The Community of Hope

Album: The Hope Six Demolition Project (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is a single from The Hope Six Demolition Project, an album inspired by PJ Harvey's trips to Washington, DC, Kosovo and Afghanistan with photographer Seamus Murphy. The record was named after the US Department Of Housing And Urban Development's HOPE VI program, which is a controversial policy of demolishing public housing projects and building mixed-income communities in their place.
  • This song paints a dreadful picture of Ward 7, an underdeveloped and economically depressed urban environment immediately surrounding the DHUD's headquarters in Washington D.C. ("Now this is just drug town, just zombies. But that's just life."). The lyrics were inspired by a tour of the city that Harvey and Murphy made with The Washington Post's Paul Schwartzman.
  • Various DC politicians criticized Harvey's lyrics. Former mayor Vince Gray said: "I will not dignify this inane composition with a response."
  • The Hope Six Demolition Project was Harvey's first ever UK #1 album. The singer's previous highest-charting UK release was her 1993 LP Rid Of Me, which peaked at #3.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Edie Brickell

Edie BrickellSongwriter Interviews

Edie Brickell on her collaborations with Paul Simon, Steve Martin and Willie Nelson, and her 2021 album with the New Bohemians.

Rick Springfield

Rick SpringfieldSongwriter Interviews

Rick has a surprising dark side, a strong feminine side and, in a certain TV show, a naked backside. But he still hasn't found Jessie's Girl.

Pam Tillis

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

90s Music Quiz 1

90s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

First question: Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson appeared in videos for what artist?

Colin Hay

Colin HaySongwriter Interviews

Established as a redoubtable singer-songwriter, the Men At Work frontman explains how religion, sobriety and Jack Nicholson play into his songwriting.

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be GiantsSongwriter Interviews

Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.