theory playlists - Spotify: tinyurl.com/yxp32pjf Deezer: tinyurl.com/y2mdp8h2
Also if you want to help out, here's my patreon link: patreon.com/trashtheory
Hey, pleeeease do a Fiona Apple one :)
The line "don't you wish you never met her" also turns up in Placebo's song "Birck Shithouse", and has that same kind of rushing energy.
Can you do a video on Living Colors - Cult of Personality
Recon Boy George/Culture club wiuld make a good video
Hope 6 is amazing,
From Let England Shake.; Bitter Branches sounds like it could have been a Nirvana Song
PJ new LP 2023
I saw PJ Harvey at Slim's in San Francisco in August of 1992. I had never heard any of her music but she got a positive writeup in one of the local alternative weeklies and I liked the opening act (Her Majesty the Baby) so I decided to check it out. They opened with "Rid of Me" and the tension built and built. When they exploded into the chorus, the audience exploded with them into a leaping, writhing mass of bodies, and when it was over I said "WHAT was THAT!?" out loud to no one in particular. It was one of the most thrilling, mind-blowing experiences I've ever had at a live show.
That song did it for me too, but not live. I was in a thrift shop around 1993 and Rid of Me started playing. After a minute I went over to my girlfriend elsewhere in the store and said "Are you hearing this?" She said yes. We asked at the cash what they were playing, and immediately went across the street to a record store.
She's an amazing performer in many ways. I don't anyone who compares with her power.
Loved Slim's!
So you went to a show with a bunch of fans...and you didn't know the music and were surprised that the fans were fans. Cool story.
@@spencexxx Nope, but thanks for playing, Professor.
So she's the daughter of a stonemason and a sculptor. No wonder she went into Rock music. :P (i'll show myself out)
Nice.
😂😁
Lol
Wooooooooo! Get back here!
To be honest, I thought of Pulp's "Common People" when I heard that factoid.
I remember listening to Rid of Me at 15 and thinking nothing will ever be this hardcore.
Don't get the love for her but she is so charisma and pretty. Rid of Me is Brilliant and Good Fortune takes a happier view of life. Her two best songs by far as the rest are just good or OK - notice they don't play much of the other songs by Rid of Me. It a long flight to Neil Young, Dylan, Sex Pistols, The Replacements and even Chrissie Hynde is better with much bigger output of good songs, but Harvey captured greatness once in a while.
Exactly! This is more Punk then anything I've ever heard untill now.
I'd like to thank Beavis and Butthead for introducing a very young kid hungry for new music to PJ Harvey in the mid-90s. I learned about so many great bands through that show.
Are you man-sized, Beavis?
I learned about her through that show as a 20something. Ended up buying "To Bring You My Love." Classic album. I want to check out "Rid of Me" after streaming this. Shawn R., Mo-Mutt Music/Sacred & Secular
That is where I finally leaned who sung that 'Japanese song about Twiggy' I heard on college radio, and I have been a better person since.
@@blacktionjackson7133 Wasn't it, "Are you a Maneater, Beavis?" XD They were watching that Hall & Oates video.
@@RocketboyX pizzacato 5. Great 90s j pop
A mate in high school lent me his CD of 'To bring you my love'. I listened to it once and thought 'wtf did I just listen to?'. Then I listened again. A couple of weeks later, I gave him his CD back, then went out and bought my own copy along with 'Dry' and 'Rid of Me'. Been a fan ever since.
When you said she had been offered a place to study sculpture at St Martin’s College , all I could think was “She came from Greece she had a thirst for knowledge, she studied sculpture at Saint Martin's College…”
He had to start it somewhere.
alone in my room, I said "really?" aloud.
No she came from Dorset 😂😂😂
Came to comment this hahaha
That's exactly what I thought! Pretty sure he did it on purpose 😁
I just discovered P.J. Harvey and when I listened to Rid of Me (after hearing Down by the water and Bad Fortune) i felt absolutely captivated. It made me become obsessed. I can't get rid of her now.
Congratulations! I hope you get to see her perform live too.
I'm not too big a fan of rock shows (the records are usually better) but she absolutely brings it. Visceral, expansive performer.
It's Good Fortune 💗
Enjoy. She will be with you for the rest of your life. I've been listen to her since 1994. Never gets old. Still have a PJ Harvey folder on my phone and car playlist.
