30 Days of Manics: day 12 and 13, oh, and day 10 again

Can I revise my answer to question 10? I knew there was another one in the back of my mind that I liked more, and I've just found it:
Day 10: Best quote from Nicky.
"Every generation has its one defining moment.  We are yours."

Day 12: Best quote from James.
"I believe in high intelligence and high aggression, and I believe the two mix very well"

That's pretty much the opinion I hold dearest when going into any and every argument.  It also serves as an important reminder of something which I think gets lost every now and again; James holds those ideas most loudly championed by Richey and Nicky (read, think, rebel, argue, articulate) just as dear.


Day 13: Best quote from Richey.
Ok, my biggest temptation here is just to put something hilarious, which, whilst not my favourite quote, would raise a smile, but I'll resist.* 

There are two, the first because it's about the last thing most people would attribute to Richey (self disgust is self obsession honey) and the second because there's an appealing kind of poetry to it.  And it is very, very Richey.

"We're obsessed with lots of things, it's better than being obsessed with ourselves"

"The only perfect circle on the human body is the eye. When a baby is born it's so perfect, but when it opens its eyes it's just blinded by corruption and everything else is a downward spiral."

MANIC MYSTERY!!!!111323!!
In compiling this entry I was reading through my NME Originals and Everything.  In the NME originals I came across this photo (thing I'm about to talk about helpfully circled), and I suddenly noticed why Nicky was wearing a cowboy style neckerchief - he has a big old cut on his neck.  On the opposite page (page 10, if you have a copy to consult at home) there is a tiny article, dated Feb 1991, which says the Manics cancelled gigs so that Nicky could have a thyroid cyst removed from his neck.  Mystery solved right? WRONG! The photo is dated January 1991, a month before cyst removal and the cut is clearly well on the way to being healed.  Anybody know?

Final thought:
The internet has denied us the moment of solidarity that used to come from finding a record that spoke to you and sharing it with your friends.  There's a quote in the NME from a kid in 1991 that runs "There's only one copy of 'Motown Junk'  in our village and we all share it".  I think that the net result is that the good music, the really good, transformative music is diluted not just by the crap, but by the proliferation of sources.  The value of a record is diminished when you don't have that tactile connection to it, I really believe that.



*Well, not resist so much as footnote it; "Sleeping with someone is just a change from wanking.  Personally, I get as much pleasure out of wanking.  I could just as happily go back to the hotel, sit on the bog and have a good wank.  It doesn't make any difference to me"

30 Days of Manics - Day 19-21

Day 19: Your favourite song from Generation Terrorists.
Motorcycle Emptiness.

Easy one that.  That song stands out, not just from that album but from their entire back catalogue.  There is something immediate about the opening guitar riff.  And the emotion which never fails to wash over you in the opening bars means I have a stronger, immediate, guttural connection to that one song than I do to almost any other I've ever heard.  It's really that simple.

Day 20: Your favourite song from Gold Against The Soul.
Ah, a bit more difficult.  It's a three way contest between Sleepflower, Tristessa and Despair.

All things considered I'd probably go for From Despair to Where.

I say 'all things considered' but really I sat here flicking through youtube videos and photos and suddenly became aware that a little voice at the back of my head was just singing "I write this alone in my head" over and over again.  It's one hell of a hook.

I'm not sure why - probably to do with historical connections I have with that entire album - but I get a good, warm, strong feeling singing along.  So yes, my favourite.

Day 21: Your favourite song from The Holy Bible.
Yes.

Opening lyrics? "For sale, dumb cunts sing dumb questions".

Positives? Had Richey not disappeared, it would have been released as a single.  And the fourth word of their commercially released single (they had refused to censor) would have been 'cunt'.

It's immediate and in many ways I think it sets out exactly what the next 12 tracks on that album are going to be - lyrically, musically, emotionally - and it does it beautiful.

That end rush of lyrics (I eat and I dress and I wash/and I can still say thank you/Puking - shaking - sinking) is exhilarating and represents some of Richey/Nicky's finest, most well rounded and most uncompromising lyric writing.

30 Days of Manics - Day 22-27

Day 22: Your favourite song from Everything Must Go.
The obvious choice here is A Design for Life but I feel like that song doesn't really define that album, and that's what I'm going for with my answers I think (yeah, even with my answer regarding Generation Terrorists, because Motorcycle Emptiness represents what they wanted to achieve with the entire album, but inevitably only managed with one song)

So...it seems wrong to pick Small Black Flowers for the same reason - it's a classic Richey lyric (and a truly beautiful song) and as a result merely harkens back to previous tracks rather than embodies what they were trying to do on that album so I am going to go for the outside bet and pick No Surface All Feeling.

The long intro is representative of much of the musical moment this album represents.  I think James' restrained vocals building up to the chorus are perfectly timed.  Love the drums, bit reminiscent of The Holy Bible and there is a beautiful melancholy to the lyrics.

Day 23: Your favourite song from This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours.
First things first, I think that, as a leaning-towards-hardcore fan, this album starts on track 6 and ends on track 12 - and let me take this opportunity to restate how much I hate S.Y.M.M. and raise you Tsunami.  With that in mind....

...it's really bloody hard to pick a favourite!  I've already stated that my favourite Manics song is You're Tender and You're Tired so it feels unnecessary to pick that again.  Nobody Loved You is a contender but somehow the awkward first verse means it doesn't quite get there - although the chorus and final verses are unrelentingly glorious.

In the end, it comes down to My Little Empire.  It's beautiful, just beautiful, and that's really all I'm going to say.  Have they ever done an acoustic version, does anyone know? Would love to hear it.  

Day 24: Your favourite song from Know Your Enemy.
Ugh, do I have to? (Incidentally, Amazon offer a preview of all the songs on the other albums, except this one. They know they'd be on to a losing thing)

Err....Ocean Spray.  Because James in that video makes me cry.  And, as I understand it, he cried to.

Day 25: Your favourite song from Lipstick Traces.
Bright Eyes.

James was made to sing that song.

Day 26: Your favourite song from Lifeblood.
Top tip for passing time while listening to this album - pretend James' vocals are indecipherable and replace key words/imagine what he could be singing.  I think To Repel Goats would have been far superior.

I Live to Fall Asleep.  It's a great Nicky lyric, and I enjoy both the melody and the fact James doesn't over sing it in the way he does with with other tracks on that album.

Day 27: Your favourite song from Send Away The Tigers.
Hello return of difficult choices!

I'm going to plump for the titular track - Send Away the Tigers.  The opening bars made me excited for that entire album in a way I hadn't been about the Manics in years, and every time I listen to it that emotion is reignited and I'm back in 2007, on the British Airways flight home from Rio, in the middle of the night with everyone around me sleeping listening to it for the first time holding my breath to keep from missing a single bar.