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Manic Street Preachers - "The Masses Against The Classes"
Interesting fact: this was the first new number one in the UK charts in the new millennium. Not bad for a limited edition single that was not promoted heavily and never had an official video shot for it. It has also never been included on any Manics album, other than their "best of" compilations.
I love the double interpretation of the lyrics. On one hand there is the literary interpretation, "the masses against the classes", which is vintage Manic Street Preachers (think of their massive hit "A Design For Life").
On the other hand, in this one, it can be interpretated as if the Manics themselves are for once the classes while the masses refer to the fans from the early albums who were complaining that the band became too mainstream after the disappearance of band member Richey Edwards.
The neat thing is that, regardless what interpretation you follow, the lyrics still make sense.
"I'm tired of giving a reason, when we're the only thing left to believe in".
The song opens with a Noam Chomsky quote and ends with an Albert Camus quote, also vintage Manics who are known for including quotes in their songs as well as in the artwork for their releases.
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