PJ Harvey - Down By The Water

JUL 01 1995 · 12:00

PJ Harvey - Down By The Water (1995) Director: Maria Mochnacz Era: Mid-90s Alternative Rock Breakthrough (1995) - Peak era of post-grunge alternative feminism, MTv rotation dominance, and art-directed female rock iconography on Island Records Exceptionally high. A landmark music video in the 1990s alternative canon, 'Down by the Water' is a primary visual document of PJ Harvey's artistic reinvention and mainstream breakthrough. Its theatrical aesthetic, documented production history, 35mm film medium, and cultural afterlife, VMAs nomination, Grammy nomination, film and TV sync placements, make it an essential archive object for scholars of gender, alternative rock, and 1990s music video as art form. Context: Released in February 1995 as the lead single from 'To Bring You My Love,' 'Down by the Water' served as PJ Harvey's mainstream US breakthrough, reaching number 2 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart and receiving extensive MTV and college radio rotation. The video's iconography, Harvey as a hyper-glamourised, almost drag-exaggerated femme figure drowning in emerald water, directly confronted mid-90s alternative rock's predominantly male visual vocabulary. It arrived during the post-Riot Grrrl moment, channelling its feminist energy into theatrical art-rock spectacle rather than raw minimalism, signalling Harvey's deliberate evolution from the abrasive indie blues of 'Rid of Me.' The song's ambiguous narrative of filicide, drawing on Lead Belly's 'Salty Dog Blues,' fused American folk-gothic with UK art-rock sensibility. The video was nominated for Best Female Video at the 1995 MTV VMAs and the song was nominated for a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance in 1996. Director notes: Mochnacz directed 'Down by the Water' with a larger-than-usual budget granted by Island Records as part of a major promotional push for the album 'To Bring You My Love.' The video was shot on 35mm film over two days in London, with a large crew. Two separate camera operators handled distinct visual threads: one covering the performance/dancing sequences, the other covering the underwater scenes. A body double was used for some of the underwater footage. The visual centerpiece is PJ Harvey dancing in a red satin dress (sourced by Mochnacz from TK Maxx in Bristol), a large dark wig, false eyelashes, and heavy make-up, a look Harvey dubbed 'Joan Crawford on acid' and subsequently adopted for her entire 'To Bring You My Love' live tour. The video was nominated for Best Female Video at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards.