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
Let Robeson Sing
Manic Street Preachers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Broken up or still around?
The CIA says you're a guilty man
Will we see the likes of you again?
Can anyone make a difference anymore?
Can anyone write a protest song?
Pinky lefty revolutionary
A voice so pure, a vision so clear
I've got to learn to live like you
Learn to sing like you
Went to Cuba to meet Castro
Never got past sleepy Moscow
A giant man with a heavenly voice
MK Ultra turned you paranoid
No passport 'til 1958
McCarthy poisoned through with hate
Liberty lost still buried today
Beneath the lie of the USA
Say what you want
Say what you want
A voice so pure, a vision so clear
I've got to learn to live like you
Learn to sing like you
"Now let the Freedom Train come zooming down the track
Gleaming in the sunlight for white and black
Not stopping at no stations marked coloured nor white
Just stopping in the fields in the broad daylight
Stopping in the country in the wide open air
Where there never was a Jim Crow sign nowhere
And no lilly-white committees, politicians of note
Nor poll tax layer through which coloured can't vote
And there won't be no kinda colour lines
The Freedom Train will be yours
And mine"
A voice so pure, a vision so clear
I've got to learn to live like you
Learn to sing like you
Sing it loud, sing it proud
I will be here, I will be found
Sing it loud, sing it proud
I will be here, I will be found
The Manic Street Preachers' song "Let Robeson Sing" is a tribute to the African-American singer, actor, and civil rights activist Paul Robeson. The song explores Robeson's life and legacy, focusing on his persecution and blacklisting during the McCarthy era. In the first verse, the band addresses the CIA's accusations against Robeson, asking if he has been broken or is still fighting for his beliefs. The chorus expresses the admiration and inspiration Robeson's voice and message brought to the world, inspiring the band to emulate his passion and strength.
The second verse recalls Robeson's deep involvement in politics, his meeting with Fidel Castro, and how the CIA's MK Ultra program destroyed him. The lyrics highlight the importance of Robeson's message and how the system destroyed him for daring to speak out, revealing how oppressive and corrupt the McCarthy era was. Finally, the song includes a quote from Robeson's own writing, celebrating the idea of the "freedom train" that would bring people of all races together.
Overall, "Let Robeson Sing" is an homage to a great performer, intellectual, and activist who suffered for his beliefs. It is a powerful reminder of the importance of speaking out against oppression, of the power of words and music, and of the legacy of heroic figures who struggled for civil rights.
Line by Line Meaning
Where are you now?
The singer wonders if the person he is addressing is still alive and active or if he has disappeared from society.
Broken up or still around?
The singer wonders if the person he is addressing has been silenced or if he is still fighting for his beliefs.
The CIA says you're a guilty man
The singer refers to the CIA's attempts to silence and frame the person he is addressing as guilty, even though he was innocent.
Will we see the likes of you again?
The singer laments that people like the person he is addressing are rare and wonders if there will be anyone to continue his legacy.
Can anyone make a difference anymore?
The singer doubts whether anyone today is willing or able to make a difference in the world.
Can anyone write a protest song?
The singer doubts if there are any artists today who are inspired or motivated enough to create music that addresses important social issues.
Pinky lefty revolutionary
The singer is referring to the person he is addressing, who was a pinko-leftist revolutionary or socialist.
Burnt at the stake for
The person he is addressing was ridiculed, mocked, or hated by some people because of his political views.
A voice so pure, a vision so clear
The singer admires the person he is addressing, who had an honest and strong voice that was able to inspire people with his vision of a better world.
I've got to learn to live like you
The singer is inspired by the person he is addressing and wants to live and think like him.
Learn to sing like you
The singer wants to learn how to communicate with the same honesty, clarity, and passion as the person he is addressing.
Went to Cuba to meet Castro
The person he is addressing went to Cuba to meet Fidel Castro and to learn about the Cuban revolution.
Never got past sleepy Moscow
His plans to travel further were stopped when he was detained and interrogated in Moscow, where he became paranoid and fearful of government persecution.
A giant man with a heavenly voice
The singer is acknowledging that the person he is addressing was an imposing figure with a commanding and inspiring voice.
MK Ultra turned you paranoid
The person he is addressing suffered from MK Ultra, a government program that caused him to become paranoid and fearful.
No passport 'til 1958
The singer is referring to the Jim Crow laws that prevented African Americans from receiving passports before the late 1950s.
McCarthy poisoned through with hate
The singer is referring to Senator McCarthy's campaign to weed out communists and socialist from American society, infecting everyone with feelings of hatred and disgust toward them.
Liberty lost still buried today
The singer believes that Americans have lost their freedom and liberty, and that they are still oppressed by the government and society today.
Beneath the lie of the USA
The singer is criticizing the idea of the American dream, saying that it is a lie that covers up the realities of inequality, oppression, and injustice that exist in American society.
Say what you want
The singer encourages everyone to speak their minds and express their opinions, even if they are not popular or accepted by society.
A voice so pure, a vision so clear
The singer admires the person he is addressing and wants to have the same honesty and clarity of vision.
Sing it loud, sing it proud
The singer encourages people to express themselves loudly and confidently, and to be proud of their identities and beliefs.
I will be here, I will be found
The singer promises to continue to fight for his beliefs and to be a voice of reason and hope for anyone who needs it.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JAMES BRADFIELD, NICHOLAS JONES, SEAN MOORE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@lysander1
underrated tune. used to love it when i was a kid.
@underneonloneliness2
This proves that TOTP can show proper live performances when they want to
@user-sm4xq6np9c
Great song!
@pinkfloss86
Love this
@alexc6621
Second that
@billmcnally970
Thirded.
@sc-simon4590
Lul una banda increíble..... tengo toda su discografía woooooo!!!!
@walterfreire2789
Amo essa banda
@WilldManBlues
Finalmente outro brasileiro q gosta de MSP!
@drumtracksdirect
Remember hanging around watching, to tape it for myself. I was at the peak of my fandom, but could feel that they were falling off as a singles band. 2001 was a great year to be a Manics fan though, especially if you could get to a gig. I lucked out with the second night at Brixton and the CIA gig in August, both were excellent.