2015-11-04 - Byre Theatre - conversation and performance
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2015 11:23 pm
The Byre Theatre where the event took place is part of St Andrews University, the audience was definitely not the usual PJ Harvey crowd, didn't see any of the regular PJ fans that are at her gigs.
Paul Muldoon was surprised Paul Simon who is a great writer said that the words didn't matter in a song, it is the tune that is matters most. Polly agreed, her friend a builder who she's known since they were 4 is one of the first people to hear her new songs and critiques them. Will let her know if the songs have a good tune or beat, ones that he can whistle to. Past couple of albums she has been conscious that the songs need to have a tune people can tap their feet to and sing along to, wanted the words to come across but had to draw people into the song with the rhythm first.
Poems have to stand on their own, words don't have to be too complex in a song as the music does half the work.
Putting herself in alien locations to write makes her see things from a different perspective. Moved to Los Angeles for 3 years to write White Chalk, didn't like living there because of the glass, concrete and cars environment which made her write about the countryside that she missed.
She is not good at collaborating, when she went with Seamus Murphy to different countries she was taking notes while he was photographing, they were completely separate in their work. John Parish is the only person she is truly able to collaborate with, can be her most vulnerable with him.
On the first album she just wrote it for herself not thinking anyone else would listen to it, didn't feel any fear when writing it, found writing the second album crippling because she knew people would hear it.
Frustrated her that in her youth she had so much vitality and invincibility and was out to shock the world, but as she has grown older she has lost that aggressiveness and anger. Can't keep writing the same way when she was 18 or 19, have to move into a new area.
Can't perform some of her earlier work anymore, doesn't feel able to sing those lyrics authentically and truthfully. She is not comfortable singing lick my legs I'm on fire at the age of 46. Doesn't want to be acting a part, everyone would see through it and she couldn't live with herself.
Paul Muldoon was surprised Paul Simon who is a great writer said that the words didn't matter in a song, it is the tune that is matters most. Polly agreed, her friend a builder who she's known since they were 4 is one of the first people to hear her new songs and critiques them. Will let her know if the songs have a good tune or beat, ones that he can whistle to. Past couple of albums she has been conscious that the songs need to have a tune people can tap their feet to and sing along to, wanted the words to come across but had to draw people into the song with the rhythm first.
Poems have to stand on their own, words don't have to be too complex in a song as the music does half the work.
Putting herself in alien locations to write makes her see things from a different perspective. Moved to Los Angeles for 3 years to write White Chalk, didn't like living there because of the glass, concrete and cars environment which made her write about the countryside that she missed.
She is not good at collaborating, when she went with Seamus Murphy to different countries she was taking notes while he was photographing, they were completely separate in their work. John Parish is the only person she is truly able to collaborate with, can be her most vulnerable with him.
On the first album she just wrote it for herself not thinking anyone else would listen to it, didn't feel any fear when writing it, found writing the second album crippling because she knew people would hear it.
Frustrated her that in her youth she had so much vitality and invincibility and was out to shock the world, but as she has grown older she has lost that aggressiveness and anger. Can't keep writing the same way when she was 18 or 19, have to move into a new area.
Can't perform some of her earlier work anymore, doesn't feel able to sing those lyrics authentically and truthfully. She is not comfortable singing lick my legs I'm on fire at the age of 46. Doesn't want to be acting a part, everyone would see through it and she couldn't live with herself.
