Legs

PJ Harvey's song 'Legs' delves into the intense and often disturbing emotions tied to love and loss. The lyrics are a haunting exploration of obsession, pain, and the destructive nature of a relationship that has gone awry. Harvey's raw and evocative language paints a vivid picture of a lover grappling with the aftermath of a profound emotional connection that has been severed, leaving behind a trail of anguish and unresolved feelings.

The repeated references to divinity and the lover being 'divine' suggest a deep reverence and idealization of the partner, which contrasts sharply with the violent imagery of bleeding and cutting off legs. This juxtaposition highlights the duality of love and pain, where the intensity of affection can lead to equally intense suffering. The line 'Did it hurt when you bled' is particularly striking, as it merges physical pain with emotional torment, indicating that the lover's departure or betrayal has left a deep wound.

The song also touches on themes of dependency and control. The phrase 'I'll feed the head' implies a desire to maintain some form of connection or influence over the lover, even in their absence. The desperate plea 'No you must no you must no go away' underscores the fear of abandonment and the lengths to which one might go to prevent it. The final lines, 'And I might as well be dead / But I could kill you instead,' encapsulate the destructive potential of such intense emotions, where love can turn into a desire for revenge or self-destruction.

'Legs' is a powerful and unsettling portrayal of the darker side of love, where passion and pain are inextricably linked, and the boundaries between devotion and destruction become blurred.