Wiki
-
Length
2:46
A Child's Question, August is a song by the English singer-songwriter and musician PJ Harvey, released as the lead single from her tenth studio album I Inside the Old Year Dying on 26 April 2023. The song was written by Harvey and produced by Flood and John Parish, who also played various instruments on the track. The song features Harvey's vocals accompanied by acoustic guitar, piano, synthesizer and drums. The song also features backing vocals by the actor Ben Whishaw, who recites the chorus with Harvey.
The song's lyrics are inspired by a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Answer to a Child's Question, which asks what the birds say in different seasons. Harvey said that in her song, she looks to the universe for answers amidst the bittersweet melancholy of the fading summer. She also said that the song is about "positivity and love presiding, never voiced more powerfully than by the great Elvis Presley", whose song Love Me Tender is referenced in the chorus.
The song received critical acclaim from music critics, who praised Harvey's poetic lyrics, Whishaw's contribution and the song's atmospheric production. Some of the positive reviews are:
- Alexis Petridis from The Guardian called it "a gorgeous, haunting ballad" and "a stunning return to form" for Harvey.
- Laura Snapes from Pitchfork wrote that it was "a masterful display of Harvey's ability to conjure mood and emotion with minimal elements".
- Helen Brown from The Independent described it as "a delicate and beautiful song that eluded until the very last day in the studio" and "a testament to her perseverance and vision".
- Marcelo Costa from Música Instantânea said that it was "a sublime song that shows Harvey's maturity and talent as a songwriter and performer".
The song was accompanied by a music video directed by Seamus Murphy, who had previously worked with Harvey on her albums Let England Shake and The Hope Six Demolition Project. The video features footage of Harvey recording the song in the studio with Flood and Parish, interspersed with scenes of nature and wildlife in Dorset, where Harvey lives.
Track descriptions on Last.fm are editable by everyone. Feel free to contribute!
All user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.
![Big Sigh [Explicit]](https://lastfm.freetls.fastly.net/i/u/300x300/f1b4cae0384aa09fe917c94f54fc6de0.jpg)
