Yuri-G

Yuri Gagarin was a Soviet cosmonaut. That's what I always figured "Yuri-G" was referring to.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin

She's not talking about "yuri" in the Japanese sense. The internet wasn't really a huge thing back when this song was released, so "yuri" in that sense wasn't something many westerners would have ever even heard of. Even today, that's more of a niche thing that most people haven't heard of.

I used to think Yuri G was a reference to Yuri Gellar, the guy who supposedly could bend spoons, had ESP and the power of telepathy/telekinesis. I always thought that fit because she wants to control whoever Luna is by any and all means necessary.

However, now I see Luna/moon fits better with Yuri G the cosmonaut. The song is about power, how she is obsessing over something or someone and would do anything to have it, control it, or be near it.

I see it as Polly playing a mental patient, who's obsessed with the moon (lunatic containing part of the word lunar). It's clear why she wishes she was Yuri G. And the doctor gives her something to 'calm her down' (needles stick in her). I love this song, Rid Of Me is probably PJH's best album

from the previous posts, it makes sense that polly wishes to be yuri gagarin, the first man in space. she would like to reach the moon, since the moon has got her mesmerized, mystified. yet, i think the reference to the needles has something more to do with getting high on drugs and then is able to bring down the moon to her via a halluciantion. to "[stick the needles] in a mile" and to "[stick] them in real clean" sounds like something a person on drugs (heroine maybe?) might say. the smile polly mentions possible refers to her happy state of being high.

i will add a secondary interpretation of the song that i was considering before i read the previous posts, although having read the posts, i tend to agree with the first interpretation that give rather than this second one. i know that in japanese "yuri" means girl, but it is also slang for a girl who likes another girl. i thought maybe "yuri-g" was "yuri girl" and the moon was a metaphor for a girl that polly realizes she likes but cannot reach because maybe polly is not really (or has never been) a yuri girl. polly then turns to drugs to be able to reach her love, though in just a fantasy.

this song is amazing. pj harvey's best, for sure.

is yuri-g supposed to be the first man in space, the guy from russia (or the soviet union)?

I think so. grrl. Yuri G... agarin?

well, that does make a hell of a lot of sense, as she keeps refering to the moon/luna...i'm such a bad student lol, i should've remembered him.

Also, Polly once mentioned reading about different 'pagan' traditions where the practitioners would try to draw down the moon in order to gain the favour/love of someone ("I drew her down on me I drew her with a smile").

Here's a quotation of hers: "I just found it fascinating that some people used to do an incantation called 'drawing down the moon' to try and make a loved one theirs."

(Adding to my previous post) In this case, it seems the moon itself is the object of affection.