Music / Rid of Me

Rid of Me is PJ Harvey's second album, released in 1993. It marked a rawer and more aggressive sound than her debut Dry (1992). The record is best remembered for the singles "50 ft. Queenie" and "Man-Size."

Nirvana hired Steve Albini, the album's producer, afterwards to record In Utero (1993) for them.

The music videos for "50ft. Queenie" and "Man-Size" were once featured in an episode of Beavis And Butthead.

Tracklist:

1. "Rid of Me" (4:28)
2. "Missed" (4:25)
3. "Legs" (3:40)
4. "Rub 'Til It Bleeds" (5:03)
5. "Hook" (3:57)
6. "Man-Size Sextet" (2:18)
7. "Highway 61 Revisited" (2:57)
8. "50ft. Queenie" (2:23)
9. "Yuri-G" (3:28)
10. "Man-Size" (3:16)
11. "Dry" (3:23)
12. "Me-Jane" (2:42)
13. "Snake" (1:36)
14. "Ecstasy" (4:26)

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Man-Size Tropes

• A Cappella: The end of "Rid Of Me" ends with Rob Ellis just screaming out his lungs.
• Adam and Eve Plot: "Snake"
  You snake (You snake)
  I ate (I ate)
  A true (A true)
  Belief (Belief)
  Good Lord (Good Lord)
  That fruit's (That's fruit's)
  Inside (Inside)
  Of me (Of me)
  Oh Adam (Oh Ad-)
  Please (-am please)
• Added Alliterative Appeal: "Ecstasy"
  Hitting heavens high
• Anti-Love Song: "Legs"
  Did you sing "Oh happy day"?
  Singing it
  Sing it that time I went away?
  Got to ease my aching head
  Do you know
  No other way cut off your legs oh
  Hey oh
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: "50 Ft. Queenie"
  50ft queenie
  Force ten hurricane
  Biggest woman
  I could have ten sons
  Ten gods ten queens
  Ten foot and rising
• Broken Record: "Rid Of Me"
  Don't you, don't you wish you never never met her
  Lick my legs, I'm on fire
  Lick my legs of desire
• Careful with That Axe: P.J. really strained her vocals for this album.
• Classical Music: "Man-Size Sextet" has P.J. being backed by strings and a contra bass.
• Cover Version: The Bob Dylan cover "Highway 61 Revisited."
• Darker and Edgier: The album is more raw and aggressive than Dry. Similarly P.J.'s cover of "Highway 61 Revisited" is darker than Bob Dylan's light-hearted original.
• Deliberately Monochrome: The black-and-white album cover.
• Design Student's Orgasm: The stylish album cover, taken by Maria Mochnacz, taken in a dark bathroom.
• Double Entendre: "Snake."
  You snake
  You crawled
  Between
  My legs
  Said "Want
  It all?
  It's yours
  You bet
  I'll make
  You queen
  Of everything
  No need
  For God
  No need
  For him
  Just take
  My hand
  You'll be
  My bride
  Just take
  That fruit
  Put it
  Inside
• Expressive Hair: P.J.'s wet hair thrown upwards on the album cover.
• Face on the Cover: P.J. in a bathroom.
• Gag Penis: P.J. actually claims to have one on "50ft. Queenie":
  Ah come on measure me
  I'm twenty inches long
• I Kiss Your Foot: "Rid Of Me"
  Lick my legs, I'm on fire!
• Intercourse with You: "Rub 'Til It Bleeds"
  I lie steady
  Rest your head on me
  I'll smooth it nicely
  Rub it better 'till it bleeds
• It's All About Me: "Ecstasy"
  Singing, I'm singing. Yah!
  Sounding hanging breathe
  I'm begging you look at me.
  Ecstasy. I'm in ec... ecstasy
  Ecstasy
• Jump Scare: "Rid of Me" starts off creepy and quiet with some rather disturbing lyrics, and then slowly gets louder and then "DON'T YOU WISH YOU....NEVER....NEVER MET HER DON'T YOU!!!!!"
• Location Song: "Highway 61 Revisited," where Highway 61 is the solution to everything.
• Misandry Song:
  • "50 ft. Queenie"
  Glory, glory
  Lay it all on me
  50ft queenie
  50 and rising
  You bend over
  Casanova
  No sweat I'm clean
  Nothing can touch me
  • "Man-Size"
  Got my girl and she's a wow
  I cast my iron knickers down
  Man-sized no need to shout
  Can you hear, can you hear me now?
  I'm man-sized
  Man-sized
  I'll measure time
  I'll measure height
  I'll calculate
  My birth right
  Good Lord I'm big
  I'm heading on
  Man-size
  Got my leather boots on
  • "Me-Jane"
  Oh damn your chest-beating, just you stop your screaming
  It's splitting through my head and swinging from the ceiling
  Move it over, Tarzan, can't you see I'm bleeding?
  I've called you by your first name, good Lord it's me-Jane!
• Obsession Song:
  • "Rid Of Me"
  I'll tie your legs
  Keep you against my chest
  Oh, you're not rid of me
  Yeah, you're not rid of me
  I'll make you lick my injuries
  I'm gonna twist your head off, see
  • "Legs." Nothing says "I love you" like sawing someone's legs off to keep them from leaving you.
• One-Word Title: "Missed," "Legs," "Hook," "Yuri-G," "Dry," "Snake," and "Ecstasy."
• Pep-Talk Song: "50 ft. Queenie"
  Hey I'm the king of the world
  You oughta hear my song
  You come on and measure me
  I'm twenty inches long
• Rearrange the Song: "Man-Size Sextet" is "Man-Size" with the track's instrumental being played on a sextet of strings instead of guitar.
• Record Producer: Steve Albini, except for the track "Man-Size Sextet."
• Repurposed Pop Song: P.J. recorded a cover of "Highway 61 Revisited" before on the tribute album "Outlaw Blues Volume 2."
• Self-Backing Vocalist: During "Rid Of Me."
• Shout-Out:
  • The line "don't you wish you never met her" from "Rid Of Me" is a nod to a line from "Dirty Blue Gene" from Captain Beefheart's Doc at the Radar Station.
  • "50 ft. Queenie" is inspired by the B-movie Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. It also namedrops Giacomo Casanova.
  You bend over, Casanova
  • "Me-Jane" references Tarzan a few times:
  Move it over, Tarzan, can't you see I'm bleeding?
  I've called you by your first name, good Lord, it's me-Jane!
  • "Yuri-G" is a shout-out to Yuri Gagarin.
• Siamese Twin Songs: "Man-Size" and "Man-Size Sextet" have the same lyrics, but different arrangements.
• Spelling Song: "50 Foot Queenie"
  Tell you my name
  FU and CK
• Unrequited Love: "Dry," where P.J. is direct about her feelings about a man who tries to seduce her.
  You leave me dry.
• Woman Scorned: A major theme throughout the entire album.

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