Of Favourites, Part Two
My favourite band is the Manic Street Preachers. It's not about the music -- with the Manics, it can't be. They've been around for twenty years, and have changed their sound more times than you'd even expect with that longevity. I dare say most Manics fans would admit that only one of their albums really sounds great; I, at least, agree with that sentiment. That's not to say I don't enjoy the others, just that at some early point I browbeat myself into it a bit more than you'd expect.
I used to claim, and believe, it was about the lyrics. While this is closer to the truth, it's not strictly accurate. Hell, I laugh reading some of the lyrics because they're so goddamned ridiculous, and yet I still love the band with every ounce of my soul. I actually thought their last album title line-up was a joke, initially. When I realised they were real, I also realised it wasn't the lyrics that made me love them. What then?
It's not the image, though they've changed that as often as the music, and they necessarily throw out glimmers to everyone as a consequence. I mean, yes, Nicky settled into his skirts and atrocious make-up fairly early, but I don't think anyone has a fetish for 6'4" men in skirts.
Gosh. All I do is make fun of them. Let's get serious, okay?
I love them because they made me feel less alone when it mattered, and quite frankly, they still do. They are the pretentious, (sometimes shoddily) self-educated sons of coal miners. They are the sons of blue-collar laborours who lost their jobs to progress, and never found much better -- and it shows. That's the important thing: it shows.
I'm getting into details, and I really don't know why. The details change all of the time, or at least most of them do. They've evolved. Their views on everything from religion to politics has changed and changed again, but some essential bit has always stayed the same, and that's the bit that resonates. That's the bit that's important, the bit that I share. And it's tied with being the sons of coal miners, it's tied with being too goddamned smart, it's tied with wanting to know everything in spite of it being futile, it's tied with knowing everything is pointless and wanting to fucking try to make it okay regardless.
Everything is meaningless when you've seen how the world really is, when you see blue collar lives and how fucking hopeless it is to try to change anything. And so you make your own meaning, while knowing all the time that you can accomplish nothing. And you do it in too many fucking major keys. You do it by valuing being overeducated to no profitable end. You do it by finding the beauty in death, decay, and sad mysteries. And you feel okay, even if it takes a little too much liquor to get there. Because liquor is where you came from.
And I dunno. I love them because they get it, because they're like me. And I think that's about par for the course in this particular fandom. Probably most fandoms, really, but especially this one.
I used to claim, and believe, it was about the lyrics. While this is closer to the truth, it's not strictly accurate. Hell, I laugh reading some of the lyrics because they're so goddamned ridiculous, and yet I still love the band with every ounce of my soul. I actually thought their last album title line-up was a joke, initially. When I realised they were real, I also realised it wasn't the lyrics that made me love them. What then?
It's not the image, though they've changed that as often as the music, and they necessarily throw out glimmers to everyone as a consequence. I mean, yes, Nicky settled into his skirts and atrocious make-up fairly early, but I don't think anyone has a fetish for 6'4" men in skirts.
Gosh. All I do is make fun of them. Let's get serious, okay?
I love them because they made me feel less alone when it mattered, and quite frankly, they still do. They are the pretentious, (sometimes shoddily) self-educated sons of coal miners. They are the sons of blue-collar laborours who lost their jobs to progress, and never found much better -- and it shows. That's the important thing: it shows.
I'm getting into details, and I really don't know why. The details change all of the time, or at least most of them do. They've evolved. Their views on everything from religion to politics has changed and changed again, but some essential bit has always stayed the same, and that's the bit that resonates. That's the bit that's important, the bit that I share. And it's tied with being the sons of coal miners, it's tied with being too goddamned smart, it's tied with wanting to know everything in spite of it being futile, it's tied with knowing everything is pointless and wanting to fucking try to make it okay regardless.
Everything is meaningless when you've seen how the world really is, when you see blue collar lives and how fucking hopeless it is to try to change anything. And so you make your own meaning, while knowing all the time that you can accomplish nothing. And you do it in too many fucking major keys. You do it by valuing being overeducated to no profitable end. You do it by finding the beauty in death, decay, and sad mysteries. And you feel okay, even if it takes a little too much liquor to get there. Because liquor is where you came from.
And I dunno. I love them because they get it, because they're like me. And I think that's about par for the course in this particular fandom. Probably most fandoms, really, but especially this one.