The last line is gospel. "After she gets her hooks in you, you will never get rid of her" She has no equal!
agreed. i often wonder why she isn't lauded more often. "dry, "rid of me", "to bring you my love", "uh huh her", "white chalk", and "let england shake" are masterpieces in music while her other albums as well as her collaborations with john parish are just as essential. i'm still waiting for the next record and hopefully a tour in the u.s. "rid of me" is a record that is just RAW as i love that production and how hard those drums sound with harvey being the center of the storm. it is true, she has no equal and everyone else who has arrived afterwards aren't even on her level.
To this day I still listen to "Rid of Me" and "4 Track Demos". They are amongst my favorite of all time. The arrangements alone have me ill with envy and yet at the same time just brimming with inspiration.
Check out dry demos
holy shit is this real I’ve been wanting this video forever this is the best day of my life
My thoughts exactly
thinking the same.
Christ…..I hope life improves my friend….
So she came from Dorset and could've studied sculpture at St Martin's college?
Right? I had to relisten a couple of times to make sure I was getting the pulp reference
@@tomthi3553n , common people :-)
Topic for video ?
I think jarvis can be topic for series of them
@@dodotheripper11 They already did used Pulp's "Common People" in a video.
@@thecosmicblueautie cool I must find it ,thanks
I was a baby when my mom would play this album. It's in my DNA and I love it.
Is This Desire and White Chalk are probably my favorite albums of hers, but all of them are very good. Dry and Rid of Me are obviously fantastic, but they are definitely very separate from the rest of her work, she totally abandons that sound and reinvents herself with each subsequent album. Extremely underrated and talented artist.
Is This Desire is so underrated. What a great album.
Is This Desire? had a very mainstream sounding track, ‘Perfect Day Elise’ and then very much abstract ones.
I had listened to her music since 1993 by that point, and she created a different fanbase with ‘Is This Desire?’, with many first finding her, and many fans my age disliking it.
I thought it was great, even songs I didn’t care for, because she changed so much, while still being very much PJ Harvey songs. I remember a lot of friends saying it wasn’t easy to listen to. To which I’d laugh, make an elevator music joke, then tell them that’s what some of our friends who didn’t like her first albums said.
She has made more music I just don’t listen to since 1999, yet I’ll always be interested in what she does next.
I put her up with kanye and andre 3000 as the best songwriters I've ever heard. Man sized, dress, sheela na gig shaped my own feminism so much. I saw her at a show once, just sitting there and i thought about what i would say. I didn't say anything, couldn't put her impact on me into words.
@@Missjunebugfreakher greatest album
I've always loved the vocal range of PJ Harvey
The greatest, gnarliest guitar tone ever committed to tape is on Rid Of Me. Gretsch Broadkaster 7609 and a Boss DS-1. Stereo amp rig. Nothing else like it.
Polly’s playing & time signatures, humorous lyrics, and Rob Ellis’s intricate & thunderous drumming make this album her crowning achievement.
Your statement is, near enough by the criteria you've set yourself (i.e. semi-hollow, stereo rig), incorrect. Geordie Walker is still making music, and Killing Joke were going when PJ Harvey was just 10 years old. Albini is definitely influenced by KJ (and it'd be no great surprise if PJH is, too) and I doubt he'd argue that he'd bettered the sound here than on many of the KJ albums.
@@_Stroda I don’t know what you’re talking about. Is there a specific album or songs I should check out that feature a semi-hollow guitar that sounds as awesome as Polly’s on Rid Of Me? I’d love to hear more of it. From what I’ve heard and seen of Killing Joke, Geordie’s guitar really doesn’t sound anything like the 7609. The ES295 is a hollow body, not semi hollow, with P-90s. The 7609 has very hot Dimarzio humbuckers. He seems to use the bridge pickup, too, whereas Polly always used the middle setting. There is no comparison re: tone. All of the Rid Of Me guitar sound comes from the 7609 and Polly’s setup and playing, not Albini. I wish more hard rock musicians used that guitar, but it’s kept somewhat as a secret for whatever reason. Probably a good thing, because I was able to buy one last year at a reasonable price.
I think she is underated as a guitarist, those riffs are killer.
@@slacktoryrecords4193 It's a second guess 'lil' Stevie' party! call the sound police.
50 ft Queenie electrified me in 1993 when I saw it on MTV. Before it, music was just a background thing, and afterwards I was actively interested in music.
I shat my pants the first time I heard 'rid of me'. I must've been 11 or 12, was in my grandmothers house and I had this CD borrowed from a friend of mine. It was a terrifying experience. then I tried again, felt this deep discomfort and kept coming back to it in secret in an attempt to unveil the stranglehold it had on me.
