On the 2009 album A Woman A Man Walked By, PJ Harvey delivers 'The Soldier' as a haunting exploration of war's psychological toll. The track exemplifies her signature blend of folk instrumentation and gothic atmosphere, utilizing sparse arrangements to amplify the song's narrative weight. Harvey's vocal delivery shifts between whisper and roar, mirroring the internal conflict of a soldier grappling with trauma. Released during a period where she frequently revisited themes of conflict and displacement, the recording stands as a potent piece of her discography, capturing the raw emotion of modern warfare through a lens of poetic ambiguity.