"This Is Love" is a song by English

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

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 ...

. It is the tenth track from her fifth studio album, ''

Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea ''Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea'' is the fifth studio album by the English singer-songwriter PJ Harvey, released on 23 October 2000 by Island Records. Recorded during March to April 2000, it contains themes of love that are tied in ...

'' (2000) and was released as a single in 2001 under the title "This Is Love/You Said Something". It charted on UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 41. The

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

-influenced song was nominated for the

Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for works (songs or albums) conta ...

in 2002 but lost to

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayl Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums, ''Ramblin' on My Mind (Lucinda Williams album), Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and ''Happy Woman Blues'' (198 ...

song "Get Right With God".

Musical style and lyrics

The song was described as "

blues punk Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrati ...

" and "one of the blues-tinged numbers" off the record. The guitar riff of the song was interpreted as an homage to

The Stooges The Stooges or Iggy and the Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexande ...

song "No Fun" and was compared to those of

The Heartbreakers The Heartbreakers (sometimes referred to as "Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers) were an American punk rock band formed in New York City in 1975. The band spearheaded the first wave of punk rock. History Johnny Thunders (vocals/guitar) and Jer ...

song "

Chinese Rocks "Chinese Rocks" or "Chinese Rock" is a song written in 1975 by New York punk rock musician Dee Dee Ramone with contributions from Richard Hell. Inspired by Lou Reed's "Heroin", the song openly details the day-to-day struggles of a heroin addic ...

." According to Amy Britton, the author of ''Revolution Rock: The Albums Which Defined Two Ages'', lyrically the song "places sex as a priority over the anomalies of the world." Also on the lyrics of the song, Jason Heller of

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

wrote: "PJ doesn’t bring her love to anyone, nor does she ponder whether her font of conflicted emotions and biological requirements amount to desire. She just states, “This is love / This is love / That I’m feeling.” Period. No searching of the soul needed."

Critical reception

Andrew Mueller of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' stated that the song "flirts with a hitherto uncharacteristic

Liz Phair Elizabeth Clark Phair (born April 17, 1967) is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Phair was raised primarily in the Chicago area. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1990, she attempted to sta ...

-ish playfullness" and described it as "exuberant". Christian David Hoard, one of the authors of ''

The New Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' praised the song, writing: "on the bombastic and awesomely raunchy "This Is Love," arguably her best song ever, she says a big fuck-you to psychosis and sadness as guitars crunch and garments hit the floor."

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by

Sophie Muller Sophie Luise Elisabeth Muller (born 31 January 1962) is an English music video director who has directed over 300 music videos. She won a Grammy Award for Annie Lennox's 1992 ''Diva'' video album, and an MTV Video Music Award for Lennox's song " ...

, who also collaborated with Harvey on the music videos of "

Good Fortune Good Fortune may refer to: * ''Good Fortune'' (film), a film by Aziz Ansari * "Good Fortune" (song), a song by PJ Harvey * ''Good Fortune'' (Brotherhood of Man album) * ''Good Fortune'' (78 Saab album) See also * Good fortune, the concept ...

" and "A Place Called Home." It features Harvey, who is wearing a fringe-sleeved white suit and red lipstick, performing the song on the guitar at a studio and whipping her hair around.

Track listing

;CD # "This Is Love" – 3:48 # "You Said Something" – 3:23 # "A Place Called Home" (taken from '' Lamacq Live'') – 3:41 ;Australia / Asia CD Single # "This Is Love" – 3:48 # "You Said Something" – 3:23 ;7" # "This Is Love" – 3:44 # "Angelene" (taken from ''Lamacq Live'') – 3:46 ;US VHS Promo # "This Is Love"

Chart positions

References

External links

* {{PJ Harvey 2001 singles 2001 songs Island Records singles PJ Harvey songs Songs written by PJ Harvey Music videos directed by Sophie Muller