I will never forget the years of late 80s early 90s while in college making that weekly trip to that record store in the cramped upstairs of that non-descript house a block off campus flipping through CDs discovering (new or new to me) music like throwing muses, Soundgarden, PJ Harvey, the Smiths, Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins, De La Soul, the Breeders, and so many lesser known bands. So many fun import copies and bootlegs.
Thanks for posting. Every PJ Harvey album deserves a "New British Canon" episode.
I believe her and Beefheart became friends and she was one of his few connections or avenues of communication with the outside world after he retired from public life.
Hard to believe Beefheart would be friends with anyone.
She never met him but they were firm phone friends.
I bought Rid Of Me in 1993 and I have listened to it ever since. A true classic!
The most intriguing thing about PJ’s music is that not only every of her albums could be a canon but a lot of her songs individually as well. Thanks for this video
Actually, my favorite PJ Harvey period is the "To Bring You My Love" album. What an amazing record! There are several songs from it I'd love to cover. We'll see if I get to do that and do the material justice. Shawn R., Mo-Mutt Music/Sacred & Secular
No one cares.
To bring you my love is one of my favorite albums of all time. It's funny because I have the same dilemma. I've been wanting to cover something for a while and PJ Harvey keeps popping up along with nine inch nails, probably something from Pretty Hate Machine or The Fragile, Alone by Colin Newman, Botanica de los Angeles by Xiu Xiu, or even Breadcrumb Trail by Slint. It seems to me that Meet Ze Monster or Working for the Man would be the way to go for my style. I make mostly electronic music but I've been missing playing guitar lately and singing. Good luck on your decision. It's definitely a tough one.
Same, that's my favorite.
That and ‘Stories from The City’ are stellar records
@@louduva9849 *( "ABOUT-YOU" ! )
Have we discussed Polly answering the ad for a vocalist on the back of Spiderland not knowing Slint had already split up?
I only got into PJ Harvey as an adult. I completely slept on her in the '90s. She's great.
Now you're breaking out the heavy artillery.. this siren still calls me to the rocky shore.. loved her in 97 in ATL concert for the ages dear!!!💋💋 ...or was it 98?? The blurry 90s 🖤
I wish I could be there and drop an E on PJ Harvey Trio’s concerts in the 90’s, during their tours during those first three LPs. Those pills were great in 1990. 8-)
We'd been through the music scene from the late 60s and 70s and we could see just how good PJ was from 92/93 onwards, good music and artistry is eternal. It just takes a lot more for it to surface these days.
@@damirplicanic4190 lol yeah you know
Seeing PJ in the 90s is a badge of honor. Listening to her was like looking into a garage sale photo story album through her eyes & breath.
She is criminally under-rated.
Congratulations 👏 👏 👏 You made the 1st of the "underrated" comments.
@@firstnamelastname59 underrated reply 😃
How anybody could be concerned with oasis and blue while this existed is beyond me
I always felt PJ Harvey was OVER-rated, and based on several interviews given to various outlets in the early 90's PJ herself felt the same way.
@@Pharto_Stinkus At that time PJ stood out especially compared to Courtney Love who was MTV overhyped.
My favourite artist ever.
RIP Steve Albini. One of the best albums of the 1990s, and ever.
PJ is a queen!
This video is long overdue. I love PJ Harvey. Rid of me is just one of those records that once you listen to it, you will never put it down for the life of you . It draws you in, uneases you and leaves you reeling for more. There is a reason why Elvis Costello and Courtney Love have shown so much praise towards it.
Elvis Costello has said bad things about it. He can’t stand Albini’s sound. He said he prefers the demos. He’s a nonce!
@@slacktoryrecords4193 tell us what you really feel next time
@@slacktoryrecords4193 costello is a legend you fool
@@richardwellend3806 I realize that. This Year’s Model is a great album. He’s just wrong about the sound of Rid Of Me. Take it easy.
@@slacktoryrecords4193 he is indeed wrong about the sound of rid of me, which in my opinion is pj Harvey's second best work after white chalk. But no nonce is he, my man Elvis is an amazing artist with an incredible back catalog
didnt nirvana members say they'd only reform if she was the lead member lol
@@grievuspwn4g3 I doubt that one in particular because Courtney also adores PJ Harvey. I don’t think PJ is super into the idea.
