"The Words That Maketh Murder" is a song by English musician PJ Harvey. It is the fourth track and lead single from her eighth studio album, Let England Shake, and was released on 6 February 2011 on Island Records. Dealing with diplomacy, the ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan and world wars, "The Words That Maketh Murder" was produced by Flood, John Parish, Mick Harvey and PJ Harvey. It was Harvey's first single since 2008's "The Devil" and uses similar dynamics of song-writing to its predecessor, including folk influence and instrumentation.

Upon its release, "The Words That Maketh Murder" received positive critical acclaim, although it failed to chart. An accompanying music video, directed by Seamus Murphy, was released prior to the single in January 2011 and was the second part of a twelve film project documenting Let England Shake.

The song was written after the release of PJ Harvey's seventh studio album, White Chalk, in 2007. The lyrics to the song were written prior to the music, as Harvey used this technique with all the songs written for the album, citing it as "the starting point" and explaining that it is "the root level" of her style of song-writing. Recorded during the sessions for Let England Shake, the song was recorded over a five-week period in April and May 2010 with long-time collaborators John Parish and Mick Harvey, and, like other songs on the album, was recorded live so that Parish and Harvey could "bring their feelings into it."

As with all her compositions on Let England Shake, Harvey's main instrument on "The Words That Maketh Murder" is an autoharp. Its main underlying minor chord (Em) is prominent throughout the song, while the chord progression in the verses consists of a further three chords (A-G-F#/D) reverting to the minor chord. The chorus uses a contrasting major chord (G) as well as a flat chord (B♭) and another minor chord (Dm) and, like the song's final refrain, finishes on a standard chord (C). A saxophone and trombone, played by Harvey, are also featured during the chorus.

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