The pair had previously been musical collaborators for several years. As a teenager growing up in rural England, Harvey contributed saxophone, guitar and backing vocals to Parish’s band Automatic Dlamini before forming her own band in 1991. Parish later served as co-producer, guitarist, percussionist and keyboard player on Harvey’s 1995 album To Bring You My Love and was featured heavily on her 1998 album Is This Desire?.
On Dance Hall at Louse Point, Parish wrote and played the music, while Harvey sang vocals and wrote the lyrics. The album was viewed by many of Harvey's fans as a minor side project, perhaps due to the top billing accorded the more obscure Parish and her own accreditation as Polly Jean Harvey rather than the more widely recognised PJ Harvey name. Consequently, it sold more poorly than any of her solo releases, entering the UK charts at #46 and barely denting the U.S. Billboard charts at #178.
It yielded only one single, That Was My Veil, which spent a week at #75 in the UK charts. Harvey later admitted that she let Parish handle all promotional duties for the record because she was exhausted following a year of intense promotional activity for To Bring You My Love in 1995. Reportedly, bosses at Harvey’s Island Records label feared that the avant-garde venture was “commercial suicide”, despite it winning generally positive reviews. Entertainment Weekly opined, “This is 'deep' music in every sense; total immersion is recommended.” Musician reckoned “The results are as engaging as they are disturbing....full of strange moves and unusual textures.” Logo felt it was “thrillingly sinister”, while Q magazine praised its “polecat scat and brooding rural blues," adding that it felt "more a series of themes and word paintings.”
Speaking about the album to NME in 1998, Harvey explained "I just really wanted to learn different things, and a lot of learning comes from working with other people. I tend to place more importance on lyric writing than music, and I wanted to somehow bring the music to a similar level with that, but I didn’t feel confident in myself as a musician to do it. I know John can write demanding and intellectual music – much more than mine, which is very simple. So it was really just to test my lyric writing." In 2001, she told Chicago Sun-Times, "People don't even count that, yet that's the record I'm really proud of. It was an enormous turning point. Lyrically, it moved me into areas I'd never been to before. Faced with John's music, which is so different to my own, it just made me write lyrics in a very different way and structure songs in a different way."
Parish and Harvey did a brief UK club tour with the Mark Bruce Dance Company in early 1997, performing the album’s experimental songs with a group of interpretive ballet dancers onstage.
Twelve years later, the duo released A Woman A Man Walked By, also on Island. The album, which was recorded in Bristol and Dorset and mixed by Flood, was released on March 30, 2009 on Island. It consisted of 10 new songs, including an instrumental. All the music was written by Parish, who also played most of the instruments. The lyrics, once again, were by Harvey.
The first single from the album was "Black Hearted Love," which is described as having "anthemic grunge-pop guitars." The track debuted on the Zane Lowe Show on March 2.
The album was described by journalist John Harris, as "...mischievous, deadly serious, elegant and poetic, and possessed of a brutal power – it is doubtful that you will hear a record as brimming with creative brio and musical invention this year." In a track by track synopsis on their website, The Fly described the album as "a body of folk tales, funeral songs and trapped, tangled love songs... brilliant."
Is That All There Is?
John Parish and Polly Jean Harvey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Our house caught on fire
And I'll never forget the look on my father's face
As he gathered me in his arms and raced to the burning building out on the pavement
And I stood there shivering
And watched the whole world go up in flames
And when it was all over
I said to myself
Is that all there is?
Is that all there is?
If that's all there is, my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is
And when I was twelve years old
My daddy took me to the circus
The greatest show on earth
And there were clowns
And elephants
Dancing bears,
And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads
And as I sat there watching
I had the feeling that something was missing
I don't know what
But when it was all over
I said to myself
Is that all there is to the circus
Is that all there is?
If that's all there is, my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is
And then I fell in love
With the most wonderful boy in the world
We'd take long walks down by the river
Or just sit for hours gazing into each other's eyes
We were so very much in love
And then one day
He went away
And I'd thought I'd die
But I didn't
And when I didn't
I said to myself
Is that all there is to love
Is that all there is?
