The Manics released their debut album Generation Terrorists in 1992. Their combination of androgynous glam punk imagery, outspoken invective and songs about "culture, alienation, boredom and despair" soon gained them a loyal following and cult status. The band's later albums retained a politicized and intellectual lyrical style, while adopting a broader alternative rock sound. Enigmatic lyricist Richey Edwards gained early notoriety by carving the words "4 REAL" into his arm with a razor blade (narrowly missing an artery and requiring seventeen stitches) in response to the suggestion that the band were less than authentic. The dark nature of 1994's The Holy Bible reflected the culmination of Edwards' instability.
Following Edwards' disappearance, Bradfield, Moore, and Wire persisted with the Manic Street Preachers and went on to gain critical and commercial success, becoming one of Britain's premier rock bands. They have had eight top ten albums and fifteen top ten singles. They have reached number one three times, with their 1998 album This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours and the singles "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" (1998) and "The Masses Against The Classes" (2000). The Masses Against The Classes Songfacts reports that the latter was the first UK #1 of 2000. They have also won the Best British Album and Best British Group accolades at the BRIT Awards in 1997 and 1999, and were lauded by the NME for their lifetime achievements in 2008. Their ninth studio album, Journal For Plague Lovers, was released on 18th May 2009 and features lyrics Edwards had left behind to the band weeks before his disappearance.
They came together in 1986, when James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Sean Moore and rhythm guitarist Flicker formed Betty Blue in the small South Wales town of Blackwood. Two years later, Flicker had left and Nicky's friend Richey Edwards (previously the group's driver) joined in his place. Richey would later say in Vox magazine, "If you built a museum to represent Blackwood, all you could put in it would be shit. We used to meet by this opening called Pen-y-Fan. It was built when the mines closed down but now the water has turned green and slimy. They put 2,000 fish in it, but they died. There's a whirlpool in the middle where about two people die every year". A bleak image, then, but it provided the necessary fuel to drive the band.
Inspired by the passion of The Clash, and moved by Thatcher's suppression of the miners, the band's lyrics exploded with politicised anger. Their first single, the self-financed Suicide Alley, didn't make great waves, and the band moved to London. There, they found a sympathetic character in the form of Bob Stanley: later a member of St Etienne, but then a freelancer for the Melody Maker.
Stanley released a collection of their demos as the New Art Riot EP in June 1990. It caught the attention of Philip Hall, who became their publicist and co-manager.
In early 1991 Heavenly released Motown Junk, an inspired three-minute punk blast. Later that year it was followed by You Love Us, a swaggering, arrogant self-regarding slice of brilliance.
The Manics paved the way for a resurgence of guitar bands in Wales. In the press, they were forced to live with punning headlines referring to sheep, boyos and leeks - they got all the clichés out of the way so the bands of the so-called Cool Cymru would be taken more seriously.
Yet their image often overshadowed the music. On 15 May 1991 came a turning point for the Manics. Following a gig at Norwich Arts Centre, Steve Lamacq, then writing for the NME, argued with the band that they were a cartoon band - not real punks. The band refuted this, but still Lamacq persisted. Frustrated, Richey Edwards took a razor and calmly carved the words 4 REAL into his forearm. Lamacq was horrified; Richey needed 17 stitches. Six days later the Manics signed to Sony. Richey had suffered from depression for many years, and self-mutilation had become increasingly common for him. But the Norwich incident was the first time the guitarist had aired his emotional problems in public.
In February 1992 the debut album Generation Terrorists was released. Heavily influenced by Appetite For Destruction, Richey said of it, "We wanted to sign to the biggest record label in the world, put out a debut album that would sell 20 million, and then break up. Get massive and then just throw it all away". The album sold 250,000 copies worldwide. Predictably they didn't split up, but the album polarised opinion between those that saw them as the new saviours of rock and roll, and detractors who considered them contrived and insincere. Not that the Manics cared: they were off on their first American tour, shortly after the LA riots, and singles such as Slash 'N' Burn and Motorcycle Emptiness were climbing up the charts.
The second Manics album was released in June 1993. Gold Against The Soul was overproduced and less passionate, but did contain the classic songs La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh) and From Despair To Where. However, they also chose to support Bon Jovi for a string of unwise live dates. The troubles continued with the death on 7 December 1993 of their mentor Philip Hall, who had been battling cancer for two years. Meanwhile, Richey's problems were worsening. Weighing less than six stone and subjecting his body to drinking and cutting binges, he was eventually admitted to the Priory in Roehampton.
Richey's despair was documented in what is now considered the Manics' masterpiece, 1994's 'The Holy Bible'. Unremittingly bleak, the opening song Yes contained the lines "I eat and I dress and I wash and I still can say thank you / Puking, shaking, sinking / Can't shout, can't scream, I hurt myself to get pain out". The song was about prostitution, but every line emanated from Richey's fragile state of mind. He rejoined the band for tours with Therapy? and Suede (and an early incarnation of Vitriol I.D.) in Europe, and a series of frantic shows at the London Astoria in December. The final night saw them destroying 10,000 worth of their equipment. "We'll never be that good again," said Nicky after the event. It was also their last live appearance as a four-piece.
