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.
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Yes
Manic Street Preachers Lyrics
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This one's here, this one's here
This one's here, and this one's here
Everything's for sale
For sale?
Dumb cunt's same dumb questions
Virgins?
And I don't know what I'm scared of or what I even enjoy
Dulling, get money, but nothing turns out like you want it to
And in these plagued streets of pity you can buy anything
For £200 anyone can conceive a God on video
He's a boy, you want a girl so chop off his cock
Tie his hair in bunches, fuck him, call him Rita if you want
I eat and I dress and I wash and I still can say thank you
Puking, shaking, sinking I still stand for old ladies
Can't shout, can't scream, hurt myself to get pain out
I 'T' them, 24/7, all year long
Purgatory's circle, drowning here, someone will always say yes
Funny place for the social, for the insects to start caring
Just an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff
In these plagued streets of pity you can buy anything
For 200 pounds anyone can conceive a God on video
He's a boy, you want a girl so chop off his cock
Tie his hair in bunches, fuck him, call him Rita if you want, if you want
I eat and I dress and I wash and I can still say thank you
Puking, shaking, sinking I still stand for old ladies
Can't shout, can't scream, I hurt myself to get pain out
Power produces desire, the weak have none
There's no lust in this coma even for a fifty
Solitude, solitude, the 11th commandment
The only certain thing that is left about me
There's no part of my body that has not been used
Pity or pain, to show displeasure's shame
Everyone I've loved or hated always seems to leave
And in these plagued streets of pity you can buy anything
For 200 pounds anyone can conceive a God on video
He's a boy, you want a girl so chop off his cock
Tie his hair in bunches, fuck him, call him Rita if you want, if you want
Power produces desire, the weak have none
There's no lust in this coma even for a fifty
Solitude, solitude, the 11th commandment
Don't hurt, just obey, lie down, do as they say
May as well be heaven this hell, smells the same
These sunless afternoons I can't find myself
The lyrics of "Yes" by Manic Street Preachers offer a harsh critique of consumerism and exploitation. The chorus, "You can buy her, you can buy her," suggests that women are commodities that can be purchased, and the verses that follow dive deeper into the dark reality of what is for sale in society. The singer of the song is lost and uncertain about what they enjoy or fear, and they turn to making money as a way of dulling their feelings. However, this pursuit of material wealth does not satisfy them, and they express their disgust with the idea that for just £200, one can create a fake God on video. The lyrics go even further to describe a scenario where someone is willing to mutilate and exploit another person for their own pleasure, demonstrating the grotesque nature of the society being portrayed.
The sense of despair and disillusionment in the lyrics is palpable, as the singer describes how everyone they have loved or hated has left them. They are left feeling alone and disconnected from society, and while they try to maintain their dignity by thanking others and helping old ladies, they are also struggling with self-harm as a coping mechanism. The reference to "the insects" suggests that those with money and power do not care about the suffering of those who are weaker, and that society is in a state of decline where anything can be bought or sold. The final line of the song, "These sunless afternoons I can't find myself," encapsulates the overall theme of searching for identity and meaning in a world that has lost its way.
Line by Line Meaning
You can buy her, you can buy her
The lyrics speak of a world in which everything, including human beings, is available for purchase.
This one's here, this one's here
The repetition of this line emphasizes the idea that human beings are being commoditized and are readily available for purchase.
Everything's for sale
Every aspect of life, from identity to religion, can be sold and consumed for a price.
For sale? Dumb cunt's same dumb questions Virgins?
The artist is annoyed by society's obsession with selling and buying, particularly when it comes to virginity.
Listen, all virgins are liars honey And I don't know what I'm scared of or what I even enjoy
The lyricist challenges the construct of virginity, suggesting that everyone has secrets and societal expectations can be oppressive. The artist is unsure of their own desires and fears.
Dulling, get money, but nothing turns out like you want it to
The singer suggests that although people may seek to dull their pain with material possessions, ultimately these things will not bring happiness or fulfillment.
And in these plagued streets of pity you can buy anything
The song describes a society in which desperation and poverty have led to a marketplace where anything can be bought or sold.
For £200 anyone can conceive a God on video
The line portrays how even religious belief has become commercialized and can be bought and sold for a price.
He's a boy, you want a girl so chop off his cock Tie his hair in bunches, fuck him, call him Rita if you want
The song depicts a world where gender norms are being challenged and some individuals are willing to engage in extreme behavior to satisfy their desires.
I eat and I dress and I wash and I still can say thank you Puking, shaking, sinking I still stand for old ladies
The song suggests that even in times of hardship, there are aspects of life to appreciate and individuals to protect and respect.
Can't shout, can't scream, hurt myself to get pain out
The singer suggests that the only way they know how to deal with emotional pain is through self-harm and internalization.
Purgatory's circle, drowning here, someone will always say yes Funny place for the social, for the insects to start caring
The song speaks to the idea of individuals being trapped in an endless cycle of despair, reaching out for help, only to receive superficial responses from society.
Just an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff
The line implies that societal responses to despair are often too little, too late, or entirely inadequate to stop destructive cycles.
Power produces desire, the weak have none
The song discusses how powerless individuals may feel after being commoditized or exploited by those with greater power and resources.
There's no lust in this coma even for a fifty Solitude, solitude, the 11th commandment The only certain thing that is left about me
The singer expresses a profound sense of loneliness and detachment from the world around them.
There's no part of my body that has not been used
The song suggests a deep sense of violation and exploitation, where the artist feels that they have no control over their own body or identity.
Pity or pain, to show displeasure's shame Everyone I've loved or hated always seems to leave
The song speaks to the idea that individuals are often driven by fear or discomfort, rather than genuine connection or empathy. This, in turn, can lead to a sense of emptiness and loss.
Don't hurt, just obey, lie down, do as they say May as well be heaven this hell, smells the same
The lyrics express the idea that individuals may feel trapped in oppressive systems or social structures, where compliance is rewarded, but true autonomy and self-determination are impossible.
These sunless afternoons I can't find myself
The song emphasizes the identity crisis and sense of detachment that may arise when individuals are commoditized or exploited, left without true freedom or control over their own lives.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: PERCELL HOLMES, KRISTIN HUDSON, JAMES EARL JONES, ANTHONY WILLIAMS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind