The non-conformist gore vision of "Rid Of Me" (1993) by PJ Harvey, a thread:

After the release of her first single titled "Dress", the singer received generous attention from critics and media, leading her to sign to Island Records and release "Dry" in 1992.

Excessive touring in order to promote the record, as well as personal factors such as break-up of a relationship, caused her psychophysical breakdown and made her leave for her native Dorset. Before she left her London apartment, she'd written the title track of the next album.

In Dorset, she got inspired by the scenery surrounding her home: "I was by the harbor, so I could see people coming and going in boats, and I could look out at the sea. (...) I'm sure that contributed in some way to Rid of Me."

During winter of 1992/93, Polly and her band recorded the album in approximately two weeks under the guidance of producer Steve Albini. Harvey knew she wanted him to work on her album after listening to Pixies' records.

She wanted the record to have an intimate, tangible feeling, saying that "it's like touching real objects or feeling the grain of wood. (...) You can almost feel the room." This production method would be later executed by Albini on Nirvana's "In Utero".

The producer would send the band a copy of "Rid Of Me" as the sound's best exhibition. Kurt Cobain, already a big fan of Harvey's debut album, approved the way her vocals were captured on the demo.

The album is fueled with blues rock based riffs and Polly's wailing, gruelling vocals. Its nearly animalistic ambience, together with the draconian lyrics, make up for an electrifying experience, capturing the listener's worst fears and bending their expectations.

Some of the tracks start their journey innocently only to shock its audience soon after. The lyrical matter is inseparable to the sound, as they both contribute to the overall disturbance of the listener with the bloody chamber of intimacy.

Harvey tried to tilt the album towards performance art: "When I was at art college, all I wanted to do was shock with my artwork. When I wrote "Rid of Me", I shocked myself. I thought, ‘Well, if I’m shocked, other people might be shocked.'"

The album manages to explore the dark side of the human psyche in an androgynous setting. While most of the lyrical material was deemed as feminist, Harvey denied those allegations, saying "I don’t even think of myself as being female half the time. (...)

(...) When I'm writing songs I never write with gender in mind." However, one may argue whether the singer actually contradicted herself, as denying societal gender norms lies in feminism's nature.

The title obviously refers to the title track, the first song to be written for the album. It might refer to the fact that even after all the psychotic events in Harvey's life at the time, she still managed to stand up on her own, not letting anyone to get rid of her.

The raw nature of the record is perfectly captured in its artwork. It was shot by Polly's longtime friend, Maria Mochnacz, in the photographer's bathroom in Bristol: "I knew I wanted to make the water on Polly's hair like a strange sculpture, almost solid. (...)

(...) I took it in pitch black with a small flash. My camera was butted up right against the wall (...) with no room for me to look through the viewfinder. (...) My flatmate at the time was banging on the door, (...) so I had to shout at him to hang on, we were making art!"

When told by Polly's management at Island Records that some of the photo's imperfections could be removed, Mochnacz stated that "it's supposed to be like that - it's part of the picture."

1) RID OF ME, the first track written for the album, was directly inspired by Harvey's break-up. It starts silently, with a reluctant riff leading into Polly's near-whispering, only to explode at the time of the chorus.

Lyrically, the track balances the dreadful feeling of desperately wanting one's partner back and a wicked desire to twist their head off out of revenge. The track is a fan favourite, and the hysterical lyric "Lick my legs, I'm on fire/Lick my legs of desire" achieved cult status.

2) MISSED is one of the album's most accessible tracks. It is based on the story of Mary, Queen of Scots, who was separated from her son when imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle for 19 years. The lyrics mention her being beheaded and returning after her death as a ghost.

All those efforts were done by Mary's spirit to finally be able to see her son. She's gave up on everything but this, losing faith in recovering her honour as a royal in public but still being hopeful of meeting James.

Sonically, the track is calmer than its precedessor, noticeably bursting out only towards the end. Based on a repetitive yet gripping bluesy riff, it is of a steady rhythm that barely changes during the abrupt chorus.

3) LEGS is one of the more drastic representatives of the album due to its lyrics. The subject of the song cuts off her lover's legs in revenge of him walking away from her, and then threatens to kill him if he attempts that yet again.

The singer wails that "you were going to be my life", highlighting the disappointment that comes with this unexpected betrayal. She lets the wicked thoughts control her, proud that "[he'd] never thought [she'd] try".

She assumes that if he wanted to walk away, he might as well want her to be dead. Therefore, "[she'll] kill him instead". Harvey's groaning mirrors those devilish instincts, giving them a sparkle of reality.

4) RUB 'TIL IT BLEEDS gives room to masochistic sexual fantasies. The song is led by Polly's grunge-like guitar riff and explodes towards the end, growing somewhat barbaric tension throughout the track.

The protagonist invites her lover to mutual sexual stimulation. At first, this offer seems innocent, but as she continues on describing her needs, the interaction becomes almost deviate, since she promises to make her lover bleed during the intercourse.

