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A Line in the Sand

PJ Harvey
Language: English


PJ Harvey



2016
The Hope Six Demolition Project
sixHope

In The Hope Six Demolition Project PJ Harvey si spinge oltre, rispetto al precedente album Let England Shake: non era soltanto l’Inghilterra a tremare, non era soltanto la battaglia di Gallipoli a seminare morti sulla Battleship Hill, era tutto il mondo che si stava sgretolando sotto i nostri occhi. Per questo motivo il nono album in studio della fu Polly nasce e si sviluppa nell’arco di quattro anni e di vari viaggi tra il Kosovo, l’Afghanistan e Washington. Ed è proprio quest’ultima a suggerire il titolo del disco, riferimento al progetto Hope VI tramite il quale il governo degli Stati Uniti ha demolito gli alloggi pubblici dei quartieri più poveri della città per far spazio a nuovi nuclei abitativi e a una nuova assegnazione delle abitazioni, situazione che ha creato molti disagi alle famiglie meno abbienti.

The Community of Hope - The Ministry of Defence - A Line in the Sand - Chain of Keys - All Near the Memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln - Dollar, Dollar - The Wheel


pj harvey


A Line in the Sand, meanwhile, is flatly terrifying. This time the voice is of a worker in a refugee camp, detailing the horrors he’s seen – refugees murdering each other over air-dropped food, “a displaced family eating a cold horse’s hoof” – the whole thing somehow rendered bleaker still by the fact that Harvey sings his words to a jaunty, skipping melody, in a blithe, high-pitched voice.

A Line In The Sand fonda la sua bellezza su uno degli elementi più importanti del disco: il ritmo. Stavolta si tratta di un tappeto tribale che si risolve in un ritornello ipnotico. Immancabili il sax e le chitarre riverberate, qui quasi in disparte per buona parte del brano per poi emergere e ricalcare la seconda parte della canzone.
How to stop the murdering?
By now we should have learned —
If we don’t then we’re a sham
Bad overwhelms the good
Bad overwhelms the good

Ooh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh

What I’ve seen —
Yes, it’s changed how
I see humankind —
I used to think progress was made
We could get something right
We could get something right

Enough is enough
A line in the sand
Seven or eight thousand people
Killed by hand
They stepped off the edge
They did not step back
If we have not learnt
By now
Then we’re a sham

When we first got to the camp
Our supplies were not enough
I saw a displaced family
Eating a cold horse's hoof
Oh a cold horse's hoof

Ooh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh

We sent up tents
Brought in water
Air drops were dispersed
I saw people kill each other
Just to get there first
Oh just to get there first

Enough is enough
A line in the sand
Seven or eight thousand people
Killed by hand
They stepped off the edge
They did not step back
If we have not learnt
By now
Then we’re a sham

What we did?
Why we did?
I make no excuse —
We got things wrong
But I believe
We also did some good

What we did?
Why we did?
I make no excuse —
I believe we have a future
To do something good

Ooh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh

Contributed by dq82 - 2016/4/16 - 09:42




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