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
Black Holes for the Young
Manic Street Preachers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lots of sun for you today
Subsidize the opera forget coal
Sit around in the London smog
Cappuccinos amongst the fumes
Breathe it in and down the gym
Yes I'm on a witch hunt now
[Chorus]
You've got some black holes for the young
You won't feel it when its gone
You've got some black holes for the young
You won't know when its gone, when its gone
No sun for you young boy
It will hurt your lily white skin
I don't think it will hurt your mind
Well be the ones who will give you soul
Close enough to fill all those holes
This tenderness slipping through my fingers
Sandy sandy feet, ice cream to sleep
No more feeling that you can feel
[Chorus]
When its gone, when its gone
When its gone, when its gone
When its gone, gone
[Chorus]
The lyrics of the song "Black Holes for the Young" by Manic Street Preachers explore the contrast between the privileged and less privileged sections of society. The opening lines, "Lots of sun for you young boy, / Lots of sun for you today" could be interpreted as addressing the wealthy, who can afford to travel to sunny destinations for vacations. The next lines, "Subsidize the opera forget coal, / Sit around in the London smog" suggest that these people are not concerned about the environment or the working class, as they prioritize funding opera over coal miners' welfare.
The next verse, "Cappuccinos amongst the fumes, / Breathe it in and down the gym" further emphasizes the hedonistic and self-gratifying lifestyle of the wealthy. The singer is on a "witch hunt," perhaps trying to expose the hypocrisy of such people who claim to care about the world, but do little to make a difference. The chorus, "You've got some black holes for the young, / You won't feel it when its gone" implies that the current generation is not doing enough to protect the earth and that the consequences will not be felt by them but the future generation.
The second verse, "No sun for you young boy, / It will hurt your lily white skin" could be interpreted as addressing the less privileged, who do not have the luxury of going on vacations to sunny destinations. The line "I don't think it will hurt your mind, / Well be the ones who will give you soul" suggests that the singer believes the less privileged have greater resilience to difficult circumstances.
Overall, the song seems to be a commentary on the contradictions and inequalities of contemporary society, with a focus on the environment and the future of the younger generations.
Line by Line Meaning
Lots of sun for you young boy
You seem to have an easy life ahead, you have enough resources at hand.
Lots of sun for you today
Your present circumstance is sunny and bright.
Subsidize the opera forget coal
Spend on culture and forget about the environment.
Sit around in the London smog
Living in an urban environment constantly exposed to pollution.
Cappuccinos amongst the fumes
Find pleasure in simple joys amidst polluted surroundings.
Breathe it in and down the gym
Indulge in fitness routine to counteract the toxic effects of pollution.
Yes I'm on a witch hunt now
I am on a search for something or someone to blame for the issues around us.
And paracetamol my only drug
The only means to overcome the physical and mental discomfort caused by pollution is by taking medication.
You've got some black holes for the young
The current society has created some deep-seated issues that negatively impact the youth.
You won't feel it when its gone
The young generation is oblivious to these issues as they have been normalized and accepted by the society.
No sun for you young boy
The challenges and issues that lie ahead in the future for the young generation are likely to be even more daunting.
It will hurt your lily white skin
Like the effect of sunburn, these future challenges will be harsh and damaging to your vulnerable self.
I don't think it will hurt your mind
It is expected that the young generation's mental and emotional resilience will help them cope up with the mounting pressures.
Well be the ones who will give you soul
We'll try to provide the much-needed support, guidance and morals to build their character and spirituality.
Close enough to fill all those holes
We'll try our best to be approachable and within reach to make up for the gaps in the support system.
This tenderness slipping through my fingers
Despite the intentions and efforts, somehow this unspoken compassion and kindness is slipping away and getting lost.
Sandy sandy feet, ice cream to sleep
The simple joys of life such as strolling on the beach, enjoying ice cream are what we wish to preserve for the younger generation.
No more feeling that you can feel
With the rise of disinformation, apathy, and lack of empathy, the youth is losing the ability to truly sense and connect with life, people and the world around them.
When its gone, when its gone
We fear that when these joys, simple or significant, are gone, the younger generation might not know what they lost.
When its gone, gone
It'll be too late to realize that what the younger generation needed was not just a superficially comfortable life but also the values, culture, and morals that were taking a back seat in this progress-driven society.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
bradwire locust manic
I think James is in a singing contest in his mind, his voice is superb.
Marcia Elena
My favorite MSP song. I searched for it not long ago and couldn't believe it wasn't anywhere on YT. Thank you so much for uploading!
underneonloneliness2
@Elizabeth Henry It's on ebay quite cheap
Elizabeth Henry
The same! I got the single when it came out, lost it while moving to another country and haven't seen/heard it since. Great to have it again! I love it!
Jay S
Quite possibly my favourite too.
Would love to have heard this live.
Peter Toth
Marcia England - I uploaded cos even I couldn't find. Glad you liked.
Cristina Garcia
One of their best songs. Amazing how their voices blend perfectly!
Jonny Red
typical hidden gem by MSP!! got it on the Everlasting single..played it to death when it came out!
Jay S
Finally someone had uploaded it. What a fantastic bloody song.
Just HAS to be played loud. Cheers.
Manic Street Preacher
Cheers for uploading this! Been looking for it for ages.