5) HOOK can be interpreted as a consensual masochistic interaction or, more believably, a story of a naive woman experiencing sexual assault. This would be confirmed by Polly's words to the "Q" magazine: "Sex and love, they don't always go together, do they?"

The riveting, sharp riff introduces us to the track's striking lyrics. The protagonist, further named Kathleen, says that "[she] was nothing 'til [he] came", implying that the trauma forever changed her. The man is almost dubbed as a Christ-like saviour, ...

... which ironically highlights how he was actually dragging her down. He promised her to make her his queen, but after all this, she'd still be "blind and lame", just as in the beginning, or maybe even worse. He stole everything she had, and now all she possesses is the stain.

6) MAN-SIZE - SEXTET is a more intense version of the track "Man-Size" which appears later on the album. Instead of Harvey's guitars, it is led by the titular violin sextet's playing. In this version, the artists sings through her teeth, making the lyrics feverish.

This was due to her interest in ventriloquism at the time; Steve Albini would encourage her practices and even sent Polly a book on the matter.

7) HIGHWAY '61 REVISITED is a Bob Dylan cover, suggested to Harvey by her parents, who were big fan of the folk artist. The singer had always appreciated his skills as a songwriter and she wanted to exhibit this admiration by putting the track on her album.

8) 50 FT QUEENIE is a lyrically androgynous track, playing with the roles usually associated with men while also confronting female archetypes. It is intertwining with further tracks like "Yuri-G" and "Man-Size". The title could reference a 1958 film "Attack of the 50 ft. Woman".

The lyrics were also inspired by braggadocio - a common theme in rap music, where the artist would point out their advantages with pride. This method repeats itself countless times in Harvey's lyrics in the track, regardless if the traits are male or female.

The track is uptempo and abrupt, dominated by catchy hooks. The protagonist seems to be genderfluid, referring to themselves as both king and queen. The idea of growing in size relates to male machismo and how it expects to serve unrealistic norms.

9) YURI-G arguably refers in its title to the Soviet astronaut Jurij Gagarin, famous as the first human in space. Harvey uses this as a metaphor for gender-bending love; we are not sure whether the subject of the song is male or female, but their lover is inherently female.

She is even named in the first lyric as Luna, implying that just like Jurij Gagarin, the protagonist wants to fly to the moon - both literally, as they are so excited by their newfound love, and metaphorically, by finding their way to Luna. Harvey was inspired by the Wiccan ...

... practice of "drawing down the moon". The Moon is known in this spell as an incarnation of an ancient goddess. This song might be a trial to bring her closer to the protagonist, who's so deeply in love with the woman that they practically clame her as a deity.

10) MAN-SIZE is giving the impression of playing with gender stereotypes and refusing to conform any of them. The protagonist, assumingly biologically female, steps into man's shoes, therefore becoming the frightening agender persona.

They become fascinated with their newfound roles as a male. Presuming that they were already attracted to women but never could really comprehend it, they are now at ease with their identity ("got my girl and she's a wow").

It's also one more attempt to mock toxic masculine standards that force men into becoming stone cold and larger than life. In addition, the last verse ("Silence my lady head [...]") could be read as a refusal to participate in patriarchal thought of what a woman should be.

With the reference of fire ("set it light and set it free"), the protagonist may mean that what women are fought with (witch hunts) can now set them free if only they take it in their own hands.

11) DRY is a track that returns to the album's sexual imagery. By saying that she is dry, the protagonist means she cannot be sexually satisfied by her partner. However, this time it goes beyond sexual interaction, as it becomes a metaphor for the whole relationship ...

... not working out. Sex is usually perceived as a primary part of intimate relationships, hence the usage of this analogy.

12) ME-JANE is written from Tarzan's lover's perspective. Jane Porter, usually perceived as a damsel in distress saved by the feral jungle man that Tarzan was, finally gets a voice of her own.

The girl is fed up with Tarzan's untamed behaviour and wants to take her suffering in her own hands. She becomes a "me-jane", eventually claiming herself. The dramatic soprano wail "don't load it on me" only adds to the experience.

13) SNAKE, the shortest yet one of the more aggressive tracks, refers to the biblical story of original sin. The protagonist can be associated with Eve. Snake, known in Genesis as the one who seduced Eve to commit the sin, becomes a subject of a sexual metaphor here.

The woman is being lied to - she is promised to become a queen, able to reject God's guidance. This delusion eventually leads her to eat the forbidden fruit and lose her innocence. The track connects here with the themes of "Hook".

14) ECSTASY was apparently written in ten minutes. Its brief lyrical matter speaks on experiencing sexual climax as compared to flying or an out of body experience; it's possible that it is connected to "Yuri-G". It is known for its distinctive riff ringing out during the track.

Despite being radically graphic in its psychotic themes, it is easily one of the best PJ Harvey albums, primarily due to how it is able to connect the harsh sonical landscape with the non-adhering lyrics. I deeply recommend you a listen.