Nothing else sounds quite like ‘4st 7lb’. Even in the context of an album on which each track is a significantly different, dark riff on the post-punk formula, this song is one of the most unique Manics efforts of its era. Bradfield’s superb guitars create much of the bleak but perversely exciting atmosphere, and Moore’s drums are constantly shifting and seldom sticking to one pattern for any length of time. The fairly protracted slow, hazy section at the end of the song is perhaps its masterstroke, build around Bradfield’s “underwater” guitar work and creating a sense of life slowly slipping away.
Life slipping away? Yes, ‘4st 7lb’ deals with a brush with death right at the mid-point of The Holy Bible, creating the (accurate) impression that things could actually get darker from here. The song is Edwards’ excellently-written musing on the subject of the eating disorder anorexia, which he himself had suffered. One of the things which makes the lyric particularly powerful is the treatment of anorexia not just as a tragic, shocking condition in terms of what it does to sufferers, but also as a kind of dysfunction of vanity in which the sufferer delights in abusing those around them (“just look at the fat scum who pamper me so”) – easy listening it is not. 4st 7lb is, of course, the weight below which death becomes medically unavoidable – the point of no return.
The song’s devastating chorus is one of the finest aspects, in which the song’s protagonist conjures up fantastic images of slimming into non-existence, romanticising the slow death she is inflicting upon herself. It is notable that Bradfield sings from an explicitly female perspective here – this is perhaps unique within the whole of the Manics discography, and perhaps shields Edwards from the significantly autobiographical nature of what he had written.
Undoubtedly one of the best songs Richey Edwards ever wrote, ‘4st 7lb’ is a devastating piece of work, even in the context of The Holy Bible. Songs like this would not come around again.
Choice Lyric
“and I don’t mind the horror that surrounds me”References
Karen – Karen Krizanovich, formerly of Sky Magazine, agony aunt, journalist.Kate – Kate Moss (1974 -) English model known for her waifish figure, drug-taking, and association with “heroin chic”.
Emma – Emma Balfour (1970 -), Australian model.
Kristin – Kristin McMenamy (1966 -), American model.
Ryvita – a rye-based crispbread product commonly eaten by people trying to slim.
Kit Kat – chocolate bar made by Nestlé.
Twiggy – Lesley Lawson (née Hornby) (1949 -) English model, particularly famous in the 1960s.
Andy Johnson https://manicsdiscog.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/t64-4st-7lb/
4st 7lbs Full lyrics
“I eat too much to die and not enough to stay alive. I’m sitting in the middle waiting.”
The song begins with dialogue from from the 1994 documentary about anorexia, Caraline’s Story, which centres on the troubles of Caraline Neville-Lister. She describes how she eats “too much”, but basically a meagre amount of food. She is eating enough food to keep you alive but not enough to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Caraline died months after the filming of the documentary.
Days since I last pissed, Cheeks sunken and despaired.
So gorgeous sunk to six stone, lose my only remaining home.
See my third rib appear, a week later all my flesh disappears.
Stretching taut, cling-film on bone, I’m getting better.
Karen says I’ve reached my target weight, Kate and Emma and Kristin know it’s fake.
Problem is diet’s not a big enough word.
I wanna be so skinny that I rot from view, I want to walk in the snow and not leave a footprint.
I want to walk in the snow and not soil its purity.
Stomach collapsed at five, lift up my skirt my sex is gone.
Naked and lovely and 5st. 2, may I bud and never flower.
My vision’s getting blurred but I can see my ribs and I feel fine.
My hands are trembling stalks and I can feel my breasts are sinking.
Mother tries to choke me with roast beef and sits savouring her sole Ryvita.
That’s the way you’re built my father said, but I can change, my cocoon shedding.
I want to walk in the snow and not leave a footprint.
I want to walk in the snow and not soil its purity.
Kate and Kristin and Kit Kat all things I like looking at.
Too weak to fuss, too weak to die, Choice is skeletal in everybody’s life.
I choose my choice, I starve to frenzy.
Hunger soon passes and sickness soon tires.
Legs bend, stockinged I am Twiggy and I don’t mind the horror that surrounds me.
Self-worth scatters, self-esteem’s a bore, I long since moved to a higher plateau.
This discipline is so rare so please applaud, Just look at the fat scum who pamper me so.
Yeah four stone seven, an epilogue of youth.
Such beautiful dignity in self abuse.
I’ve finally come to understand life through staring blankly at my navel.
I remember hearing this song back in 1994 reading the lyric sheet and thinking wow Richey has managed to get into the headspace of someone who has an eating disorder (apparently he suffered from anorexia nervosa) and not only that but from the perspective of a young female who suffer mostly from this condition.
The song explores the idea of bodily autonomy and elements of control which result in this self destructive behaviour.
The song is totally empathic and makes the listener walk in that persons shoes no matter how uncomfortable that feels.
A very important song in that context to understand the condition and the causal effects behind that.
It happens to be a great song despite the harrowing subject which pretty much sums up the album too.
Only recently Nikki from Big Brother passed away from this awful illness just recently.
In creating a panel for this song I am careful in how I present it as it is a delicate subject which needs tact.
I have some ideas of the anorexic woman which I have drawn to be surrounded by either artists in a life drawing class where her suffering has become gestural.
The other was surrounded by men in riot gear which was inspired by the heavy-handed approach to the Sarah Everard vigil.
A comment on the fear of a woman’s sexuality and vulnerability which ties in with the Manics sense of feminity being exploited.
I decided to draw my image of an emaciated female with lyrics from the song to kind of get the ball rolling.
As opposed to the Faster picture this time I used velour paper and I like the drawing I’m not too keen on the title but the writing looks okay.
I have scanned it in to Procreate so I have more freedom to change things digitally.
I am new to procreate so I am trying to find my feet but the technology is astounding.
Much more happier with this and now I have this template I can experiment and create the pieces of work I mentioned before a lot easier.
I think this picture has a greeting card aesthetic to the card but the image of the girl looking back is haunting and almost accusatory.
Rusty'sArtWerk 