11. PJ HarveyA Woman A Man Walked By
I’ve noticed on Polly’s albums there is often one song that gives a hint to where she’s headed. This song is a clear pointer to Let England Shake. Obviously lyrically because it’s about a soldier, but also the directness. That mixture of the guilt, horror and helplessness of war she dealt with so brilliantly was all hinted at – or stated even – in this song.
I really felt it was an outlier [on the album]. Lyrically it was very different – the rest of the songs were much more abstract – she was really using it as an opportunity to experiment with different directions whereas this was very much about a very specific thing and a very specific feeling. I loved the fact there was a huge emotional weight to the lyric in what was quite a light, eerie-sounding song.
