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.
White Chalk
PJ Harvey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
White chalk hills will rot my bones
White chalk sticking to my shoes
White chalk playing as a child with you
White chalk stands against time
White chalk cutting down the sea at Lyme
I walk families by the Cerne
And I know
These chalk hills will rot my bones
Dorset's cliffs meet at the sea
Where I walked our unborn child in me
White chalk, gorse-scattered land
Scratched my palms, there's blood on my hands
PJ Harvey's song "White Chalk" is a melancholic and introspective song that is open to interpretation. It appears that the song is about the singer's memories of growing up in Dorset, England, where the hills and cliffs are made of white chalk. The singer seems to have a love-hate relationship with these hills as she recognizes their beauty and significance but at the same time understands their destructive nature. The first two lines of the song, "White chalk hills are all I've known, White chalk hills will rot my bones," suggest that the singer has grown up surrounded by these hills and that they have become a part of her identity. However, she also acknowledges that these hills, which are slowly eroding over time, will eventually lead to her own demise.
The song is also about the passing of time and the idea of impermanence. The line "White chalk stands against time" juxtaposes the fleeting nature of human life against the permanence of the natural landscape. The second verse, "Dorset's cliffs meet at the sea, Where I walked our unborn child in me, White chalk, gorse-scattered land, Scratched my palms, there's blood on my hands" alludes to the idea of the cycle of life and death. The singer is walking along the cliffs, contemplating the new life inside her, while also being reminded of the inevitability of death.
Line by Line Meaning
White chalk hills are all I've known
PJ Harvey grew up in an area with white chalk hills and has never known anything else
White chalk hills will rot my bones
PJ Harvey believes that spending her life in an area with white chalk hills will have negative health effects on her
White chalk sticking to my shoes
PJ Harvey experiences the sensation of white chalk sticking to her shoes as she walks
White chalk playing as a child with you
PJ Harvey recalls playing with someone from her childhood in the white chalk hills
White chalk stands against time
PJ Harvey sees that the white chalk hills have endured over time
White chalk cutting down the sea at Lyme
PJ Harvey observes how the white chalk cuts into the sea at Lyme
I walk families by the Cerne
PJ Harvey takes families on walks near Cerne Abbas Giant, a 1,500-year-old hill figure
On a path cut fifteen hundred years ago
PJ Harvey walks on a footpath that was created 1,500 years ago
And I know
These chalk hills will rot my bones
PJ Harvey reiterates her belief that spending her life in an area with white chalk hills will have negative health effects on her
Dorset's cliffs meet at the sea
PJ Harvey describes the clifftops in Dorset where the land meets the sea
Where I walked our unborn child in me
PJ Harvey reflects on a time when she was pregnant and walked in the area with her unborn child
White chalk, gorse-scattered land
PJ Harvey describes the white chalk hills that are also dotted with gorse bushes
Scratched my palms, there's blood on my hands
PJ Harvey's hands are scratched from walking in the area, and they are bleeding
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: POLLY JEAN HARVEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind