History Music / PJHarvey

* UncommonTime: ''Rid Of Me'' has plenty of songs in uncommon time; "Missed" is in 11/4 (6+5) with brief sections of 4/4, "Hook" has 5/4 verses and 4/4 choruses, and "Man-Size" is ''mostly'' in 11/4 (3+3+3+2) before shifting into a bridge which goes something along the lines of 4/4 > 7/4 > 9/4 > 7/4 > 9/4 > 7/4 > 9/4 > 4/4.

Throughout her career, Harvey has collaborated with several other musicians, most of them from the AlternativeRock scene, such as: Music/NickCave (contributing vocals to two songs on ''Music/MurderBallads''), ''Tricky'' (a song on ''Angels With Dirty Faces''), the band Music/{{Sparklehorse}} (lending guitar, bass and backing vocals to two songs from ''It's a Wonderful Life''), Music/MarianneFaithfull (she produced, wrote and performed on five songs from ''Before the Poison''), Music/MarkLanegan, [[Music/{{Radiohead}} Thom Yorke]] (who sang lead vocals on "This Mess We're In" and provided backing vocals for two other songs from ''Music/StoriesFromTheCityStoriesFromTheSea''), and Music/{{Moonshake}} (providing guest vocals to the songs "Your Last Friend In This Town" and "Just A Working Girl") for their sophomore record ''The Sound Your Eyes Can Follow''). She has also created two albums in collaboration with John Parish, ''Dance Hall at Louse Point'' and ''A Woman a Man Walked By''.

Throughout her career, Harvey has collaborated with several other musicians, most of them from the AlternativeRock scene, such as: Music/NickCave (contributing vocals to two songs on ''Music/MurderBallads''), ''Tricky'' (a song on ''Angels With Dirty Faces''), the band Music/{{Sparklehorse}} (lending guitar, bass and backing vocals to two songs from ''It's a Wonderful Life''), Music/MarianneFaithfull (she produced, wrote and performed on five songs from ''Before the Poison''), Music/MarkLanegan and [[Music/{{Radiohead}} Thom Yorke]] (who sang lead vocals on "This Mess We're In" and provided backing vocals for two other songs from ''Music/StoriesFromTheCityStoriesFromTheSea''). She has also created two albums in collaboration with John Parish, ''Dance Hall at Louse Point'' and ''A Woman a Man Walked By''.

* CoverVersion: "Music/Highway61Revisited" by Music/BobDylan, "Is That All There Is?" by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, "Wang Dang Doodle" by Music/HowlinWolf. There's also the version she did of "[[Music/TheRollingStones Satisfaction]]" along with Music/{{Bjork}}.

* NiceHat: As of ''Let England Shake'' PJ has been wearing a [[https://i2.wp.com/www.fantasticmag.es/wordpress2/wp-content/archivos/2015/10/PJ-Harvey.jpg?fit=750%2C600&ssl?t=1303160971&s=4 raven headdress]]... Thingy at concerts.

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: She switches between AlternativeRock, AvantGardeMusic, CountryMusic, {{Blues}} and {{Pop}}.

* SopranoAndGravel: her duets with both [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZCdFq5Zw8Y Björk]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO9tA8-kbk8 Thom Yorke]] with Polly being the gravel part to both songs.

* ObsessionSong: "Legs."

[[caption-width-right:350:She's one big queen.]]

* NiceHat: As of ''LetEnglandShake'' PJ has been wearing a [[https://i2.wp.com/www.fantasticmag.es/wordpress2/wp-content/archivos/2015/10/PJ-Harvey.jpg?fit=750%2C600&ssl?t=1303160971&s=4 raven headdress]]... Thingy at concerts.

* NiceHat: As of ''Music/LetEnglandShake'' PJ has been wearing a [[https://i2.wp.com/www.fantasticmag.es/wordpress2/wp-content/archivos/2015/10/PJ-Harvey.jpg?fit=750%2C600&ssl?t=1303160971&s=4 raven headdress]]... Thingy at concerts.