Although they had never found transatlantic success, at the beginning of 1995 they were preparing to give America one last try. However, on 1 February Richey walked out of the Embassy hotel in London and never returned. His passport and money were found in his Cardiff Bay flat, and two weeks later his car was discovered beside the Severn Bridge - a notorious local suicide spot. The file on his disappearance remains open.
"We decided to carry on in April," said Nicky Wire in The Guardian, "after two months of waiting by the phone and feeling ill and exhausted. We thought we'd been so close, and in the end we couldn't do anything for him." September saw the band record a cover of Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head for the War Child "Help" album, and by January 1996 the Manics were recording their comeback album 'Everything Must Go'. It was released on 20 May to critical acclaim, went double platinum and yielded four top ten singles: 'A Design For Life', the title track, 'Kevin Carter' and 'Australia'. The sound represents a cross between the heavy rock of 'Gold Against The Soul' and a new, less agressive, almost Britpop like sound.
Two Brit Awards later, they released the LP This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours which gave the band their first number one single in If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next, perhaps the only song that references the Spanish Civil War to ever appear on Top of the Pops.
On December 31st 1999 the band said goodbye to the 20th Century with a gig at Cardiff Millennium Stadium, attended by upwards of 50,000 people. This was followed by their second number one single, The Masses Against The Classes, which hit the top spot despite not having a video or marketing support from their record company.
Shortly afterwards, Nicky stated that "the fourth era of the Manics is beginning".
The fourth era, so far, has involved an audience with Fidel Castro in Cuba, the 2001 album Know Your Enemy, and continuing success. Their long awaited greatest hits collection, Forever Delayed, appeared in October 2002, followed in 2003 by Lipstick Traces, a two-disc collection of covers, B-sides, and outtakes including the last song recorded with Richey, 'Judge Yr'self'.
The Manics returned in November 2004 with the more reflective Lifeblood, which featured the singles The Love Of Richard Nixon and Empty Souls, both of which went straight in at number two in the charts.
Not to rest on their laurels, the band released a 10th anniversary edition of The Holy Bible in December 2004 which included a digitally remastered version of the original album, a never before heard U.S mix and a DVD of live performances and extras.
In April 2005 the Manics released a limited 3 track E.P. titled God Save The Manics as a free download but with hard copies distributed also without cost at the final date of their small, intimate 'Past Present and Future' tour at Hammersmith Apollo, London - their last show before a two year hiatus.
Later that year the band contributed the new track Leviathan to September's War Child charity album Help: A Day in the Life, becoming one of the few bands to contribute tracks to both albums.
2006 saw both James Dean Bradfield and Nicky Wire releasing solo albums, The Great Western and I Killed the Zeitgeist respectively. But both insisted that this in no way meant an end to the Manics and in December the band headlined XFM's Winter Wonderland gig in Manchester.
2007 sees the band enter yet another era with their 8th studio album, Send Away The Tigers, which was released on May 7th.
The album Journal For Plague Lovers was released in May 2009 and features lyrics left to the band by Richey before he disappeared. They released several different versions of the album, including a special edition, which has a book featuring copies of the original typed lyrics and pictures that went with them, and a bonus disc with all the original demos, recorded at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, which they say is one of their favourite studios.
Their 10th studio album, Postcards from a Young Man, was released in September 2010. The album features several guest artists: Duff McKagan on A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun, John Cale on Auto-Intoxication and Ian McCulloch on Some Kind of Nothingness. A deluxe edition was also released containing a bonus disc with the original demos on it.
In 2011 the band released their second compilation National Treasures- The Complete Singles Collection, a release preceded by new single This Is The Day a cover of a ´¨The The song. The collection featured every single released since and including Motown Junk.
http://www.manicstreetpreachers.com
Be Natural
Manic Street Preachers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Now I'll have to swallow some pride
Know that I should never give advice
But it's too late now to say goodbye
Be natural don't want any friends
Be natural come on and hit me again
Be natural I'm repeating myself
Starbright
Keep me safe, today and tonight
No water tastes like lemonade
Slowly slowly it starts to fade
Be natural with me tonight
Be natural put your fists in my eyes
Be natural so turn me to stone
Be natural just leave me alone
Grown up or backwards born
Into eternity and black holes
Floating around up here on my own
Screaming at me forever unknown
Be natural, be natural, be natural
Be natural, is there anyone else?
The lyrics of Manic Street Preachers’s song 'Be Natural' describe an internal struggle to embrace one’s true self, rather than constantly trying to please others. The first lines of the song "Be natural for once in my life, now I'll have to swallow some pride" suggest that the person speaking has been living a life of pretense and is now acknowledging that they need to be more authentic. This realization leads to a sense of regret that is captured in the line "But it's too late now to say goodbye".
