PJ Harvey and John Parish
She really wants to, as she shared with Pitchfork recently, but no one has asked her.
Seriously, wouldn’t that be awesome? Her music is so cinematic anyway. I’ve been an avid listener for many years and have always thought that the person behind “I’m Just Working for the Man,” “The River,” and “A Place Called Home” (among others) could put together a score that triggers all the right buzz words — haunting, moody, atmospheric, elusive. For further evidence, let’s listen to “Leaving California,” off A Woman a Man Walked By, her new album with longtime collaborator (and film scorer), John Parish.
In my head, I’d like to see her score a western, like her erstwhile companion (and musical counterpart) Nick Cave. If we’re going for the movie of my dreams, let’s say it’s a Campion-esque costume piece that will eroticize boots, chaps, and fringe the way that The Piano did with crinoline, corsets, and ankle boots. If it were directed by Campion and was a lesbian romance starring Tilda Swinton and Susan Sarandon, so much the better.
For now, I guess I’ll have to wait for Spike Jonze’s highly-anticipated Where The Wild Things Are. Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs served as composer for it. Expect a future post.
Is it bad that I’ve had a hard time liking PJ Harvey since she said she wasn’t a feminist in Bust?
Yeah, I know what you mean. Björk said the same thing in a different Bust interview. And it bummed me out because 1) I got into both of them as a teen, and they helped me become a feminist and 2) I kinda think they are feminists anyway.
I could see where identifying with the term might be limiting to a female musician. Like, you don’t wanna only be defined by your gender and, especially in PJ’s case, you don’t always write songs from a female perspective. Or there could be the icky thing at work where being a feminist musician impinges on your marketability. It makes me sad, though, because I feel like both musicians are totally feminists, in terms of their lyrical content, their autonomy, and how they’ve influenced others. So, it becomes a bit “I’m not a feminist, but . . .” with both of them.
Also, I wonder how other female musicians distance themselves from the term. Every time I post about somebody whose politics are not made public, I always am like, “Wait, would she consider herself a feminist? Am I putting that label on her?” I’ve read that ladies like Queen Latifah and MC Lyte don’t identify with feminism which, you know, c’mon. Of course, mentioning those MCs brings in larger issues of race, and how feminism has historically absented women and girls of color.
I guess, for me, I reconcile Björk and PJ’s non-feminism feminism by focusing on point #2 — they’re totally feminists anyway. I’m not sure how they define the term for themselves — as Europeans, they may have a different take on it. I also think they were both raised in bohemian households — I remember reading that Björk’s mother identified as a feminist, so maybe there’s some generational opposition going on. But they’re totally feminists to me — in how they’ve conducted their careers, the way they dress, the songs they write, the images they’ve constructed for themselves, their thematic preoccupations with femininity, etc. And I guess it’s fitting that I want PJ Harvey to score a Jane Campion movie. Jane Campion is one of the few directors to ever be nominated for a Best Director Oscar (for The Piano) and all of her movies are about femaleness — sexuality, sisterhood, friendship, girlhood, etc. — but she doesn’t identify as a feminist either.
This “she’s a feminist anyway” reasoning is by no means exact, though, as I didn’t really know about Patti Smith until after I found out she wasn’t a feminist, and it has completely kept me from listening to her music.