50ft Queenie

PJ Harvey had just finished recording her second album when "50ft Queenie" was chosen to introduce it. The song, the first single from Rid of Me, was cut at Pachyderm Studios with Steve Albini, who had previously produced albums for Pixies and the Breeders. Harvey praised his work, saying the instruments on the album sounded like they were breathing and real. Her trio, with Rob Ellis on drums and Steve Vaughan on bass, backed her on the recording.

Island Records released the single in April 1993, and it reached the top 30 in the United Kingdom, though it failed to chart in the United States. A promotional video followed, directed by British photographer Maria Mochnacz and shot in a barn in Bristol. In it, Harvey performs the song wearing the small leopard skin coat seen on the single's inlay artwork, against a backdrop reading "HEY I'M ONE BIG QUEEN". The video was released on 19 April 1993 and later appeared on Beavis and Butt-Head.

The single carried four tracks in its UK CD and European 12-inch formats. Alongside "Reeling", Harvey included demo versions of "Man-Size" and "Hook", the latter two recorded by Harvey herself rather than Albini. The demo of "Hook" later surfaced on 4-Track Demos. Gina Morris of NME named it one of the magazine's singles of the week, while David Bennun of Melody Maker called it pretty good but urged readers to buy the album instead.