Hi Pooley. I'm not surprised that Harvey was a mite uncomfortable talking about "The Soldier". He's a "risk taker" and that can get you a huge amount of flack in this business, not only from critics, but from emotional fans as well. I guess I have all his albums and although he has the same patches of uneveness that every worthwhile artist has, something comes through so strongly in his writing and presentation that I think it deserves mention.

Personal Honesty.

He writes about individual human beings...how they think, how they act, and more importantly, how they sometimes throw caution to the wind and go against prevailing wisdom. "Prevailing wisdom" is a highly verbal little group with it's own set of expectations, and it can often seem more powerful than it is when it gets on your case.

Two examples come to mind. Years ago, Phil Ochs (who's main constituency was the political left) wrote a song called "Links On the Chain", which rightly held American Labour Unions accountable for it's treatment of black workers. I'm told he was advised to leave out the offending verse for "solidarity's sake". Thank goodness he didn't...but he got a lot of criticism from "his side".

English singer Vin Garbutt wrote and recorded a song highly critical of abortion...and consequently offended many of his "club going" constituency.

Two of my favourite current songwriters are Si Kahn and Leon Rosselson; both have written some pretty highly charged political material, but my guess (and I could be wrong) is that they mostly play for audiences with solid left wing beliefs. Harvey performs for a wide variety of audiences, and in the two concerts that I've attended, appears to have no other agenda than his own personal one, namely: "telling a story" from his point of view, in the most literate way he can. Trust me, he's willing to talk quite a bit about that! "The Soldier" is not his only song that's ruffled a few feathers. His use of irony has at times meant that some missed a song's meaning entirely! C'est la Vie.

Nope, the guy puts on a great concert. Folks laugh til' they're falling down, they cry openly, and he makes them think. Good combination.

Rick