If that's all there is, my friends, then let's keep
I know what you must be saying to yourselves
If that's the way she feels about it
Then why doesn't she just end it all
Oh no. not me. I'm not ready for the final disappointment
Cause I know just as well as I'm standing here talking to you
That when that final moment comes
And I'm breathing my last breath
I know what I'll be saying to myself
Is that all there is?
Is that all there is?
If that's all there is, my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is
The song "Is That All There Is?" by John Parish and Polly Jean Harvey deals with themes of disappointment and disillusionment. The lyrics describe various experiences, from a childhood fire to a love affair, and reveal a sense of emptiness and a questioning of the meaning behind these big moments in life. The chorus "Is that all there is?" is a rhetorical question that seems to suggest the answer is a resounding "yes." Despite the pain and loss that the singer has experienced, she ultimately decides to keep dancing and break out the booze, an attempt to find pleasure and meaning in life despite the apparent futility of it all.
The lyrics are poignant and thought-provoking, inviting listeners to consider their own experiences and whether they ultimately lead to a sense of fulfillment or not. It's a reminder that life can be unpredictable and disappointing, and that it's up to us to find our own joy and meaning, even in the face of setbacks and loss.
Line by Line Meaning
I remember when I was a girl
As a child, I have experienced house fire and my father saved me from it
Our house caught on fire
The house where I lived caught on fire
And I'll never forget the look on my father's face
I can still recall the look of concern on my father's face during the fire
As he gathered me in his arms and raced to the burning building out on the pavement
He ran with me in his arms towards the pavement while the building was in flames
And I stood there shivering
I stood there trembling with fear as the house burned down
And watched the whole world go up in flames
I watched the entire building go in flames while I trembled in fear
And when it was all over
After the fire was put out and things calmed down
I said to myself
I asked myself
Is that all there is to a fire?
Is that everything to a fire?
Is that all there is?
Is that everything there is?
If that's all there is, my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If this is all that life has to offer, then we might as well enjoy it by dancing and drinking
And when I was twelve years old
At the age of twelve
My daddy took me to the circus
My father took me to the circus
The greatest show on earth
It was considered the most amazing show on earth
And there were clowns
The show had clowns
And elephants
The show had elephants
Dancing bears, And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads
The show had dancing bears and an aerial performer in pink tights
And as I sat there watching
As I was watching the show
I had the feeling that something was missing
I felt like something was missing from the show
I don't know what
I couldn't figure out what
But when it was all over
Once the show had ended
I said to myself
I thought to myself
Is that all there is to the circus
Is that everything there is to the circus?
And then I fell in love
I fell in love
With the most wonderful boy in the world
I fell in love with the most amazing boy ever
We'd take long walks down by the river
We used to have long walks by the river
Or just sit for hours gazing into each other's eyes
Or we'd spend hours staring into each other's eyes
We were so very much in love
We were deeply in love
And then one day
One day
He went away
He left
And I'd thought I'd die
I thought I wouldn't survive without him
But I didn't
I realized that I did survive
And when I didn't
I said to myself
And when I realized I survived without him, I thought
Is that all there is to love
Is that everything there is to loving somebody?
I know what you must be saying to yourselves
I know what you are thinking right now
If that's the way she feels about it
Then why doesn't she just end it all
If I feel this way, why don't I end my life?
Oh no. not me. I'm not ready for the final disappointment
No, I'm not ready for the ultimate disappointment that death may bring
Cause I know just as well as I'm standing here talking to you
Because I am certain
That when that final moment comes
And I'm breathing my last breath
That when I am taking my last breath
I know what I'll be saying to myself
I know what I will think to myself
Is that all there is?
Is that everything there is?
If that's all there is, my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If life is as simple as that, then might as well enjoy it while it lasts
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@JaceCavacini
I’m amazed when songs written ages ago continue to be redone by new artists and continue to be interesting songs... I guess that’s a testament not only to the song’s original writing, but to the artists who find a new way to play them.
@LindaMartina
You are brilliance PJ
@CHANNELJUDGE
Cheers
@rofanolubis8896
is that all there is ??? it is ?
@BlackThyme
have i expressed that my now passed maternal Nana (Lorna Elsie Florance Vogler nee Milkins) wanted this (Peggy Lee, i suspect) played at her funeral. she was refused #fuckers