Richey Edwards

Got this idea because of the Manics debate in the other topic...


I am a Manics fan and follow them since quite a while, and I do feel Richey is still alive. He's out there somewhere far away. I think he just couldn't handle the pressure from the outside world anymore, and took off to some far away place where could live an anonymous life far away from his troubled past and far away from the press being all over him.

Let's just name a few facts. There has never ever been a corpse, despite intensive searches from inspection teams. Richey was spotted several times and though never proven to be really him, two spottings in the Goa (India) were taken very seriously by the cops - would make sense as the Manics are not very known in that area. Also, his apartment was visited and his important documents removed ; why would someone do that if they just want to commit suicide as soon as possible ?

I think Richey was by far too intelligent to just take an easy way out and jump off a bridge. And as James said: disappearing is very easy. In Newcastle a bloke disappeared once, 17 years later he was found back alive and well... in a town 15 miles further :eek:



So I think - and truely hope - he is alive. What do others here think ? Maybe a poll could be nice here.

I do hope so, Richey was a brilliant lyricist and is very missed by all sincere Manics fans.

richey was a genius (lyrically) but god could he not play guitar!
i wouldnt be a great manics fan but i would be a great "holy bible" fan i think its one of the greatest ever albums , has richey stamped all over it.

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Originally Posted by gustavo

richey was a genius (lyrically) but god could he not play guitar!
i wouldnt be a great manics fan but i would be a great "holy bible" fan i think its one of the greatest ever albums , has richey stamped all over it.

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Actually Richey played a bit but the amp was usually put off because, despite some teachings by James, he was not very good with the guitars and more or less acted because he said "the true art of guitar playing is to make the guitar look lethal" = the atmosphere more important than the actual sound.
I think we can say Richey was the image-wise and lyrical heart of the Manics while the rest of the band were the musical core.

On the records, Richey did not participate on the first album Generation Terrorists. On the second one he recorded one song: La Tristesse Durera has a guitar riff which was actually done by Richey himself. The band first recorded their part and then left Richey and the producer alone in the studio because Richey was too afraid it'd go wrong to record his part along with the other lads. He then recorded his guitar part and they mixed it along with the others' work - according to the producer though he did it quite well, so maybe the lack of capability on stage was due to his mental problems rather than to lack of ability to play.

its not a bad oul riff either.
i still think he is dead but i am just a cynic

he should be remember though as being definetly 4REAL

I fear his bones settled into the severn basin a long long time ago. Very sad for all concerned.

2 things
1.
According to the "Everything" book about the Manics, two of the books left in his room were one ondisappearing and a second on some artist who had done the same.
2.
Manics ARE still paying a quarter of all royalties (including the new albums) into his account.

Disappearing is very cool isn't it? Really like?

+ bodys float.

Not forever they don't.

I'll also say this -if he conciously decided to "disappear" himself -that is -stay alive but break off all contact with his past life -well fine it's his life and his right -BUT if not once in the intervening decade the thought hasn't crossed his mind that
"y'know maybe I should put in a quick call home and let my mam know I'm okay but can never come home" well then he's a self centered -nay -self obsessed son of a bitch who deserves a good kicking.

...and there's no excuse to be made about him being ill or depressed or unaware of the hurt his disappearance has caused. If he had it together enough to get to Goa or wherever and entirely cover his tracks then he retains the ability to percieve the situation from someone elses perspective -namely the perspective of those who'd worry most about him.

If he did that and indeed continues to do that -then a tortured soul and a great poet he may be -but he's also a c o ck sucking ass hole in anyones language.

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Originally Posted by Lionel Ritchie

I'll also say this -if he conciously decided to "disappear" himself -that is -stay alive but break off all contact with his past life -well fine it's his life and his right -BUT if not once in the intervening decade the thought hasn't crossed his mind that
"y'know maybe I should put in a quick call home and let my mam know I'm okay but can never come home" well then he's a self centered -nay -self obsessed son of a bitch who deserves a good kicking.

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Maybe he did put in a call to his Ma, but asked her to keep schtum.


The way I look at it, Richie Manic is dead a long time, and I couldn't give a damn about Richie Edwards' whereabouts.

He should have told his family about his plans really, but I think it's too late now. If he'd do that now everyone would be searching actively and try to trace the location of his call even, and it's clear he does not want to be found. He should have left a note when he left, stating that it was for the best, that he would NOT commit suicide but just wanted to start over again without being looked for.

I just hope he's happy where he is now, in that case he did the right thing. Guess we'll never know...

One thing I'd say is more or less sure: if he died of suicide near that bridge the body would have float long enough for the inspection team to find it, they were all over the place very shortly after his disappearance. They didn't find a thing however, so probably he did not jump of that bridge.

