(f) Short story as weird gothic blues confessional rock ballad:

In a blog post about ‘interesting sf & good fantasy’, M John Harrison cites PJ Harvey’s 1996 B-side ‘Who Will Love Me Now?’ and it’s a fair point: songs can be epic dark fantasies too (I mean, have you listened to Tom Waits’s ‘What’s He Building in There?’?). I prefer Harvey’s ‘Down by the Water’ though, a dirge-like thing of wheezing guitars and Hammer-horror violins that follows a woman who drowns her baby girl in the river and then pleads with the river’s deities to bring her back in one piece. Or rather, to bring back all the pieces of her, so that the deranged woman can herself commit the required resurrection?

“Little fish, big fish, swimming in the water
Come back here, man, gimme my daughter”

To be honest, it’s all a bit unclear, which is what makes it all the more horrifying and grimly compelling. It’s a beautiful song about ugly things, and it makes you crave to read the story it’s based on, and then you listen to it again and realise you’ve just heard the whole thing, entire.

First published as the lead single from the album To Bring You My Love, both Townhouse Records, 1995. You can watch the video online here