Down by the Water

Listen while you read:  PJ HARVEY!

I lost my heart under the bridge
To that little girl, so much to me
And now I'm old, and now I holler
She'll never know just what I found
That blue-eyed girl, she said, "No more"
That blue-eyed girl became blue-eyed whore
Down by the water, I took her hand
Just like my daughter, won't see her again
Oh, help me, Jesus, come through this storm
I had to lose her to do her harm
I heard her holler, I heard her moan
My lovely daughter, I took her home

Little fish, big fish, swimming in the water
Come back here, man, gimme my daughter

~  PJ Harvey

So when all of the news is about a hurricane named "Harvey," and there's a song about drowning by a woman whose last name is "Harvey," how could I not select this song? Not to mention that I find this song haunting in a very other-worldly way. It dates back to 1995 and To Bring You My Love. The video is beyond haunting; Harvey critiques her performance in it as "Joan Crawford on acid."

And here's a word for you, which was new to me: filicide. It refers to the killing of one's son or daughter. For most of us, this is just something we could never contemplate or imagine. And I guess that idea is responsible for the haunting mood of the song. (Reminds me of The Band's "Long Black Veil" or really, any song about the taking of a life.) PJ Harvey wants it to be known that her song is not autobiographical; she did not give birth to and then kill a daughter! I don't know what her motivation for writing the song was, but the refrain comes directly from Lead Belly's rendition of the traditional American folk song, "Salty Dog Blues."

I have a real fear of deep water, mostly because I never learned to swim. (Please, spare me the taunts.) But I also believe that I drowned in a past life. Seriously. I love the ocean, I love the beach, I love boats . . . but don't throw me in! Despite this fear, and thanks to an amazing crew member on the boat, I snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef a few years ago! If you're going to be in Australia, how could you possibly miss that opportunity?

There's a very good chance that I would have drowned in the rising waters of Hurricane Harvey. And so I say a little "there but for fortune go I" prayer when I read the stories from Houston. The latest news says the waters have receded, and now, of course, the hard work of recovery begins. There but for fortune . . .