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Rating: A fundamental band of the 90s British rock, the definitive breakthrough of the Manic Street Preachers happens with an album like "This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours," which leaves aside the previous "heavy" sounds of the Welsh combo to delve into a pop rock accentuated by the voice of the frontman-leader J.D. Bradfield.
The beginning of the work is goosebump-inducing; "The Everlasting" is among the best pieces written in those years, a splendid ballad with strings and the wonderful voice of Bradfield dominating a beautifully effective melodic rise and fall. It continues with "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next," the smash hit of the album, which unfolds on a driving rhythm and a text at times even ironic (memorable, regardless of one's political beliefs, the line "If I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists") culminating in a superb finale dominated by strings and choirs. "You Stole The Sun From My Heart," another big single, hints at a more rock pace, but it is always Bradfield who is the added value that makes the difference. "Ready For Drowning," introduced by a few organ notes, turns out to be a rock ballad of great lyrical and sonic impact, in which the great skills of guitarist Nicky Wire, indeed more prominent in previous works, are glimpsed. "Tsunami," another extract, boasts an almost oriental melody on the usual very melodic sound structure; notably beautiful is also the refrain, enriched by a splendid string arrangement.
"My Little Empire," introduced by a nice guitar arpeggio, creates a dreamy atmosphere on a basic and simple melody, occasionally interrupted by small solos from Wire. The next "I'm Not Working" brings a darker and more ethereal atmosphere, painted with a heavy and redundant drum sound and an effect-laden guitar, framing Bradfield's vocal parables, remarkable even in the falsetto parts. "You're Tender And You're Tired" is instead a purely pop piece (to be appreciated are the piano inserts and a very nice "whistled" solo), while "Born A Girl" manages to move even with the frontman accompanied only by acoustic guitar. "Be Natural" is fundamentally very close to "I'm Not Working," while "Black Dog On My Shoulder" is, on the contrary, a simple and rhythmic guitar-pop number (the finale with Wire's beautiful solo highlighted by the strings is a standout). The aggressively returning guitars of "Nobody Loved You" prelude the closing entrusted to the suspended atmospheres of "S.Y.M.M.".
A great album, this "This Is My Truth...," rightfully hailed by enormous success and a manifesto of a band sometimes ignored and/or underestimated in a more than unjust way.
I'm holding them close, I don't know about you...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 The Everlasting (06:09)
The gap that grows between our lives
The gap our parents never had
Stop those thoughts control your mind
Replace the things that you despise
Oh, you're old, I hear you say
It doesn't mean that I don't care
I don't believe in it anymore
Pathetic acts for a worthless cause
In the beginning when we were winning
When our smiles were genuine
In the beginning when we were winning
When our smiles were genuine
But now unforgiven
The everlasting
Everlasting
The world is full of refugees
They're just like you just like me
But as people we have a choice
To end the void with all its force
So don't forget or don't pretend
It's all the same now in the end
It was said in a different life
Destroys my days and haunts my nights
In the beginning when we were winning
When our smiles were genuine
In the beginning when we were winning
When our smiles were genuine
But now unforgiven
The everlasting
Everlasting
In the beginning when we were winning
When our smiles were genuine
In the beginning when we were winning
When our smiles were genuine
But now unforgiven
The everlasting
Everlasting
But now unforgiven
The everlasting
Everlasting
02 If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next (04:50)
The future teaches you to be alone
The present to be afraid and cold
So if I can shoot rabbits
Then I can shoot fascists
Bullets for your brain today
But we'll forget it all again
Monuments put from pen to paper
Turns me into a gutless wonder
And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next
Will be next
Will be next
Will be next
Gravity keeps my head down
Or is it maybe shame
At being so young and being so vain
Holes in your head today
But I'm a pacifist
I've walked Las Ramblas
But not with real intent
And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next
Will be next
Will be next
Will be next
Will be next
And on the street tonight an old man plays
With newspaper cuttings of his glory days
And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next
Will be next
Will be next
Will be next
03 You Stole the Sun From My Heart (04:20)
Drinking water to stay thin
or is it to purify?
I love you all the same
But there's no, no real truce with my fury
you don't have to believe me
I love you all the same
But you stole the sun from my heart
You stole the sun from my heart
Oh, you stole the sun from my heart
You stole the sun from, you stole the sun from
You have broken through my armour
and I don't have an answer
I love you all the same
I paint the things I want to see
but it don't come easy
I love you all the same
But you stole the sun from my heart
You stole the sun from my heart
Oh, you stole the sun from my heart
You stole the sun from, you stole the sun from
Think I'm lost among the undergrowth
and so much so I woke up
I love you all the same
But you stole the sun from my heart
You stole the sun from my
Oh, you stole the sun from my heart
You stole the sun from, you stole the sun from
I have got to stop smiling
It gives the wrong impression
I love you all the same
04 Ready for Drowning (04:32)
Here's a true story, said someone to me yesterday
Said he'd heard it in a taxi
Must have had him at my mercy
Drown that poor thing
Put it out of its misery
Condemn it to its future
Deny its history
Deny its history
So where are we going?
