The Garden, a PJ Harvey Discussion Site

somme wrote:Guilty

Rules and regulations

There's a little figure
On the television
Scratching at the ground
By a pile of rice
Grainy little figures
On television screens
Waiting at the moment
Guilty! Guilty!

What's he doing with that stick?
Which one is guilty?

Power the the private eye (?)
The Grim Reaper
Greedy little suspects
Running for the shelter
The drones have come
Come in a thousands

But nobody asked us if we wanted them
If we wanted them
If we wanted them

Back in the bunker
In the Operations Room
A boy soldier is eating his lunch
While drones in their thousands
Built in Texas
To roaring voices
But nobody asked us

I seem to hear "by a pile of rags" and "grainy little suspects"

So I think the majority of the song is from the point of view of the military conducting the drone attacks, trying to work out which people are terrorists by use of the drones cameras. Basically trying to decide who they should bomb.

"What's he doing with that stick?" is basically just them saying, "is he a threat?"

Another powerful song. I wonder if, instead of b-sides she's going to release all of the other songs as singles. Maybe she thought they were too important to be hidden away as b-sides.

Mr. Badmouth wrote:

somme wrote:Guilty

Rules and regulations

There's a little figure
On the television
Scratching at the ground
By a pile of rice
Grainy little figures
On television screens
Waiting at the moment
Guilty! Guilty!

What's he doing with that stick?
Which one is guilty?

Power the the private eye (?)
The Grim Reaper
Greedy little suspects
Running for the shelter
The drones have come
Come in a thousands

But nobody asked us if we wanted them
If we wanted them
If we wanted them

Back in the bunker
In the Operations Room
A boy soldier is eating his lunch
While drones in their thousands
Built in Texas
To roaring voices
But nobody asked us

I seem to hear "by a pile of rags" and "grainy little suspects"

Rags would make more sense. And I'd just changed it to grainy as you typed.

So I'm pretty sure these are all right now, except the Waiting for the Moment line. Can't quite get it.

somme wrote:
Guilty

Rules and regulations

There's a little figure
On the television
Scratching at the ground
By a pile of rags
Grainy little figures
On the television screens
Weighing up the moment
Guilty! Guilty!

What's he doing with that stick?
Which one is guilty?

Power to the private eye
The Grim Reaper
Grainy little suspects
Running for the shelter
The drones have come
Come in the thousands

But nobody asked us if we wanted them
If we wanted them
If we wanted them

Back in the bunker
In the Operations Room
A boy soldier is eating his lunch
While drones in their thousands
Are built in Texas
To roaring voices
But nobody asked us
If we wanted them

somme wrote:So I'm pretty sure these are all right now, except the Waiting for the Moment line. Can't quite get it.

somme wrote:
Guilty

Rules and regulations

There's a little figure
On the television
Scratching at the ground
By a pile of rags
Grainy little figures
On the television screens
Waiting at the moment
Guilty! Guilty!

What's he doing with that stick?
Which one is guilty?

Power to the private eye
The Grim Reaper
Grainy little suspects
Running for the shelter
The drones have come
Come in the thousands

But nobody asked us if we wanted them
If we wanted them
If we wanted them

Back in the bunker
In the Operations Room
A boy soldier is eating his lunch
While drones in their thousands
Are built in Texas
To roaring voices
But nobody asked us
If we wanted them

Initially heard it as 'weighing up the moment'... may be wrong.

.

Does anyone know where it can be bought in FLAC/WAV in the US?

P J HARVEY
GUILTY

Rules and regulation
Rules and regulation
Rules and regulation

There's a little figure
On the television
Scratching at the ground
By a pile of rags
Grainy little figures
On television screens
Weighing up the moment
Guilty, Guilty

What's he doing with that stick?
What's he doing with that stick?
Which one is guilty?
Which one is guilty?

Power to the predator
The grim reaper
Greedy little suspects
Running for the shelter
Drones have come
Come in their thousands
Nobody asked us
If we wanted them

If we wanted them
If we wanted them

Back in the bunker
In the Operations Room
A bored soldier
Is eating his lunch
While drones in their thousands
Are unveiled in Texas
To roaring voices
But nobody asked us
If we wanted them

What's he doing with that stick?
What's he doing with that stick?
Which one is guilty?
Which one is guilty?

Power to the predator
The grim reaper
Greedy little suspects
Running for the shelter
Drones have come
Come in their thousands
But nobody asked us
If we wanted them

Nobody asked us
If we wanted them

jph wrote:P J HARVEY
GUILTY

Rules and regulation
Rules and regulation
Rules and regulation

There's a little figure
On the television
Scratching at the ground
By a pile of rags
Grainy little figures
On television screens
Weighing up the moment
Guilty, Guilty

What's he doing with that stick?
What's he doing with that stick?
Which one is guilty?
Which one is guilty?

Power to the predator
The grim reaper
Greedy little suspects
Running for the shelter
Drones have come
Come in their thousands
Nobody asked us
If we wanted them

If we wanted them
If we wanted them

Back in the bunker
In the Operations Room
A bored soldier
Is eating his lunch
While drones in their thousands
Are unveiled in Texas
To roaring voices
But nobody asked us
If we wanted them

What's he doing with that stick?
What's he doing with that stick?
Which one is guilty?
Which one is guilty?

Power to the predator
The grim reaper
Greedy little suspects
Running for the shelter
Drones have come
Come in their thousands
But nobody asked us
If we wanted them

Nobody asked us
If we wanted them

Thanks jph! Are these official? I don't see the lyrics on the official site yet.

xmasinspace wrote:Does anyone know where it can be bought in FLAC/WAV in the US?

So far I only found a lossless version at Qobuz… but they're only selling in a few European countries. It will probably pop up in other digital stores (7digital, Bleep, Boomkat) this Friday, the regular release day for popular tunes.

Genius song, really.

I like it more than a lot of the songs that made it on the album. It's a shame this one didn't make the cut

.

Kuk91 wrote:http://www.junodownload.com/products/pj ... 158978-02/

Juno also isn't selling this track to US citizens (due to copyright restrictions).

Donald Trump will probably fix this soon, he makes the best deals.