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Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea

Record Details

Release
2000

Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, the sixth PJ Harvey album was released worldwide on October 23rd.

The much-anticipated follow-up to 1998’s Is This Desire? features 12 original tracks all written by PJ Harvey. The album, produced & performed by P J Harvey, Rob Ellis & Mick Harvey, was recorded by Head in Great Linford Manor in March/April 2000 and mixed by Victor Van Vugt at The Fallout Shelter in May 2000. Much of the record was written in, and influenced by, Harvey’s six month stay in New York during 1999 and sees a return to the energetic style of Harvey’s earlier releases.

From its first incarnation, PJ Harvey commanded attention. Polly Jean Harvey formed the bass / drums / guitar trio in 1991 in Somerset and by autumn they had released their debut single, Dress, on indie label Too Pure. With a second single, Sheela-Na-Gig in February 1992, PJ Harvey had begun an impressive critical climb, which set the stage for a highly anticipated album release the following month.

Dry was hailed as an astonishing debut, not just in the UK but worldwide and especially in the United States where it earned places in album of the year charts from New York Times, The Village Voice and Rolling Stone which named Harvey Best Songwriter and Best New Female Singer.

In 1993, PJ Harvey signed to Island Records and began work on a follow up album. The band went into the studio with Steve Albini in Minneapolis and the resulting album, Rid Of Me, was released in early ’93. With the album supported by a lengthy world tour, drawing increasingly wider audiences.
However, by the end of the tour, Polly made the decision to dissolve the original trio and explore working with other musicians. She introduced her solo career with 4-Track Demos in the autumn of 1993, which comprised of 14 songs, a mixture of unreleased material and demos for Rid Of Me.
To Bring You My Love followed in 1995, an eclectic and starkly original album on which, as well as vocals, Harvey played guitar, vibes, percussion and all keyboards. She enlisted a variety of musicians to play on this album, including John Parish (who co-produced along with Flood and Harvey), former Captain Beefheart sideman Eric Drew Feldman and Joe Gore, known for his work with Tom Waits. The tour which followed saw Harvey adopt a theatrical edge to her live performance. She was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and two Grammys, received ‘1995 Artist Of The Year’ awards from Rolling Stone and Spin and gained album of the year acknowledgements across the board.
Harvey then spent time working on a variety of collaborations, including Dance Hall At Louse Point where her words accompanied the music of John Parish for both an album and live accompaniment to the Mark Bruce Dance Company production of the same name. She also made contributions to records by Pascal Comelade (‘Green Eyes’ and ‘Love Too Soon’), Nick Cave (‘Henry Lee’ – Murder Ballads) and Tricky (‘Broken Homes’ – Angels With Dirty Faces).

Recording her fifth album, Is This Desire? in London and Dorset, Harvey again teamed up with Parish, Gore and Feldman, as well as Mick Harvey from the Bad Seeds and Rob Ellis from the original PJ Harvey line-up. It was released in September ’98 and featured 12 new tracks. Once again, it attracted plaudits on both sides of the Atlantic as Harvey received her third Grammy and Brit Award nominations and became the first artist to be nominated three times for the Mercury Music Prize.

She continues to work on extracurricular projects and has made contributions to film soundtracks including reinterpretations of standards Is That All There Is? for Basquiat and Nickel Under The Foot for the Tim Robbins’ movie Cradle Will Rock. She also scored the soundtrack to Stella Does Tricks with Nick Bicat.

In addition to her musical career, Polly Jean Harvey made her acting debut as Mary Magdalene in the Hal Hartley movie The Book Of Life, has featured in films by English director, Sara Miles, has exhibited sculpture in galleries across the country and has had poetry published.

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Record Links

Record Tracklist

  1. Big Exit
    Big Exit

    Look out ahead, see danger come
    I want a pistol, I want a gun
    I’m scared baby, I want to run
    this world’s crazy, give me the gun

    Baby, baby, ain’t it true
    I’m immortal when I’m with you
    but I want a pistol in my hand
    I want to go to different lands

    I met a man, he told me straight
    You gotta’ leave, it’s getting late.
    Too many cops, too many guns
    all trying to do something no-one else has done

    I walk on concrete, I walk on sand
    but I can’t find a safe place to stand
    I’m scared baby, I want to run
    this world’s crazy, give me the gun

  2. Good Fortune
    Good Fortune

    I threw my bad fortune off the top of a tall building
    but I’d rather have done it with you

    Your boy’s smile at five in the morning, I looked into your eyes
    and I was really in love

    In Chinatown, hungover, you showed me
    just what I could do

    Talking about time travel and its meaning
    and just what it was worth

    and I feel like some bird of paradise
    my bad fortune slipping away
    and I feel the innocence of a child –
    everybody’s got something good to say

    Things I once thought unbelievable in my life
    have all taken place

    When we walked through Little Italy I saw my reflection
    come right off your face

    I paint pictures to remember, you’re too beautiful
    to put into words

    Like a gypsy you dance in circles all around me
    and all over the world

    and I feel like some bird of paradise
    my bad fortune slipping away
    and I feel the innocence of a child –
    everybody’s got something good to say

    So I take my good fortune
    and I fantasize of our leaving
    like some modern-day
    gypsy landslide
    like some modern-day
    Bonnie and Clyde
    on the run again

  3. A Place Called Home
    A Place Called Home

    One day I know we’ll find a place of hope
    just hold on to me, just hold on to me

    Walk tight, one line, you’re wanted this time
    there’s no-one to blame, just hold on to me

    Come on my love
    and I’m right on time, and the birds keep singing
    and you’re right on line, and the bells keep ringing
    Come on my love
    and the battle is won, and the planes keep winging
    and I’m right on time, and the girl keeps singing

    I walk, I wade through full lands, and lonely
    I stumble, I stumble

    With you I wait to be born again
    With love comes the day, just hold on to me

    Come on my love
    and I’m right on time, and the birds keep singing
    and you’re right on line, and the bells keep ringing
    Come on my love
    and the battle is won, and the planes keep winging
    and I’m right on time, and the girl keeps singing

    Now is the time to follow through, to read the signs
    Now the message is sent, let’s bring it to an end

    One day I know there’ll be a place called home.

