"C'mon Billy" is a song by the English musician

PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer-songwriter. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined local band Automat ...

, released on 3 July 1995 as the second single from her third studio album, '' To Bring You My Love'' (1995). Produced, engineered, and mixed by

Flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

with Harvey as co-producer and engineer, it features the artist on vocals and guitar,

John Parish John Parish (born 11 April 1959) is an English musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. Parish is best known for his work with singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. He has also worked with such artists as Eels, Aldous Harding, Tracy Chapm ...

on drums and percussion, Joe Gore on guitar, Sonia Slany on violin, Jocelyn Pook and Jules Singleton on viola, and Sian Bell on cello. The string arrangement is by Pete Thomas. The song is cited as being a clear example of Harvey's sound change since breaking from the PJ Harvey Trio. The lyrics talk about a woman begging for 'Billy' to come home and meet his son. Harvey's singing style has been described as "frantic purrs”.

Critical reception

The single has been described as a clear example of Harvey's sound change; critics have stated that it was possibly a "glimpse of the Blues Explosion and Portishead." It peaked at No. 29 on the UK chart, and had moderate airplay there.

Music video

The accompanying music video shows PJ Harvey as an old-time performer in an old theater-dining setting, described by one scholar as "surreal". There, she attempts to seduce a bald man in the setting while singing the song. The video switches to a version of her in a modern red dress, her face stained with tears. There is a scene with her apparently in her bedroom, on a mattress on a twin-sized bed without sheets, shot from the ceiling. The video eventually shows a

home movie A home movie is a short amateur film or video typically made just to preserve a visual record of family activities, a vacation, or a special event, and intended for viewing at home by family and friends. Originally, home movies were made on ph ...

of Billy, Harvey (minus her previous make-up) and a baby boy, playing together outdoors in happier times. The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

''s

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...

described Harvey in the video as a "

sadomasochistic Sadism () and masochism (), known collectively as sadomasochism ( ) or S&M, is the derivation of pleasure from acts of respectively inflicting or receiving pain or humiliation. The term is named after the Marquis de Sade, a French author known ...

dominatrix A dominatrix ( ; or dominatrices ), or domme, is a woman who takes the dominant role in BDSM activities. The BDSM practice is called female dominance, or femdom. A dominatrix can be of any sexual orientation, but this does not necessarily l ...

in blood-red dress". Although the video impressed

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

executives, they refused to air it because the video was seen as scary and off-putting. Kot wrote that it "blew away everyone in the room and every video aired that day, but was rejected. 'She's amazing,' one VH1 executive remarked, 'and way too good for us.

Track list

# "C'mon Billy" – 2:52 # "Darling Be There" – 3:46 # "Maniac" – 4:01 # "One Time Too Many" – 2:51

Chart positions

References

External links

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Video on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:C'mon Billy PJ Harvey songs 1995 singles Island Records singles Song recordings produced by Flood (producer) Songs written by PJ Harvey