Working For The Man

i think this songs about someone picking up prostitutes and killing them, all for God. and its Go out around doing good.

A lot of PJ Harvey's songs stem from the persona of a prostitute, a sort of ultimate down-trodden woman. This is one is literally from the point of view of a man looking for a prostitute from night to night, but he is also a man of god. its amazing how there are so few lyrics but the song says so much... it could really be interpreted as saying anything given the two facts in the song: (a) the prositute/man and (b) that the man worships god. It could easily be trying to portray the hypocrisy of religionists calling worshippers and non-worshippers alike "sinners". Or it could simply be trying to portray the dilemma in a man's mind, the dilemma of whether to be committed to women (sinning) or God. Or maybe there is no dilemma since the exploitation of women and the selfish proclamation that one is doing the bidding of God, goes hand in hand. Either way it feels like PJ harvey is letting us secretly watch an event in all its irony.

Who knows what the song really means, but I like to imagine it's about the angel of death, "the man" being God.

yes, i also think it's about an insane man who is picking up and murdering women (not necessarily prostitutes though), and believes he is being commanded by God.

i think songs like this are where a lot of Nick Cave/PJH comparisons come in, although musically is really not similar to Cave, and Cave would be much more wordy. PJ and Nick share a lot of similar themes, idealogies, mythologies (especially early PJ), etc...