Polly Jean "PJ" Harvey is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Prima… Read Full Bio ↴Polly Jean "PJ" Harvey is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments.

Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined local band Automatic Dlamini as a vocalist, guitarist and saxophonist. The band's frontman, John Parish, became her long-term collaborator. In 1991, she formed an eponymous trio called PJ Harvey and subsequently began her career as PJ Harvey. The trio released two studio albums called Dry (1992) and Rid of Me (1993) before disbanding, after which Harvey continued as a solo artist. Since 1995, she has released a further nine studio albums with collaborations from various musicians including Parish, former bandmate Rob Ellis, Mick Harvey and Eric Drew Feldman, and has also worked extensively with record producer Flood.

Among the accolades Harvey has received are both the 2001 and 2011 Mercury Prize for Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (2000) and Let England Shake (2011), respectively, making her the only artist to have been awarded the prize twice. She has also garnered eight Brit Award nominations, seven Grammy Award nominations and two further Mercury Prize nominations. Rolling Stone awarded her three accolades: 1992's Best New Artist and Best Singer Songwriter, and 1995's Artist of the Year. Rolling Stone also listed Rid of Me, To Bring You My Love and Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea on its list of their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2011, she was awarded for Outstanding Contribution To Music at the NME Awards. In the 2013 Birthday Honours, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to music.

Happy and Bleeding
PJ Harvey Lyrics

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She'd burst
Dropped off
Picked the fruit
Realise
I'm naked
I'm naked, too

So cover my body

Dress it fine
Hide my linen and lace
Been sewing ever since
Since time began

More than the hills
More than the trees
More than the mountains, you
More than I can see
In front of me
More than the mountains, you

So fruit flower myself inside out
I'm happy and bleeding for you
Fruit flower myself inside out
I'm tired and I'm bleeding for you

This fruit was bruised
Dropped off and blue
Out of season, happy I'm bleeding
Long overdue
Too early and it's late, too
Too early and it's late, too
Mind and body
I would and I would not do

Fruit flower myself inside out
I'm happy and bleeding for you
Fruit flower myself inside out
I'm tired and I'm bleeding for you

Fig fruit flower myself inside out for you
Fig fruit flower myself inside out for you
Fig fruit flower myself inside out for you
Fig fruit flower myself inside out for you
Fig fruit flower myself inside out for you (happy I'm bleeding)
Fig fruit flower myself inside out for you (happy I'm bleeding)
Fig fruit flower myself inside out for you (happy I'm bleeding)
Fig fruit flower myself inside out for you (happy I'm bleeding)
Fig fruit flower myself inside out for you (happy I'm bleeding)
Fig fruit flower myself inside out for you (happy I'm bleeding)
Fig fruit flower myself inside out for you (happy I'm bleeding)
Fig fruit flower myself inside out for you (happy I'm bleeding)

Fig fruit flower myself inside out for you (happy I'm bleeding)
Fig fruit flower myself inside out for you (happy I'm bleeding)

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to PJ Harvey's "Happy and Bleeding" are a mix of abstract images and visceral emotions. The first verse describes a woman who has "burst" or broken open, possibly from the strain of picking fruit, and who has "dropped off" or fallen to the ground. The second line of the verse ("Picked the fruit") seems to imply that the woman has been harvesting something valuable or important, but the focus of the song quickly shifts to a sense of self-awareness and vulnerability: "Realize/I'm naked/I'm naked, too."

The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "Fruit flower myself inside out," which seems to suggest a process of opening up and revealing oneself. The singer claims to be "happy and bleeding" for the person addressed in the song, and repeats the phrase "More than the mountains, you" to emphasize the intensity of their feelings. The second verse is more abstract, with lines like "This fruit was bruised/Dropped off and blue/Out of season, happy I'm bleeding/Long overdue." The imagery here is ambiguous but seems to suggest some kind of struggle or sacrifice, possibly related to a romantic or creative pursuit.

Line by Line Meaning

She'd burst
She would explode with emotion

Dropped off
She felt abandoned

Picked the fruit
She took what she could get

Realise
She came to a realization

I'm naked
She feels exposed and vulnerable

I'm naked, too
She sees that someone else is also vulnerable

So cover my body
She wants to hide her vulnerability

Dress it fine
She wants to present herself well

Hide my linen and lace
She wants to keep her personal life private

Been sewing ever since
She has been working hard

Since time began
She has been working hard for a long time