We're not ready for drowning
So where are we going?
We're not ready for drowning
Look through my Venetian blinds
Dusting the past off my mind
Seeing orange everywhere
I'd go to Patagonia, but it's harder there
I'll do anything to prove I care
Fascinated by good
Destroyed by evil
What is there to believe in?
So where are we going?
We're not ready for drowning
So where are we going?
We're not ready for drowning
So where are we going?
We're not ready for drowning
So where are we going?
We are not waving, we are drowning
05 Tsunami (03:51)
For you my dear sister
Holding onto me forever
Disco dancing with the rapists
Your only crime is silence
Can't work at this anymore
Can't move I want to stay at home
Tied up to all these crutches
Never far from your hands
Tsunami tsunami came washing over me
Tsunami tsunami came washing over me
Can't speak, can't think, won't talk, won't walk
Doctors tell me that I'm cynical
I tell them that it must be chemical
So what am I doing girl
Cry into my drink I disappear
Eyes for teeth grating over me
Bring down the shadows of my mind
Sleep and breathe under our sheets
Inhale the anxiety in-between, in-between, in-between, in-between
Tsunami tsunami came washing over me
Tsunami tsunami came washing over me
Tsunami tsunami came washing over me
Tsunami tsunami came washing over me
Through September under the weather
In-between, in-between, in-between, in-between
Tsunami tsunami came washing over me
Tsunami tsunami came washing over me
Tsunami tsunami came washing over me
Tsunami tsunami came washing over me
Take the GI's I will have the spies
08 You're Tender and You're Tired (04:37)
You're so fragile tonight
Been up hurting all night
It's not trivial like they think
Yes you're desperate and hurt
Thought about it so many times
Too afraid to open your eyes
To see the sadness that's inside
Just sit back in and stop time
You're tender and you're tired
You can't be bothered to decide
Whether you live or die
Or just forget about your life
But it's too late to be real
No time to be strong enough
Just time to leave it all behind
Memory has become pain
Rebuild the void with flowers
Sad eye destruction built around sand and sea
Yes you can build yourself around
Build yourself around me
You're tender and you're tired
You can't be bothered to decide
Whether you live or doe
Or just forget about your life
Drift away and die
Never say goodbye
Drift away and die
10 Be Natural (05:13)
Been natural
For once in my life
Now I'll have to
Swallow some pride
Know that I should
Never give advice
But it's too late now
To say goodbye
Be natural
Don't want any friends
Be natural
Come on and hit me again
Be natural
I'm repeating myself
Be natural
Is there anything else
Star bright keep me safe
Today and tonight
No water tastes like lemonade
Slowly, slowly
It starts to fade
Be natural
With me tonight
Be natural
Put your fists in my eyes
Be natural
So turn me into stone
Be natural
Just leave me alone
Grown up
Or backwards born
Into eternity
And black holes
Floating around
Up here on my own
Screaming at me
Forever unknown
Be natural(repeat 3x)
Been natural
Is there anyone else
13 S.Y.M.M. (06:16)
The subtext of this song
I've thought about it for so long
But it's really not the sort of thing
That people want to hear us sing
The context of this song
Well I could go on and on
But it's still unfashionable
To believe in principles
South South Yorkshire - mass murderer
How can you sleep at night, sleep at night
South South Yorkshire - mass murderer
How can you sleep at night, sleep at night
The reason for this song
Well maybe it's a pointless one
But thank you Jimmy McGovern
For reminding me of what lives on
The ending for this song
Well I haven't really thought of one
There's nothing I could ever say
That could really take the pain away
South South Yorkshire - mass murderer
How can you sleep at night, sleep at night
South South Yorkshire - mass murderer
How can you sleep at night, sleep at night
14 Socialist Serenade (04:12)
Socalist Serenade Lyrics
What's the point in an education
When you have to pay for the privilege?
This side of the truth where no sun shines
They don't count the cripples and the blind
I was thinking everybody had a chance
Like a dream stretched way too far
All this time such a debt to the city
I don't know who's the real enemy
This is a socialist serenade
Yes I have money but I hate champagne
This is a socialist serenade
I can't see the past anywhere
Some greater benefit for the people
Ha ha ha ha we all believed in you
Is it about the politics of celebrity
Or endless days in the sun of Tuscany
This is a socialist serenade
Yes I have money but I hate champagne
This is a socialist serenade
I can't see the past anywhere, anywhere
This is a socialist serenade
Yes I have money but I hate champagne
This is a socialist serenade
I can't see the past anywhere, anywhere
Change your name to New
Forget the fucking Labour
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Other reviews
By Mopaga
"It is said that he jumped off the Severn Bridge, but his body was never found... Reason enough to fuel the sense of emptiness and anguish that has afflicted (and afflicts) the band and the fans."
"I recommend it to anyone who doesn’t scoff at the stylistic evolution of bands and to those who don’t seek answers in music, but rather food for thought."
