The Garden, a PJ Harvey Discussion Site

olivier101 wrote: It's goooooooood.... It's so good, I think in the future it will be considered among her most significant albums in retrospect. Who agrees?

I do
It's not only addressing the issues of war and ambiguity towards ones mother-country in an original way in terms of lyrics, but also using sampling and obvious references to songs and literature and thereby creating a quilt which in effect questions our globalised world of today and stresses the ambivalence with which we relate to said mother-country/-world...
- aaaaand they're great songs! (yet disturbing ... )

Colour of the Earth is one of my favorites on the record. It's so melancholy in a beautiful way. I still feel cheated that she didn't keep the sample in the background of Let England Shake.

persongirl wrote:I still feel cheated that she didn't keep the sample in the background of Let England Shake.

I swear I DO hear it anyway!!

Do any of you feel guilty about really enjoying this album, like rocking out to it, then realizing again the subject matter? I tend to do that from time to time. lol.

My song of the moment is "On Battleship Hill" - It's just so gorgeous and her voice is so lush. The whole song is.

I don't feel guilty, yet. May be that's because as a non native speaker I can ignore the lyrics more easily.

This song is also one of my current favs. The live version is great too. I like the part when Polly starts playing the acoustic guitar.

Pitifuljoy wrote:Do any of you feel guilty about really enjoying this album, like rocking out to it, then realizing again the subject matter? I tend to do that from time to time. lol.

My song of the moment is "On Battleship Hill" - It's just so gorgeous and her voice is so lush. The whole song is.

Yes! The songs are so gorgeous, but then the lyrics get in the way.

I'm thinking that the lyrics and their message are the reason she didn't even say hello or her usual "thank you very much" during the recent performances. I don't think she wanted to dilute the message for a second.

Polly_Jean_Cave wrote:Polly in this week's NME. In their Special on the NME awards:

Anyone checked this out yet? Anything worth seeing, reading or knowing?

I swear I DO hear it anyway!!

The xylophone tells lies.

Considering the dark content of the lyrics, it seems natural to feel depressed after listening to this album, but I'm not. I always feel invigorated, like I've just experienced a beautiful work of art.

The upbeat tone of the music and the lyrics are a good mixture. There's a feeling of acceptance that I really appreciate.

I still wonder why the dark lyrics were set in such up beat music - and Polly even said that she new from the start that the music had to be that way (forget where). But would it have worked otherwise?

I think she put it in that setting to counterbalance the weight of the words. if you had dark music with dark lyrics it would feel very heavy and dreary. by opening up the songs and giving them lighter music, it gives the lyrics more room to breathe and grow.

astroboy64 wrote:Considering the dark content of the lyrics, it seems natural to feel depressed after listening to this album, but I'm not. I always feel invigorated, like I've just experienced a beautiful work of art.

You probably mean art such as paintings and sculpture, but I feel that this IS a beautiful work of art.

Danish/German artist Christian Lemmerz made a terrifying exhibition of cruel deeds in our time cut in beautiful marble - in many ways similar to LES - unfortunately, I didn't get around to seeing it, but the reviews were all very positive.
(a few photos on this website: http://www.aros.dk/page.asp?objectid=2837&zcs=3B90D6DA911140908C271FC96AED1043)

yarnforhair wrote:I think she put it in that setting to counterbalance the weight of the words. if you had dark music with dark lyrics it would feel very heavy and dreary. by opening up the songs and giving them lighter music, it gives the lyrics more room to breathe and grow.

Sounds right. Who would keep listening to dark, dreary music AND matching lyrics
To have made such a well-balanced album, though: sheer genius
- needless to say in'ere, innit

Skladunk wrote:

yarnforhair wrote:I think she put it in that setting to counterbalance the weight of the words. if you had dark music with dark lyrics it would feel very heavy and dreary. by opening up the songs and giving them lighter music, it gives the lyrics more room to breathe and grow.

Sounds right. Who would keep listening to dark, dreary music AND matching lyrics
To have made such a well-balanced album, though: sheer genius
- needless to say in'ere, innit

that would flare up the whole "pj harvey: queen of mystery, darkness, and depression!!!" thing and that's old hat. been there done that haha