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.
The Last Living Rose
PJ Harvey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Take me back to beautiful England
And the grey, damp filthiness of ages
And battered books
And fog rolling down behind the mountains
On the graveyards, and dead sea-captains
Let me walk through the stinking alleys
Past the Thames River, glistening like gold
Hastily sold for nothing, nothing
Let me watch night fall on the river
The moon rise up and turn to silver
The sky move
The ocean shimmer
The hedge shake
The last living rose quiver
The first stanza of PJ Harvey's "The Last Living Rose" expresses a longing for England, a return to the country's historical roots and the filthiness of its past. The singer laments the lack of culture and history in modern Europe, wishing for the nostalgia of grey, damp England with its battered books, graveyards, and dead sea-captains. She imagines walking through the stinking alleys to the music of drunken beatings, past the glistening Thames River that has been hastily sold for nothing. The dichotomy between the beauty of the river and its degradation adds to the feeling of despair and sadness that pervades the song. The images of fog, mountains, and graveyards evoke a sense of eeriness and finality, while the reference to sea-captains adds a hint of adventure, but also of the passage of time.
The second stanza describes the beauty of the English countryside, where night falls on the river and the moon rises up, turning to silver. The sky, ocean, and hedge all come to life, creating a magical atmosphere. The last living rose quivering adds a touch of vulnerability and impermanence to the scene, highlighting the contrast between the world around us and the fleeting nature of our lives. Overall, the lyrics paint a picture of a country that has lost its way, a place where history has been erased, and culture has been abandoned. The singer longs to return to a time when things were simpler, when beauty was all around us and nature was in harmony with the human spirit.
Line by Line Meaning
God damn Europeans
Criticizing Europeans for their actions or behavior
Take me back to beautiful England
Expressing a desire to return to England
And the grey, damp filthiness of ages
Describing the old architecture and atmosphere of England
And battered books
Referring to the old books and literature of England that may have faced wear and tear
And fog rolling down behind the mountains
Describing the typical English fog that can be seen near mountains
On the graveyards, and dead sea-captains
Suggesting a view of a graveyard and remembering the dead sea captains from England's past
Let me walk through the stinking alleys
Wishing to walk through the alleys, even if they smell bad
To the music of drunken beatings
Describing the sound that one might hear in those alleys
Past the Thames River, glistening like gold
Describing the Thames River with a golden shine on its surface
Hastily sold for nothing, nothing
Imagining how the river may have been undervalued and quickly sold for nothing
Let me watch night fall on the river
Desiring to see the nightfall over the river
The moon rise up and turn to silver
Visualizing the moon rising and shining like silver
The sky move
Describing the sky's movement
The ocean shimmer
Imagining how the ocean might shimmer under the moonlight
The hedge shake
Depicting how a hedge might shake in the wind
The last living rose quiver
Suggesting that the last rose still standing is shaking in the wind
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Polly Harvey
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@billking8843
The album is a masterpiece and this is the best song on it. Glad it popped up on my suggestions.
@tylerwareham940
Really.. you think this is the best song? What about ‘England’ or ‘Written on the forehead’? For me those songs are the clear pinnacle of the record.
@youknowsheshalfcrazy
The voice, the talent, the beauty... she just has it all. An extraordinary woman.
@joeagger
I cannot put into words how much this song gives me chills. I'm not even from England
@joshklinghopher
same. fkin majik
@homosaur
This is probably my favorite song from this record, just absolutely incredible lyricism. Every word is simultaneously filled with such longing and spite. PJ is still one of the absolute titans of rock music.
@tradesmctrades1092
the way she balances love, frustration, anger, longing and spite in almost every word is truly unreal.
@MephProduction
this is hardly rock
@anthonyjenkins5170
this and in the dark places. its 11 years ago and I still listen to this album regularly.
@emirbajrektarevic8097
@@MephProduction this is P.J