On 5th February 1995, Richey disappeared from the face of the motherfucking earth, in so far as anyone can tell. That his car was found next to the Severn Bridge, a spot notorious for its attraction to potential suicides, seems to suggest that he just jumped the hell in and that's all there is to it. Dead. Immortalized, but he ain't gonna be scribbling no more awe-inspiring lyrics in a hurry.
Some other shit, though, points to a different scenario altogether. For one thing, he emptied his bank account in advance of his disappearance. For another, he left a photo of a house, which his band-mates since attempted to identify, to no avail. And then there's his admiration for J.D Sallinger, the fact that he adored the idea of just disappearing. Just saying fuck it and walking away and no-one knowing what the hell happened or where the hell you went.
And then, most importantly, there's the fact that no body was ever recovered, although, granted, plenty have leapt from the Severn Bridge before, and never been found.
But whatever happened, the fact is that it's fast approaching ten years since Richey wandered off wherever the hell he was headed. The Manic Street Preachers carried on, achieving the kind of success they always boasted about, but which seemed destined to elude them.
Their intention, as has been widely quoted and mocked, was to sell 16 million copies of their debut album and then split up. To out-sell Guns N Roses and then vanish.
Richey got the vanishing part right, I guess. He just never bothered waiting until the prophecy was properly fulfilled.
Anyhow, before he went, Richey contributed 75% of the lyrics to the band's third record, The Holy Bible. Co-lyricist Nicky Wire was content to take a back-seat this time around, noting that he was pretty happy at the time, actually, and didn't have much to complain about.
Richey was far from happy, and, subsequently, the lyric sheet for The Holy Bible has become almost mythological in stature. It tells a tale of suffering, of inhumanity, of nihilism, of self-disgust, of deep, dark holes in the soul that most folks would rather not peer into, to be honest.
To take nothing away from the primal rage, the streamlined intellect, the incomparable feats of language contained within Richey's bile-drenched attacks on himself and his obsessions, the notion of The Holy Bible as some impenetrably bleak, crushing gallery of torment does it a serious disservice.
Article comments
1 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
hells bells. thats the third time i've used the word "fetishised" in almost as many articles. That Word Of The Day toilet-paper sure works better when a fella's got the runs...
2 - godoggo
re: fetishise: Your'e in America now, if I'm not mistaken. Allow me to introduce you to the letter Z.
That said, what in heaven'z name is LA Rock?
3 - wally bangs
Brilliant stuff, Duke. I bet you "laughed when Lennon got shot" too.
4 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
godoggo, i'm still residing in the UK, but it's a valid point. I keep forgetting to include the "z", which is odd, since is not only is it Costa Gravas' best flick, but it's a much cooler letter than s. I keep wondering why the MT desktop client has red lines under things i know are spelt correctly, and that's always the cause.
Wally, thanks man. And i didn't, probably, but i still roar along like as if i was there man. "Motown... Motown Junk!!"
5 - valeria
Here come the crazy urges to listen to the Holy Bible again, for maybe the millionth time in my life. It might be your incessant quotes that just beg a singalong, it might be that this article was just absolutely perfect.
6 - Duke De Mondo
Valeria, thank you! What a compliment it is, to have someone urged towards a re-listening of The Holy Bible on account of my scribbling.
and this reminds me, i really must pick up that grand new Everything Must Go set sometime soon...