Class of the remaining Manics to still donate money to him. He was a youth friend after all and they still see him as a part of the group. When they put the pictures of all 4 original members on the Forever Delayed cover, James said "This is maybe the last chance for us to be with Richey in our lives..."

From NME - Steve Albini producing, Richie Edwards Lyrics, "Holy Bible" follow up.......................could be interesting.


Manic Street Preachers are set to release an album featuring lyrics written by missing member Richey Edwards.

The Welsh trio told NME.COM that they had recorded nine songs with producer Steve Albini for the album, tentatively titled 'Journal For Plague Lovers', which they plan to release in spring 2009.

The album will only feature lyrics written by Edwards, which his bandmates kept following his disappearance in 1995.

"We've had these lyrics for 14 years and we all felt compelled that this was the right time to do it," bassist Nicky Wire told NME.COM. "It's a follow-up to [1994 album] 'The Holy Bible' in a lot of ways.

"There's a small amount of editing involved, because some of them [Edwards-written passages] are prose and they needed to be made into lyrics, but they're all Richey's."

What could be more interesting, or as interesting as Richie's lyrics is this:

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We have been in the studio with Mr Steve Albini recording live – to tape – analogue – no digital hiss – no Pro Tools – no safety nets. Quite scary, daunting but invigorating.

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Richey has written some absolute brilliant songs. 4st 7lbs from The Holy Bible is one of the best songs lyrically I've ever heard. This new album could be very interesting. Im not holding out much hope for the lyrics making sense though.

Never mind what happened to Richey , whatever happened to Gerrit!

When I saw this thread resurrected I thought the first post would be along the lines of "Guess who's presenting the beebs new travel show"

:eek:

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Originally Posted by gustavo

Never mind what happened to Richey , whatever happened to Gerrit!

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Pretty sure he got banned.

Fully agree with Gustavo, THB is in a class of its own. I remember him saying after it came out that he had loads of lyrics for the follow up but he wanted it to be a cross between Screamadellica and Pantera. Hopefully they don't go with that musical direction! :D

How much of The Holy Bible did Richey write? I know Nicky Wire wrote 'This Is Yesterday' which is a fine song....

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Originally Posted by Gerrit

I think Richey was by far too intelligent to just take an easy way out and jump off a bridge.

So I think - and truely hope - he is alive.

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IMO he did commit suicide. I think it's wrong (aswell as insensitive) to say that suicide is 'an easy way out,' or that to go through with it takes someone who lacks intelligence. He committed suicide, from what I can tell, because he found this world an awful awful place to be - going on the interviews he gave before his death, the lyrics he wrote and others' accounts of him. Anyone with any bit of intelligence generally struggles with the horrific and bleak day-to-day of modern life and, often, the only alternative they find is suicide (or indeed other forms of self-destructive behaviour) unfortunately.

It takes a bigger as5hole to fake a disappearance than it does to kill onesself.

Whatever did happen to him - in fact, that is - I hope he got what he wanted, and if all that was was an escape from this life then I think he's gotten that.

Lads he's dead. In this day and age it would be hard for you or me to disappear in this world. For someone like Richey it's next to impossible

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Originally Posted by jebus

Lads he's dead. In this day and age it would be hard for you or me to disappear in this world. For someone like Richey it's next to impossible

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I knew you did it! I've suspected you for years! You told me that life sized Richey Edwards in your kitchen was made of wax! And to ignore the smell of formaldehyde! :eek:

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Originally Posted by Lionel Ritchie

When I saw this thread resurrected I thought the first post would be along the lines of "Guess who's presenting the beebs new travel show"

:eek:

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Funny post - Well played, Sir!! :D :D

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Originally Posted by Gerrit

Class of the remaining Manics to still donate money to him. He was a youth friend after all and they still see him as a part of the group. When they put the pictures of all 4 original members on the Forever Delayed cover, James said "This is maybe the last chance for us to be with Richey in our lives..."

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I've seen the Manics on a few occasions but they played a cracking gig at the Olympia, Dublin when they toured "Lifeblood".

Many had considered the album a subdued disappointment and weren't expecting much of a gig. They ended up playing a career spanning set including half a dozen tunes from Holy Bible.

At the end of the gig, James introduced each of the band including "finally, on rhythm guitar - Mr Richie Edwards".

It was a moving gesture of recognition.

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Originally Posted by Pauro 76

How much of The Holy Bible did Richey write? I know Nicky Wire wrote 'This Is Yesterday' which is a fine song....

