England

Over the next twelve days we will be featuring a new music video featuring PJ Harvey by Seamus Murphy daily. The accompanying text by Seamus will give an insight into his thoughts about making the videos. ENJOY!

I focused on the sound of the song itself which has a melancholic, tragic lilt to it, like a resigned love song of acceptance. Like some of the other films' openings, I asked someone to speak the lyrics of the song. And like all the other films, the images come from observations made on the road. The archer I found in a field I was driving past, the parrot was in a great dock pub in Birkenhead - across the Mersey from Liverpool. The pubs here used to be full of parrots from sailors returning home from the tropics, and this one's party-piece was shouting "twat" in thick Scouse. Bobby Moore and the World Cup in 1966 was in a kebab place in Southend, the white haired man is a charismatic horseman from Norfolk. Shooting Polly up close physically, allowing her to move in and out of focus was something we both liked. It lent an intimate and raw feel. The ending audio of the Arab woman singing out the track was the original ending of that piece of music which was edited for the album.

PJ Harvey Web Site

www.pjharvey.net

England Photo Essay by Seamus Murphy

http://www.viiphoto.com/showstory.php?nID=1230