Manic Street Preachers(often known colloquially as "The Manics") are a Welsh rock band often associated with the Britpop scene, who gained mainstream popularity in the UK in the late 1990s. They are known for their intelligent and often political lyrics and have a dedicated cult following. Although during the early part of their career they were regarded as a punk rock band, their music is now often generally regarded as alternative rock, due to changes in their sound. Co-lyricist and guitarist Richey James Edwards (Richey James, as he preferred to be known) mysteriously disappeared in 1995; his whereabouts is unknown. Politically, the Manics appear as a socialist group — a stance inflected by their working class upbringing in Blackwood, south Wales (they grew up during the miners' strike of the 1980s) as evidenced by their often highly politicised lyrics and actions (they once dedicated an award to Arthur Scargill, leader of the National Union of Mineworkers and later the Socialist Labour Party).
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Lyrics by richey james and nicky wire, music by james dean bradfield and sean moore
Somebody told me to vote conservative
Tragedy is not known under this dimmest of lights
Everybody feels sick by the courtesy of dismay
Was I schooled without direction
Gold against the soul
Rocknroll has a conscience
It supplies convenience
Gold against
Against the soul
Against the soul
Close the pits sanctify roy lynk an o.b.e.
Shareholding a piece of this fucking country
Fossilize-make yorkshire into a tourist resort
And dream of new ways to humble the poor
Gold against the soul
White liberal hates slavery
Needs thai labour to clean his home
Gold erodes
Erodes the soul
Erodes the soul
A 1000 marlboro deaths ignored everyday
And who gives a shit about sexuality
Gold against the soul
Working class cliches start here
Either cloth caps or smack victims
Gold destroyed
Destroyed the soul
Destroyed the soul