Don't Ya Don't Ya Wish Ya Met Her Sooner - PJ Harvey

PJ Harvey

I never got rid of her. So it's 1994, I'm at Lollapalooza in Columbus, Ohio. There's only one artist I'm there to see. The friends I'm with are ridiculing me "Huh huh. You just wanna see 'Nick the Cave'. He sounds dumb. We're waiting for the good music, Green Day and Smashing Pumpkins."  To be fair, there's a good chance I was being a smug little prick about it myself though (Yeah, I only weighed about 150 then, I was definitely little.) When Nick did play, me and like three other people near me seemed interested. So eventually I ended up talking to some dude. I don't remember who he was. But he told me to check out PJ Harvey. It was 1994, and I was 20. I was practically begging to find more great music so I followed this guy's suggestion.

I went to a store soon after and bought a CD. Damn!!! She rocks pretty hard for a woman!

Wait a minute!  (Come on, click it. Please? It's only 4 seconds)

"Rocks pretty hard for a woman!" What does this mean? Well, you see, woman normally make softer, prettier music cuz women are softer and prettier than men. Wait really? Do we men play guitars with our cocks? No, but see women are supposed to make gentle music. They're just not naturally as good at hard-rocking masculine music. Really? But this PJ Harvey kicks us just like plenty male artists.  Yeah, she's a rarity, a woman who can rock like a man.

This isn't Greg vs. The Patriarchy here. This is Greg talking with Greg. So Greg tried to learn and grow a little bit. I mean, if I ignore women singers there's a chance I'm missing out on a ton of great music. But still, when I look through my collection I don't find that many women artists. Why is that Greg? Oh well you see, I'm more open to female artists now. But I just don't identify with them as much. You know, cuz I'm a man. So when I listen all alone at home and shout along with the music I can't pretend I'm the singer like I can with Nick Cave or David Bowie. Oh I see. So when you sing along with Nick Cave you identify with him better than PJ Harvey or Chrissie Hynde. But Nick Cave is 6'3" and really skinny and we're 5'10" and chubby. Come on Greg, stop insulting us. Okay but the point is we aren't like Nick Cave either. We've arbitrarily chosen the possession of an attached weiner to determine whether we can identify with an artist.  Oh. I get it. Well maybe we can sing along with PJ Harvey too! "I've lain with the devil, cursed god above. Forsaken heaven, TO BRING YOU MY LOVE!!!" Yeah! That feels pretty good! 

And now it's 2017 and I'm considering NOT going out of town to see PJ Harvey play. Two of my favorites, Mick Harvey (Bad Seeds, awesome solo career) and James Johnston (Gallon Drunk) are in her band. And I'm all worried about spending the money. And yet I spent $40 on some damn film festival....don't get started. The upshot is, I really need to figure out how to get myself to one of those shows. 

Oh, and one little note. If you go to the local record store to buy PJ Harvey records, you might have to look two places. Originally the band was called PJ Harvey so technically should be listed in the "P" section. But since the singer is Polly Jean Harvey I think you'll still usually find them in the "H" sections. Perhaps a little unintentional nod to Alice Cooper there.

If you feel like it, tell me in the comments how dumb I am for considering  not going. And be like the guy I met at that show in 1994, tell me about the other women I should be listening to now.

Rid Of Me live on youtube

Buy PJ Harvey music on Amazon