They did and she said no 😂
Lol it would be a good fit
No way that’s wild I didn’t know that 😭
I listened to Dry and especially Rid of Me separated only by the Jesus Lizard and Pixies for about a year of commuting between clients. It was triumphant!
I have known about PJ Harvey for a decade, but, never took the time to explore her work until today. Thank you, Trash Theory
All these years later, Rid of Me remains Harvey's most important work. Stripped back, urgent and incredible. One of the great records of all time.
Yes I bought it at 14 and it shocked but intrigued me still love it to this day.
How is Rid of Me any more important than all of her other acclaimed albums? What makes this one so important?
@Helmuth-Von-Moltke-The-Elder It's raw and completely unhinged. Nothing she produced before or after hits you as hard. Only my opinion though. Welcome to your own.
Forever those two first records will be amongst some of my favorite alternative albums ever. I love the challenge they put on the listener, you need to possess complete security from within
Being a huge fan living in Indiana I was stunned to see she was opening up for Live in Indianapolis. I immediately put in for the best tickets available. One of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Oh yeah Live was good too I guess.
Ridiculously underrated musician. Best British band/artist of the 90's (tied with massive attack)
I had THE biggest adult crush on PJ Harvey in the early '90s for *Dry* and *Rid of Me.* Smart, edgy, uncompromising, and insightful: a sort of female Bob Dylan. Saw her live twice... and then I got married, we had kids, and my days of being hip ended.
I'm guessing she was the muse for the Pulp lyrics "She studied sculpture at st. martins college".
I was lucky enough to see the the trio at the Warfield Theater in SF for Rid of Me, and that show along with the record remains one of my favorite rock experiences of the 90's.
Would love to watch a similar essay from you on Róisín Murphy’s and Moloko’s careers!
I'd love this!
Murphy is another underappreciated genius. Definitely worthy of analysis.
I second this!
Yes
And Turqouise Carcrash The
This song was my top song for 2020 on Spotify. From memory, I managed to listen to it over 400 times during a week in early lockdown because I just had it on repeat for days.
I simply LOVE this Woman. Sorry, I mean, this Goddess. Her rawness and style, to this day, remains unparalleled...
Excellent video! Rid of me is mixed so quietly it actually forces you to get up & turn up the volume, then when it kicks in it’s a shock to the system. My favourite on the album is “missed” I think you can really hear the early post rock/post hardcore influences in there & the guitars just sound incredible.
One of the best on the album for sure. The guitar tone on the chorus is sick. Also another great example of her odd and mixed time signatures. 6/8 + 5/8…
I can’t believe you actually made this video, and I’m so glad you did! Thank you. 😊😊😊
love your videos and analysis so much! It’s all so interesting and I love listening to artists you share that I wouldn’t have found on my own! thanks for your hard work and dedication !!
Finally a video essay about PJ Harvey!! Thank you! 🙏🏻
4 Track Demos has always been my favorite . I’ve picked up the recent Island releases of the Demos for Dry, and , To Bring You My Love, and they are simply amazing. I wish that Dance Hall at Louse Point ( with John Parrish ) received more attention because it deserves recognition if not just for it being sung in her most desperate, primal, animal voice. PJ Harvey is that ultra rare breed, a total original. I simply could not have found a better female role model to look up to while growing up.
Thank u so much for making this
"Ecstasy" is a song (and a recording) I return to often for comfort and discomfort.
One of the only artist to emerge in the immediate aftermath of grunge who had instant cred
Rid of Me album is classic. You can hear fingers sliding over the guitar cords getting in position for the next note. PJ coughing in the background. Drums echo as if you are in the room for the practice session. A surreal feeling listing to that album. I remember trying to study the lyrics from bring you my love album like they were poems. Teclo and Bring you my love were memorizing songs. Who the F*ck from Uh Huh Her was another classic. Incredible artist. Her songs haunt me to this day.
Please do a video on Happy Mondays, Stone Roses and the whole Baggy/Madchester scene. Pretty Pleeeeasee....
I second that
I remember seeing the Rid of Me cover art, and having heard of PJ, but for some reason, I never picked it up at the time. This still baffles me as I usually sought out music like this.
It was only a few years ago when I finally started exploring her music, and wow. I feel a bit dumb that I didn’t do that sooner.
As much as I like her early raw music, I really like her recent work. Seeing what she evolved into, musically, emotionally, and the embedded social concerns of “England” and “Demolition Project” puts her right at the top of my favorite artist list...
Thanks for this video.
