Placing Narrative and Metaphor in the Flow of Contemporary Music: PJ Harvey’s Community of Hope

Narratives run through the lyrics of popular songs and the lyrics are replete with visual and semantic metaphors, often anchored in ideas of place. In this chapter, we examine ways in which the conscious narratives of a song’s storyline can be complemented by its musical structures and sounds. These latter components provide an affective dimension to the narrative and ultimately contribute to what we have called the ‘soundscapes of well-being’. We focus, by way of example, on a recent work by the English songwriter and performer PJ Harvey. Her 2016 song ‘Community of Hope’ invokes the metaphor of community and the affective state of hope, while lyrically anchored in a particular place: a neighbourhood of Washington DC. We discuss the ways in which the sounds and sentiments are complementary. We then reflect on the way that the strong narrative of social justice-inspired critique running through the song nonetheless met with controversy from ‘locals’ who saw the work as an English singer’s misappropriation of a particular cultural politics. We conclude that notwithstanding the intent of popular music to ‘speak’ to universal narratives, the particularity of reference and emplaced positioning of the performer can lead to questioning of legitimacy.