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
The Convalescent
Manic Street Preachers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A collage constructed and constantly fed
Goya mixes Picasso but it's hardly Spain
Look through the window, pissing down with rain
Lovely labradors outnumber musicians
Bonnie and Clyde have made their good intentions
Pity poor Payne Stewart in a death bubble
So I convalesce and I ease the stress
'cause DNA means does not accept
So I convalesce and I ease the stress
'cause DNA means does not accept
Kleenex kitchen towels and teletext TV
My favourite inventions of the twentieth century
Haile Gebrselassie looks so sweet and young
Eyes quickly shift to Jack Kevorkian
Uneven and tidal all with exit policies
Followed by anti-ballistic migraines
And Brian Warner has a tasty little ass
Scared of cash machines and the Mardi Gras
So I convalesce and I ease the stress
'cause DNA means does not accept
So I convalesce and I ease the stress
'cause DNA means does not accept
Alberto Juantorena unique in his field
These are the things that, that make you feel
Klaus Kinski with love of Werner Herzog
Scream until the war is over
Scream until the war is over
Srebrenica cousin of Treblinka
Scream until the war is over
War is over
And Dante's Inferno slides into dismorphia
So scream until the war is over
So I convalesce and I ease the stress
'cause DNA means does not accept
So I rehabilitate and get my body straight
'cause nothing fits like it used to fit
The opening lines of the song 'The Convalescent' symbolize the singer’s mental state, as everything that he recalls is preoccupied with the walls of his bedroom. The cluttered surroundings of his bedroom wall metaphorically hint at a mind consumed with an artistic or literary creation, comprised of multiple events and personalities. In essence, it implies that the singer is spiraling into confusion, with new ventures and endeavors occupying his mind. The second verse continues to allude to the jumble of memories that are present in his mind, and how he is only capable of experiencing a single session or event at a time.
The chorus "So I convalesce and I ease the stress 'cause DNA means does not accept" could be an indication that the singer's desire is to heal from his emotional distress and inner turmoil, and the idea that DNA does not accept proposes that the singer cannot change who he is, and that he must find a way to coexist with existing defects. The extensive imagery that is conjured throughout the song is how the vocalist views the world and how it affects him personally. The song's meaning is complex and multi-layered, but it speaks of art, politics, war, self-doubt, and depression, describing a sense of withdrawal from reality and an escape to the inner sanctum of the singer's own mind.
Line by Line Meaning
My bedroom wall recalls what's in my head
The things that surround me remind me of what's inside my mind.
A collage constructed and constantly fed
My thoughts are like a constantly changing collage that I keep adding to.
Goya mixes Picasso but it's hardly Spain
My thoughts are a combination of various influences but they don't necessarily relate to any specific place or topic.
Look through the window, pissing down with rain
The weather outside reflects how I'm feeling on the inside - gloomy and downcast.
Lovely labradors outnumber musicians
In my surroundings, there are more things that I find pleasant or calming (such as labradors) than things related to music or creativity.
Bonnie and Clyde have made their good intentions
The characters who commit criminal acts in movies or books (such as Bonnie and Clyde) often have good reasons or intentions for doing so, which I find intriguing or appealing.
Pity poor Payne Stewart in a death bubble
It's tragic to think of people dying in terrible ways, such as in a plane crash (as PGA golfer Payne Stewart did).
But what a swing and so much bottle
At the same time, it's impressive when people excel at something, like Stewart did with his golf swing.
So I convalesce and I ease the stress
I take the time to recover and reduce my stress levels.
'cause DNA means does not accept
I refuse to accept things as they are just because of my genetic makeup.
Kleenex kitchen towels and teletext TV
I appreciate the little things in life, such as household items and old technology.
My favourite inventions of the twentieth century
These items are special to me because they were created during a time when I was alive and able to use them.
Haile Gebrselassie looks so sweet and young
I admire/respect athletes who are dedicated and skilled, like long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie.
Eyes quickly shift to Jack Kevorkian
But at the same time, I'm drawn to controversial figures like 'Dr. Death' Jack Kevorkian.
Uneven and tidal all with exit policies
Life is unpredictable and has many ups and downs, with various escape or exit routes available.
Followed by anti-ballistic migraines
Sometimes, the stress of living causes me to experience severe headaches.
And Brian Warner has a tasty little ass
I find myself attracted to strange or unusual things, like the backside of Marilyn Manson (Brian Warner).
Scared of cash machines and the Mardi Gras
Even though I'm intrigued by certain things, there are others that scare or intimidate me.
So I rehabilitate and get my body straight
I work on improving my physical health and well-being.
'cause nothing fits like it used to fit
My body has changed and I need to adjust to these changes in order to feel comfortable.
Alberto Juantorena unique in his field
I admire sports figures who are trailblazers, such as Olympic runner Alberto Juantorena.
These are the things that, that make you feel
Certain experiences or thoughts can elicit strong emotional reactions.
Klaus Kinski with love of Werner Herzog
I'm attracted to intense or difficult personalities, like German actor Klaus Kinski and his frequent collaborator, filmmaker Werner Herzog.
Scream until the war is over
I feel a deep sense of pain and despair about ongoing conflicts around the world.
Srebrenica cousin of Treblinka
I'm aware of terrible atrocities that have occurred throughout history, including the Bosnian genocide in Srebrenica and the Nazi concentration camp at Treblinka.
And Dante's Inferno slides into dismorphia
I feel like I'm constantly reminded of how cruel or dark the world can be, which can lead me to experience feelings of confusion or distortion about my own reality.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BRADFIELD, JONES, MOORE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
ARNAM & The Dark Thoughts
This album exites me more than This is my truth. I know this is my truth has If you tolerate this, You stole the sun from my heart and Tsunami, but Know your enemy has more songs, lots of diversity and just generally kicks me up the arse harder.
paulonumberone
Absolutely brilliant! God bless the Manics.
Pietro Guarracino
My personal favourite off of Know Your Enemy. Brilliant!
jameyinegyptsland
Amazing melody.
Bernie Bolder
Just killer, just killer 😍
Rodrigo Palma
my favorite track from this album, ironically wasnt a single
TECHNOIR
Fan-fucking-tastic shit from the Welsh wizards here, lovely steal of the bassline from 'The Punk and the Godfather' by the Who off Quadrophenia, well used too. At the high water of the Manics best. Joe Orton-esque cut ups collage cut up classic.
francisco oliveira
MY SOUNDTRACK!!!
Rane P.
They reference Picasso a lot, don't they? Haha
george474747
Well uploaded good Sir