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From Wikipedia, Pauro

Whereas lyric duties on the two previous albums were split fairly evenly between Edwards and the band's bass player Nicky Wire, Wire has said in interviews that Edwards wrote about 70-75% of the lyrics on The Holy Bible, which may explain why the lyrical themes on The Holy Bible were much darker than on the later Manic Street Preachers albums after Edwards' disappearance. On the Holy Bible DVD, Wire said he mainly wrote "Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwould fallapart" and "This Is Yesterday".

The song lyrics consisted of many diary/journal entries made by Edwards, and were, in essence, his final writings before his mysterious disappearance on February 1, 1995. In Q magazine's January 2006 100 Greatest Albums Ever! list, where The Holy Bible came in at #69, it was said of the album: 'Graphic, violent torrent of self-lacerating punk fury which infamously details the horrors in Richey Edwards' head before his 1995 disappearance.'

Edwards' lyrics took on a poetic nature (Sylvia Plath was a big influence), and the melodies are highly unusual, perhaps due to the fact that James Dean Bradfield was adapting the poems that Edwards wrote and wrapping them around the songs. Single words are stretched to fill a whole line and some entire sentences are sung very quickly, rendering them barely intelligible even when read from the complete lyric booklet. Many of the songs contain obscure religious, political and literary references. The album embraced various philosophical mindsets including nihilism ("I know I believe in nothing but it is my nothing") and misanthropy ("All I preach is extinction"). Edwards also wrote about weighty themes, such as the Holocaust, in an ambiguous style that borders on stream of consciousness.

All of the songs do have a meaning, but many lines appear to be unconnected slogans, proverbs and phrases as well as many highly poetic descriptions. An example of this is in the song "Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwould fallapart" (itself a famous quote by Lenny Bruce), the lines "Vital stats, how white was their skin, unimportant just another inner city drive-by thing" are followed by "Morning, fine, serve your first coffee of the day, real privilege it will take your problems all away". On the surface these lines would appear to be unconnected, but in the wider context of the song it is an attack on the indifference of America's predominantly white middle classes to the poor living in urban slums. There are many more instances of this abstract and indirect approach to song-writing in many of the album's songs, making the lyrics a jigsaw puzzle for the reader/listener to decipher.

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Originally Posted by Wolfie

From Wikipedia, Pauro

Whereas lyric duties on the two previous albums were split fairly evenly between Edwards and the band's bass player Nicky Wire, Wire has said in interviews that Edwards wrote about 70-75% of the lyrics on The Holy Bible, which may explain why the lyrical themes on The Holy Bible were much darker than on the later Manic Street Preachers albums after Edwards' disappearance. On the Holy Bible DVD, Wire said he mainly wrote "Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwould fallapart" and "This Is Yesterday".

The song lyrics consisted of many diary/journal entries made by Edwards, and were, in essence, his final writings before his mysterious disappearance on February 1, 1995. In Q magazine's January 2006 100 Greatest Albums Ever! list, where The Holy Bible came in at #69, it was said of the album: 'Graphic, violent torrent of self-lacerating punk fury which infamously details the horrors in Richey Edwards' head before his 1995 disappearance.'

Edwards' lyrics took on a poetic nature (Sylvia Plath was a big influence), and the melodies are highly unusual, perhaps due to the fact that James Dean Bradfield was adapting the poems that Edwards wrote and wrapping them around the songs. Single words are stretched to fill a whole line and some entire sentences are sung very quickly, rendering them barely intelligible even when read from the complete lyric booklet. Many of the songs contain obscure religious, political and literary references. The album embraced various philosophical mindsets including nihilism ("I know I believe in nothing but it is my nothing") and misanthropy ("All I preach is extinction"). Edwards also wrote about weighty themes, such as the Holocaust, in an ambiguous style that borders on stream of consciousness.

All of the songs do have a meaning, but many lines appear to be unconnected slogans, proverbs and phrases as well as many highly poetic descriptions. An example of this is in the song "Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwould fallapart" (itself a famous quote by Lenny Bruce), the lines "Vital stats, how white was their skin, unimportant just another inner city drive-by thing" are followed by "Morning, fine, serve your first coffee of the day, real privilege it will take your problems all away". On the surface these lines would appear to be unconnected, but in the wider context of the song it is an attack on the indifference of America's predominantly white middle classes to the poor living in urban slums. There are many more instances of this abstract and indirect approach to song-writing in many of the album's songs, making the lyrics a jigsaw puzzle for the reader/listener to decipher.

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Nice one mate! There's still the odd clunker of a lyric in the album, as amazing as it is. 'So wash your car in your X baseball shoes' for example....

I always thought that X stood for Nike or Adidas but they just couldnt say it