Like Lumps Of Meat

PJ Harvey “The Words That Maketh Murder” (iTunes Session Version)

It’s startling to see the words of this song in print – the tune is so jaunty, it can be easy to tune out the grisly imagery. But once you know what she’s singing, you can’t unhear it, and the horror sits uncomfortably with the rhythm and her odd, high-pitched tone. Of course, the real kicker here is the “What if I take my problem to the United Nations?,” delivered with just the right balance of hopeful naïveté and bitter irony. All the little disconnections in this song make perfect sense — it is, after all, essentially about processing grotesque atrocities and looking both within and without for some way of classifying and understanding what it all means. Is there a context where any of this terrible violence makes sense?

Buy the album version from Amazon.