Line #18 Music/Dry


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d6e98e7c5c8af2a3342f0cc4651b3cf8.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: ''Dreamy dreamy music, make it alright. Music play.'']]
3
4	''Dry'' is the 1992 debut album by Music/PJHarvey. It is widely received positive acclaim among critics and quickly became a cult hit in the AlternativeRock circuit, thanks to hit singles like "Dress" and "Sheela-Na-Gig".
5
6	Music/KurtCobain placed it at #16 in his personal list of his 50 favorite albums of all time.
7
8	[[AC:Tracklist:]]
9
10	# "Oh My Lover" (3:57)
11	# "O Stella" (2:36)
12	# "Dress" (3:16)
13	# "Victory" (3:16)
14	# "Happy and Bleeding" (4:50)
15	# "Sheela-Na-Gig" (3:11)
16	# "Hair" (3:45)
17	# "Joe" (2:33)
18	# "Plants and Rags" (4:09)
19	# "Fountain" (3:52)
20	# "Water" (4:32)
21
22	----
23	!! ''Gonna take my tropes to anyone who cares:''
24	* AddedAlliterativeAppeal:
25	--> '' Look at these my '''r'''uby-'''r'''ed '''r'''uby lips ''
26	* AsTheGoodBookSays:
27	** "Heaven" refers to Adam and Eve.
28	--> ''She burst, dropped off''
29	--> ''Picked the fruit and realize I'm naked too''
30	--> ''So cover my body''
31	** "Victory"
32	--> ''Angel at my table, God in my car''
33	** "Water"
34	--> ''Walking on water for years''
35	** "Hair" refers to Literature/SamsonAndDelilah.
36	--> ''Samson the strength that's in your arms''
37	--> ''Oh, to be your stunning bride''
38	--> ''Samson, your hair glistening''
39	--> ''(...) He said: "Wait, Delilah, my babe''
40	--> ''"You lied in my face, you cut off my hair, you lied in my bed''
41	** "O Stella" namedrops "Stella Maris", which is Latin for "Star of the Sea" and refers to the Virgin Mary.
42	--> ''O stella maris, you're my star''
43	* BreakupSong: "Sheela-na-Gig"
44	--> ''Better wash that man right out of my hair''
45	--> ''Just like the first time, said you didn't care''
46	--> ''Gonna take my hips to a man who cares''
47	* ButNowIMustGo: Which may be a BreakUpSong, but the lyrics are too vague for that.
48	--> ''He's my big man''
49	--> ''Stays with me, some forty days''
50	--> ''No words''
51	--> ''Then goes away''
52	--> ''I cry again''
53	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The music video for "Dress" was so low-budget that it had to be shot in black-and-white and had to repeat several scenes and play them backwards.
54	* DirtyOldWoman: The "Sheela-Na-Gig" statues referred to in the song.
55	* FaceOnTheCover: An extreme close-up of P.J.'s lips and chin.
56	* HemoErotic: "Happy And Bleeding"
57	--> ''I'm happy and bleeding for you''
58	* LimitedLyricsSong: "Hair" and "Plants And Rags".
59	* MundaneMadeAwesome:
60	** "Dress", a tongue-in-cheek song about dressing up to go out.
61	--> ''The dress is filthy''
62	--> ''And my arms are empty''
63	--> ''Clear the way, better get it out of this room''
64	--> ''A fallen woman in dancing costume''
65	** "Plants & Rags" was inspired by a photography book with a double-page spread showing extreme images on each page, like light and dark.
66	* NakedPeopleAreFunny: "Sheela-na-Gig"
67	--> ''Sheela-na-Gig, Sheela-na-Gig''
68	--> ''You exhibitionist!''
69	* OneManSong: "Joe".
70	* OneWomanSong: "O Stella"
71	* OneWordTitle: "Dry". The tracks "Dress", "Victory", "Hair", "Fountain" and "Water".
72	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: "Joe" is about P.J.'s then partner, but they didn't stay together.
73	--> ''Joe, ain't you my buddy thee?''
74	--> ''Stay with me, when I fall and die''
75	--> ''Always thought you'd come rushing in''
76	--> ''To clear the shit out of my eye''
77	* RecordProducer: Mark Vernon, Rob Ellis and P.J. Harvey.
78	* ReferenceOverdosed: "Sheela-Na-Gig" refers to a specific erotic Celtic statue, but the explanation behind the line "put money in your idle hole" is really obscure. It refers to a theory that the language of the medieval witch-cult was Basque and the term "sheela-na-gig" actually derives from the Basque "Chilo-nagi" ("the idle hole").
79	* SayMyName: "Oh My Lover"
80	--> ''Oh my lover, why don't you just say my name and all of it is alright!''
81	* SelfBackingVocalist: "Victory" and "Sheela-Na-Gig" have P.J. doing this.
82	* ShoutOut:
83	** "Sheela-na-gig" refers to breasts as "dirty pillows", a confirmed reference to ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'', where the prudent Christian fundamentalist mother also uses this oud-dated term to describe that particular part of female anatomy. The line "gonna wash that man right outta my hair" is a line from ''Film/SouthPacific'' (1958).
84	* SlutShaming: "Sheela-na-Gig" is about being slut-shamed by a would-be suitor.
85	* StockRhymes: "Sheela-na-Gig" has the word "ruby-red lips" rhyme with "hips".
86	* TheirFirstTime: "Happy And Bleeding" strongly implies a woman losing her virginity.
87	--> ''I'm happy and I'm bleeding for you''
88	* UncommonTime: "Water" is effectively a march in 5/4.
89	* UnrequitedLove: The protagonist in "Oh My Lover" goes to extreme lengths to make the man of her desire love her:
90	--> ''You can love her, you can love me at the same time''

Context Music / Dry