She’s just the best! Unparalleled 🖤💋
That was so good! You always deliver great story telling and context about the songs. I bought “Rid of Me” when it came out and it influenced me.
One of my very favorite albums. Thanks for doing this one.
Her anger works well for boys in bad situations too. Its a special talent she has. She writes from many perspectives.
Enjoying your deep dives into music. I'll be looking forward to you unpacking the mythmakers of legend Skinny Puppy.
Nothing fills my heart with more 90s nostalgic joy than a flash of a Trace Elliot bass amp.
Thank you for covering PJ Harvey at last! Sonically supreme in every way.
Thank you so much for this video. PJ Harvey is my patroness and this song has no equal in the history of music.
This is my favorite music YT channel. Thanks for the awesome content
Thanks for the great quality doc. Discovered him with Xtal, like lots of people, and now digging Warp compilations. Definitely my favorite musician alive.
I love your channel! So much to discover and learn. Thanks a lot!
I have a framed cover of Q magazine from May 1994 - That all three cover 🌟 have ✍ - Tori Amos , Bjork & PJ Harvey 😀
i love this channel, some of the best music docs i've ever seen, keep it up man
Great retrospective.... Thanx!!!
oh my god! I can't believe somebody did a video about my fav singer and my fav record. thank you sooooo much!
Oooooh I been waitin for this one
Thank you for this. I have loved Poly Jean's music since Dry. The entire Rid of Me album totally blew me away (and still does).
Excellent travail - merci.
I was trying to think of who the wilder more discordant vocals Harvey did reminded me of, and finally it came to me, Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth. Particularly on the song in question here. And that's not meant to be anything down on her regarding that, I think they are both great.
Yeah, especially when it’s a repeated phrase. The voices are very different, but the intent and delivery are there.
I love Polly jean so much. Thank you for making this. I learned a lot that I didn’t know before!
Gracias Trash Theory, gran video
Thanks For Taking the Time.
New LP Out - I’ve been with her since she began, still loving this Queen hardcore!
I have chills everytime I remember I love her.
Mate, this video was excellent. Thanks 🙏
Thank you for this! This is my favorite PJ album and definitely an album I listened to a lot after my first major break up.
This is still one of the greatest major label releases EVER. This is a killer album start to finish truly one of the last great albums as a piece of work
She is simply amazing. Yet another cracking video 👍🏻
Saw her on 21. Februar 2011 in Admiralspalast in Berlin...it was the BEST concert I ever went to this day. I was speechless and overwhelmed with her creativity and performance. I love her so much.
OH my GOODNESS!!! THANK YOU This is fantastic!!! xoxo
PJ Harvey is a fucking legend
Fantastic as always. Great piece on an artist impossible not to adore. With content like this, you wont be rid of me 😊
awesome video ! thanks
If I would have an idol? It definitely would be PJ Harvey. I love her work!❤️
Met polly in a Glasgow bar in 1995 when we’d just signed to an indie label, she was wonderful…our guitarist got on very well with her and she gave him her number….which he subsequently lost as he got soooo drunk and we didn’t see her again until two years later….talented and funny….
Your guitarist, don't take this the wrong way, is an idiot.
@@dirkturtle3354 sadly I can only agree!!!! He still can’t live it down….hahahaha😂✌️, oh what could have been!😩🤘
My first PJ Harvey song was “Down by the River”. Then I had “Come here Billy”. I was mesmerized.
Saw PJ Harvey around the release of Rid of Me' in Birmingham...despite heckling from the crowd Polly refused to take off her shades. Am incredible band, tight as hell and raw. They played for an hour and left. I was already transfixed after 'Dry'.
You’ve just made my day, Trash Theory! Love me some PJ. ❤️🖤 God, I would’ve loved to have heard her sing “Milk It”…
Great job. Seriously. Nice one. You really did justice to PJH.
PJ is such a contradiction. A soft-spoken diminutive farm girl, but on stage she is a 10 foot tall fire breathing vixen. Wildly talented, bawdy, yet still classy. If Audrey Hepburn and Prince had a love child...
Amazing video!! Please make more PJ content!! To bring you my love next!!!
Thank you for one more great and insightful video (let alone how well researched and presented it is, as usual).
The Durutti Column next?
Thank you very much!
I love PJ Harvey so much!!! I admit that I haven't heard a lot of her newest music but up until A Woman A Man.. I bought all her albums. I think she is so talented & so beautiful. The song Legs is so freaking amazing. She's a treasure.