PJ Harvey

This chapter examines three songs on the 1998 recording Is This Desire? by British alt-rock diva PJ Harvey that draw heavily on the texts of three of O’Connor’s short stories–“Good Country People,” “The River,” and “The Life You Save May Be Your Own.” This chapter shows that the lyrics to these songs are largely pastiches of descriptive phrases and bits of dialogue lifted from individual stories—”found lyrics” of a sort. Reviewers at the time did not notice, nor did Harvey acknowledge, that she drew on O’Connor’s stories in forming these song narratives. No other songwriter in this study has so informed his or her work with O’Connor’s own words, the chapter argues. It is suggested that Harvey’s lyrical bricolage in these songs raises interesting issues of artistic inspiration and influence.