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, (see also best songs 901) 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 (1967-1995, declared dead in 2008) (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.
The discography of The Manic Street Preachers who have sold in excess of 10 million Albums worldwide, includes 15 studio Albums released between 1992-2025, and 57 singles released between 1988-2025, there are also six extended plays, (EP’s) and three official compilation Albums available. In the UK, all of their studio Albums have reached the top 40, with two of them ‘This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours,’ (1998) and ‘The Ultra Vivid Lament,’ (2021) making the Number 1 position, while 33 of their singles have reached the UK top 40, with ‘If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next,’ (1998) and ‘The Masses Against the Classes,’ (2000) both making the Number 1 position. The Manic Street Preachers have no charting songs on the various American Billboard charts.
‘Motorcycle Emptiness’ was the fifth of six singles released from The Manic Street Preachers debut studio 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, with the production being by Steve Brown (1956-2021) (see also best songs 991-854 and 821.) 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 the American author S.E. Hinton’s 1975 novel ‘Rumble Fish,’ which is about biker gang culture. The song was derived from two previous Manic Street Preachers 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.’
Richey Edwards was born Richard James Edwards on December 22nd, 1967, in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Wales, Great Britain, he was the lyricist and rhythm guitarist of the Alternative Rock band the Manic Street Preachers. Richey Edwards disappeared on February 1st, 1995. On November 24th, 2008, he was legally declared dead ‘on or since’ February 1st, 1995. Edwards was initially a driver and roadie for the Manic Street Preachers, before officially becoming a full time member in 1989. He suffered from severe depression, and spoke freely about it in interviews. He self-harmed, mainly through stubbing cigarettes on his arms and cutting himself, he said, ‘When I cut myself I feel so much better. All the little things that might have been annoying me suddenly seem so trivial because I’m concentrating on the pain. I’m not a person who can scream and shout so this is my only outlet. It’s all done very logically.’ On May 15th, 1991, after a performance at the ‘Norwich Arts Centre,’ the ‘NME’ journalist Steve Lamacq questioned how serious Edwards was about his art, Edwards responded by carving the words ‘4 Real’ into his forearm with a razor blade, the injury required 18 stitches. Richey Edwards also suffered from insomnia, and used alcohol to help himself sleep at night. On February 17th, 1995, his car was reported abandoned at the Severn View service station, Due to the service station’s proximity to the Severn Bridge that spans the River Severn between South Gloucestershire in England and Monmouthshire in South East Wales which is a known suicide site, it was widely believed that Edwards had jumped from the bridge. Richey Edwards had referred to suicide in 1994, saying, ‘In terms of the ‘S’ word, that does not enter my mind. And it never has done, in terms of an attempt. Because I am stronger than that. I might be a weak person, but I can take pain.’
‘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.’