Synopsis

An atmospheric, largely non-narrative video frames PJ Harvey in stark, windswept surroundings, matching the song's ghostly meditation on Saint Catherine. Close views of Harvey are intercut with images of rural landscape, the hilltop chapel associated with Catherine, and details that suggest solitude, devotion, and the passage of time. Rather than dramatizing the saint's story literally, the film works as a visual evocation of the song's haunted mood, placing Harvey between earthly desire, religious myth, and the elemental force of the wind.

Factoids & Trivia

• "The Wind" was released as the second and final single from the 1998 album "Is This Desire?" in January 1999. It reached No. 29 on the UK Singles Chart.

• The song was inspired by St Catherine's Chapel at Abbotsbury in Dorset, close to the area where PJ Harvey grew up. The medieval chapel stands on a hill and is associated with Saint Catherine of Alexandria.

• The lyrics draw on local folklore in which unmarried women prayed at the chapel for a husband. Harvey turns that tradition around by imagining Catherine herself as lonely and in need of companionship.

• "The Wind" and "Catherine," another song on "Is This Desire?," are closely connected pieces. Both engage with the legend and martyrdom of Saint Catherine, although they approach her from different perspectives.

• The video was made during Harvey's especially close creative partnership with Maria Mochnacz, whose photography and visual work also shaped the look of the "Is This Desire?" era.

• The track was produced by Harvey alongside Flood, Head, and Marius de Vries. Its restrained electronic textures and subdued rhythm marked a move away from the more overtly guitar-driven sound of Harvey's earlier records.

• The official video was uploaded to Harvey's YouTube channel in November 2010, giving the film a later life online long after the single's original release.