  4. One Line
    One Line

    Do you remember the first kiss ? Stars shooting across the sky.
    To come to such a place as this. You never left my mind.

    I’m watching from the wall as in the streets we fight –
    this world all gone to war. All I need is you tonight.

    And I draw a line to your heart today –
    to your heart from mine. A line to keep us safe.

    All through the rising sun, all through the circling years
    you were the only one who could have brought me here.

    And I draw a line to your heart today –
    to your heart from mine. A line to keep us safe.

  5. Beautiful Feeling
    Beautiful Feeling

    Sometimes I can see for miles
    Through water and fire
    From England to America
    I feel life meet my eyes

    And it’s the best thing
    A beautiful feeling

    A smile from San Diego
    He is still a boy
    Two ends to every rainbow
    And a train from Mexico

    But he’s the best thing
    A beautiful feeling

    And when I watch you move
    And I can’t think straight
    And I am silenced
    And I can’t think straight

    It’s the best thing such a beautiful feeling

  6. The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore
    The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore

    Speak to me of universal laws
    The whores hustle and the hustlers whore
    All around me people bleed
    Speak to me your song of greed

    Speak to me of your inner charm
    Of how you’ll keep me safe from harm
    I don’t think so, I don’t see
    Speak to me of your inner peace

    Little people at the amusement park
    City people in the dark
    Speak to us, send us a sign
    Tell us something to keep us trying

    The whores hustle and the hustlers whore
    Too many people out of love
    The whores hustler and the hustlers whore
    This city’s ripped right to the core

    Speak to me of heroin and speed
    Of genocide and suicide, of syphilis and greed
    Speak to me the language of love
    The language of violence, the language of the heart
    This isn’t the first time I’ve asked for money or love
    Heaven and earth don’t ever mean enough
    Speak to me of heroin and speed
    Just give me something I can believe

    The whores hustle and the hustlers whore
    Too many people out of love
    The whores hustler and the hustlers whore
    This city’s ripped right to the core

  7. This Mess We’re In” (featuring Thom Yorke)
  8. You Said Something
    You Said Something

    On a rooftop in Brooklyn, one in the morning,
    watching the lights flash in Manhattan,
    I see five bridges, the Empire State Building
    and you said something that I’ve never forgotten.

    We lean against railings, describing the colours
    and the smells of our homelands, acting like lovers.
    How did we get here? To this point in living?
    I held my breath, and you said something.

    And I am doing nothing wrong riding in your car,
    your radio playing – we sing up to the eighth floor
    of a rooftop, Manhattan, one in the morning,
    when you said something that I’ve never forgotten,
    when you said something really important.

  9. Kamikaze
    Kamikaze

    How could that happen? How could that happen again?
    Where the fuck was I looking when all his horses came in
    and he built a whole army of kamikaze?

    10,000 willing pilots flying –interfacing space and beyond.
    He built an army to come and find me.

    Beyond all reason, beyond all my hopes
    the call of duty – another war zone.

    Kamikaze – you can’t touch me, kamikaze

    Eight miles high, he walks his path
    and I follow mine – one tooth for one eye.
    He’s come to find me.

    10,000 willing pilots flying – interfacing space and beyond.
    Here is his army – interspace, here we come.

    Kamikaze-you can’t touch me

  10. This is Love
    This is Love

    I can’t believe life’s so complex –
    I just want to sit here and watch you undress
    This is love that I’m feeling

    Does it have to be a life full of dread?
    I want to chase you round the table, want to touch your head
    This is love that I’m feeling

    I can’t believe that the axis turns on suffering
    when you taste so good
    This is love that I’m feeling

    In the summer, in the spring
    you can never get too much of a wonderful thing

    You’re the only story that I never told
    You’re my dirty little secret, want to keep you so
    Come on out, come on over, help me forget
    Keep the walls from falling on me, tumbling in

    This is love that I’m feeling

  11. Horses in my Dreams
    Horses in my Dreams

    Horses in my dreams
    like waves, like the sea
    They pull out of here
    they pull, they are free

    I rode a horse around the world
    along the tracks of a train
    broke the record, found the gold
    set myself free again

    I have pulled myself clear

    Horses in my dreams
    like waves, like the sea
    On the tracks of a train
    set myself free again

    I have pulled myself clear

  12. We Float
    We Float

    We wanted to find love
    We wanted success
    Until nothing was enough
    Until my middle name was excess
    And somehow I lost touch
    When you went out of sight
    When you got lost into the city
    Got lost into the night

    I was in need of help
    Heading to black out
    Till someone told me, Run on in honey
    Before somebody blows your goddam’ brains out
    You shop-lifted as a child
    I had a model’s smile
    You carried all my hopes
    Until something broke inside

    But now we float
    Take life as it comes

    So will we die of shock?
    Die without a trial
    Die on Good Friday
    While holding each other tight
    This is kind of about you
    This is kind of about me
    We just kind of lost our way
    But we were looking to be free

    But one day we’ll float
    Take life as it comes

  13. This Wicked Tongue (Bonus Track)