** The ending of "Rid of Me".

* NiceHat: As of ''Music/LetEnglandShake'' PJ has been wearing a [[http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2011/04/18/img_34811_wide.jpg?t=1303160971&s=4 raven headdress]]... Thingy at concerts.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/780_0008_5475441_92172f8178d96a79ed52a44441efd678_4.jpg]]

* WarIsHell: One of the primary themes of "Let England Shake", as well as "The Hope Six Demolition Project" and subsequent work.

* WarIsHell: One of the primary themes of ''Music/LetEnglandShake.''

* NewSoundAlbum: Every one of them.

Harvey, Ellis and Vaughan signed to Island Records and commenced work on their follow-up album with the help of RecordProducer Steve Albini, hired specifically because he produced Music/ThePixies' ''Music/SurferRosa'', an album and band Harvey is a huge fan of. The resulting album, ''Rid of Me'', enjoyed critical acclaim for its harsh, grungy sound and its intense songwriting. Ellis and Vaughan left the band after its release and Harvey continued as a solo artist. Her solo career has largely been defined by experimentation, alternating between blues-influenced guitar-heavy angry PunkRock, catchy pop-rock and subdued, experimental material, all tied together by her darkly humorous lyrics and theatrical performances. She herself has declared that ''when I'm working on a new record, the most important thing is to not repeat myself''.

'''Polly Jean Harvey''' (born 9 October 1969) is an English musician hailing from Corscombe, Dorset, known for her darkly humorous, theatrical AlternativeRock sound.

Throughout her career, Harvey has collaborated with several other musicians, most of them from the AlternativeRock scene, such as: Music/NickCave (contributing vocals to two songs on ''Music/MurderBallads''), Music/{{Tricky}} (a song on ''Angels With Dirty Faces''), the band Music/{{Sparklehorse}} (lending guitar, bass and backing vocals to two songs from ''It's a Wonderful Life''), Music/MarianneFaithfull (she produced, wrote and performed on five songs from ''Before the Poison''), Music/MarkLanegan and [[Music/{{Radiohead}} Thom Yorke]] (who sang lead vocals on "This Mess We're In" and provided backing vocals for two other songs from ''Music/StoriesFromTheCityStoriesFromTheSea''). She has also created two albums in collaboration with John Parish, ''Dance Hall at Louse Point'' and ''A Woman a Man Walked By''.

* CoverVersion: "Music/Highway61Revisited" by Music/BobDylan, "Is That All There Is?" by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, "Wang Dang Doodle" by Music/HowlinWolf. There's also the version she did of "[[Music/RollingStones Satisfaction]]" along with Music/{{Bjork}}.

* NiceHat: as of ''Music/LetEnglandShake'' PJ has been wearing a [[http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2011/04/18/img_34811_wide.jpg?t=1303160971&s=4 raven headdress]]....thingy at concerts.
* ObsessionSong: "Legs".
* OffingTheOffspring: "Down by the Water".
* OneWomanSong: "Angelene", "My Beautiful Leah" and "A Perfect Day, Elise", all from ''Music/IsThisDesire?''.
* OneWomanWail: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWghMNiJVsY The Mountain]]
* RadioVoice: Used on the first verse of "Highway 61 Revisited" from ''Music/RidOfMe'', as if to trick the listener into turning up the volume. The second verse, [[JumpScare not so much]].
* ShoutOut: This happens all over ''Music/IsThisDesire'', with several songs containing lyrics that allude to various works of fiction. "The Wind" and "Catherine" are both about St. Catherine of Alexandria, the former about her life and the latter from the perspective of the emperor Maxentius, who offered to marry her and beheaded her when she refused.
** "Take your [[Literature/{{Carrie}} dirty pillows]] away from me!" in "Sheela-na-gig".
* SillyLoveSongs: "It's You," "This Is Love," among '''many''' others
* SingleStanzaSong: "No Child of Mine"
* SlutShaming: "Sheela-na-gig" is about being slut-shamed by a would-be suitor.
* SopranoAndGravel: her duets with both [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZCdFq5Zw8Y Björk]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO9tA8-kbk8 Thom Yorke]] with Polly being the gravel part to both songs
** Her duet with Music/NickCave also, where she was the soprano.

* WarIsHell: One of the primary themes of ''Music/LetEnglandShake''.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/PJ_Harvey_3.jpg