A Design For Life

How do you respond to personal tragedy? That is a question we all will have to face in life, and likely more than once. What do we do? Where do we go?

For Manic Street Preachers, that personal tragedy happend on February 1, 1995. At 7:00 AM, Richey Edwards checked out of the Embassy Hotel in London. He was scheduled to meet up with singer/guitarist James Dean Bradfield to fly to the US. He never showed up - and he was never heard from again. To this day, there is no certainty as to what happened, but he was declared presumed dead on November 23, 2008. 

Initially, Richey Edwards was the Manics' driver and photographer, as he was another close friend - the only friend who could drive... But he eventually joined the band on rhythm guitar despite barely knowing how to play - and it wasn't a skill that developed much during his time in the Manics. But he had style and public relations skills - and he wrote lyrics along with Nicky Wire. And what lyrics they were... The Manics' third album, The Holy Bible, which was released at the end of August, 1994, was filled with Richey's harrowing lyrics about depression, anorexia and the state of the world. Reading the lyrics to 4st 7lb is particularly painful, as it clearly depicts anorexia and a weight sliding down to the lower tolerance limit of the title, which is about 63 punds. 

Richey had his demons. Suffering from depression and anorexia, and finding solace in cutting and other self harm, he had been receiving in-patient treatment on several occasions. And then he vanished, leaving his three very good friends behind to try to pick up the pieces. Like I said yesterday, these were good friends who decided to play music together, and three of them are still doing that. But in 1995 they were faced with the very existential question: What do we do now?

So how do you respond to personal tragedy? I must admit that I greatly admire the ones who turn it into something constructive, and that was what Manic Street Preachers did. After a six month hiatus, and with the blessing of Richey Edwards' family, they regrouped and eventually recorded Everything Must Go, which in some instances at least to me seemed to deal with Edwards' disappearance head on.

        We don't talk about love
        We only want to get drunk

These two lines are from the song of the day today, A Design For Life, the first single from the fantastic Everything Must Go. I could go on playing music by the Manic Street Preachers for a long time following my much delayed awakening, but I will take a little bit of a break from them now. But please explore them. It is quite the treasure trove.