Throughout the song, the singer repeats the phrase "Be natural" multiple times, almost as a reminder to themselves to stay true to their authentic self. They also seem to be seeking validation and acceptance for who they are. This is evident in the lines "Be natural don't want any friends, Be natural come on and hit me again" where the person is asking for someone to accept them, even if it means disagreeing with them. The mention of lemonade as a unique taste in the line "No water tastes like lemonade" could be interpreted as a metaphor for the uniqueness of each individual and the need for people to embrace and celebrate their own differences.
The chorus of the song, which repeats the phrase "Be natural" several times, represents the singer’s desire for authenticity, and self-acceptance in a world that often encourages conformity. The lyrics end with the question “Be natural, is there anyone else?”, suggesting that the singer is looking for someone to relate to, someone who is also struggling to be authentic and true to themselves.
Line by Line Meaning
Been natural for once in my life
I have always been artificial, but recently I have decided to be more authentic
Now I'll have to swallow some pride
It is difficult for me to show my true self because of my pride, but I must do so
Know that I should never give advice
I am not qualified to give advice because I have not always been genuine
But it's too late now to say goodbye
I cannot undo my past, so I must move forward with my newfound authenticity
Be natural don't want any friends
I would rather be alone than surround myself with people who do not accept the real me
Be natural come on and hit me again
I am willing to face the consequences of being genuine, even if it means getting hurt
Be natural I'm repeating myself
I know I have said this before, but it is important for me to be my true self
Be natural is there anything else
I have made the decision to be authentic, is there anything else that needs to happen?
Starbright
This is a seemingly random word, possibly used to indicate a change in subject or tone
Keep me safe, today and tonight
Despite showing my true self, I am still vulnerable and need protection
No water tastes like lemonade
There is nothing else in the world that can compare to the sweetness of being authentic
Slowly slowly it starts to fade
As time passes, it becomes more difficult to maintain my authenticity
Be natural with me tonight
I am asking someone to accept me for who I am in this moment
Be natural put your fists in my eyes
I would rather be hurt than hide my true self
Be natural so turn me to stone
I am willing to endure any pain or difficulty in order to stay true to myself
Be natural just leave me alone
I would rather be isolated than be with people who cannot accept my authenticity
Grown up or backwards born
I am questioning my identity and how I came to be
Into eternity and black holes
I am grappling with deep, existential questions about the meaning of life
Floating around up here on my own
I feel isolated in my search for truth and authenticity
Screaming at me forever unknown
I am seeking answers, but they remain elusive and unknown
Be natural, be natural, be natural
A repetition of the importance of authenticity
Be natural, is there anyone else?
Is anyone else willing to be authentic and vulnerable like I am?
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: James Dean Bradfield, Nick Jones, Sean Moore
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
TheLostBoy1974
Absolutely stunning live. One of their best.
HQ
Very underrated song, looking forward to hearing it again on tour :)
Leandro de Hollanda
Boy, have I been waiting for this! Just beautiful!!
TheLostBoy1974
Leandro de Hollanda Same here 21 years, for one of the most beautiful songs ever. Worth the wait. Get to see them twice in Tokyo in September
Angelo Noziglia
remembering when I saw them during the This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours - tour... of of my best memories
Steve Logan
Well, Emily, I almost don’t know whether to thank you for this excellent video — I can see both JDB’s hands properly all the way through — or to be even more miffed about not being able to get a ticket. No, I do know. Thank you. I had a friend telling me only this morning how good the gig was, unthinkingly rubbing in the salt and my curiosity to know what it looked and sounded like was immense. Now thanks to you, I’ve got some idea. As a singer and guitar player, I often wonder how good the onstage monitoring is. JDB pushes himself to the limit constantly and if, when you’re doing that, you can’t hear yourself properly, you’ll struggle. The impulse for singers is to sing louder, which causes strain, though of course JDB is so brilliant and such a professional he always deals with it ok. Did you get any indication that the stage sound wasn’t right?
Steve Logan
Emily Hyatt Thanks so much, Emily. Yes, I know he’s got a really strong and penetrating voice. You must from being so close to the stage get a really good sense of that. Still, the onstage sound is often so big that an unamplified voice would tend to disappear. I’ve seen James giving instructions to the onstage sound engineer (to the side of the stage) sometimes. He’s such a total pro that even if he wasn’t altogether comfortable I doubt he’d show it much if at all. It’s so great you are able to compare sound in different venues. We are lucky to have your vids and comments.
Emily Hyatt
It wasn't very well balanced in Dublin but I found Cambridge and Bath to be good sound. James' voice is naturally huge so he can self monitor because he doesn't up it. Hearing him sing without amplication, you can really understand that.
Jimmy Brown
Amazing love that song gutted I'm missing this tour
Kevin Hyland
This is just an awesome video well done girl x