04. My Beautiful Leah
Written by Polly Jean Harvey
Musicians: Polly Jean Harvey, Mick Harvey, John Parish, Rob Ellis, Eric Drew Feldman, Jeremy Hogg, and Joe Gore

Found on:
Is This Desire?

A superficial connection to this song may have come from Roy Orbison's song "Leah." The lyrics don't relate, but Orbison also has a song called "Working For The Man," so perhaps PJ Harvey drew some minor inspiration from him.

"[It] starts with a very simple Cassio rhythm track. After four bars, the nastiest, blackest bass comes in: whale-like and distorted, it vies with a very unhappy church organ and a mashed-up brass cymbal for the most disturbing and compulsive sound on the song and, indeed, the album."
-Life Magazine, 1999

"I listened back to that song and I thought 'No! This is enough! No more of this! I don't want to be like this' Because it was all so black and white, and life just isn't black and white. I knew I needed to get help. I wanted to get help."
-Life Magazine, 1999

Did you see her walking?
Did she come around here Sir?
Black hair, brown eyes
My beautiful Leah
She was always so needing
Said, 'I have no-one'
Even as I held her
She went out looking for someone

She only had nightmares,
And her sadness never lifted
And slowly over the years
Her lovely face twisted
Did she come around here Sir?
I swear you would remember
Black hair, brown eyes
Late September...
                October,
                November,
                December

It never leaves my mind
The last words she said
'If I don't find it this time,
Then I'm better off dead.'