THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

248-Manic Street Preachers-Motorcycle Emptiness.

1992-Number 17 single.

Best Bit-At 5.20.It might not be totally true, but lead singer James Dean Bradfield relates that while out busking one day in Cardiff he got into an altercation with someone (sometimes said to be a homeless man) who asked him, ‘What are you, boyo, some kind of manic street preacher.’

The Manic Street Preachers, also now often called ‘The Manics’ were formed in 1986 at Oakdale Comprehensive School, Blackwood, South Wales, where all the band members attended. The first line up consisted of James Dean Bradfield, (lead vocals, and guitar) his cousin Sean Moore, (drums) Nicky Wire, (bass and piano) and Miles ‘Flicker’ Woodward, (bass) Woodward left in 1988 claiming he was unhappy that the band were moving away from their ‘Punk’ roots. Woodward was replaced by Richey Edwards (guitar) in 1989 after the release of the bands first single ‘Suicide Alley.’

The Manic Street Preachers sound has altered over the years from ‘Glam Metal,’ and ‘Punk Rock, to ‘Alternative Rock,’ from around the release of their fourth studio Album ‘Everything Must Go’ in 1996, and the disappearance of Richey Edwards in February 1995 (see also best songs 901.) In total The Manic Street Preachers have released 14 studio Albums to date between 1992-2021, and 57 singles between 1988-2021. In the UK 33 of those singles have made the top 40, with two reaching the Number 1 spot.

‘Motorcycle Emptiness’ was the fifth and final single released from The Manic Street Preachers debut Album ‘Generation Terrorists’ from February 1992. The lyrics were written by Richey Edwards and Nicky Wire, with the music by James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore. The track has been interpreted by the band as an attack on the hollowness of the consumer lifestyle offered by capitalism, describing how society expects young people to conform. The lyrics were inspired by S.E. Hinton’s 1975 novel ‘Rumble Fish, which is about biker gang culture. The song was derived from two previous ‘Manics’ tracks,’Go, Buzz Baby, Go,’ which shares the same chord structure, and the phrase ‘motorcycle emptiness,’ and also ‘Behave Yourself Baby,’ that has the lines ‘All we want from you is the skin you live within”, similar to “All we want from you are the kicks you’ve given us” in this song. Some of the other lyrics are taken from the poem ‘Neon Loneliness,’ by the Welsh poet Patrick Jones, who is the brother of Nicky Wire.

Nicky Wire has spoken about his pride in the song,’It’s probably the four of us at our peaks, four people coming together to create that landscape of existential despair, because the production is almost cosmetic, it’s actually pretty timeless, it doesn’t sound like the 90’s. There’s just something about it, for such a complicated lyric, wherever you go, people sing along, that’s a pretty amazing trick.”

‘Culture sucks down words, itemise loathing and feed yourself smiles. Organise your safe tribal war, hurt, maim, kill and enslave the ghetto. Each day living out a lie, Life sold cheaply forever, ever, ever.’