Editing A Design for Life (section)

==Origins==
The title was inspired by the debut [[Joy Division]] [[Extended play|EP]], ''[[An Ideal for Living]]''. The opening line of the song, 'Libraries gave us power', was inspired by the legend "[[Scientia potentia est|Knowledge is Power]]" engraved in stone above the top floor central window of the library in [[Pillgwenlly]], [[Newport, Wales|Newport]], 15 miles from the band's home town of [[Blackwood, Caerphilly|Blackwood]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8108080.stm |title=Manics' 'humble' library opening |publisher=BBC |date=18 June 2009 |access-date=26 October 2013}}</ref> The next line, 'then work came and made us free', refers to the German slogan {{lang|de|[[Arbeit macht frei]]}} that featured above the gates of Nazi concentration camps and which had been used previously by the band in their song "The Intense Humming of Evil" on the album ''[[The Holy Bible (album)|The Holy Bible]]''.<ref name="Manic Street Preachers">{{cite book |last1=Power |first1=Martin |title=Manic Street Preachers |date=17 October 2010 |publisher=Omnibus Press }}</ref>

The song explores themes of [[class conflict]] and [[working class]] identity and solidarity, inspired by the band's strong [[socialism|socialist]] convictions. Speaking in 2017, [[Nicky Wire]] explained that he "was sick to death with the patronisation of the working class. We’re not just [[The Jeremy Kyle Show|Jeremy Kyle]] – we did build libraries. My dad was a miner".<ref name=wilding /> Its video exemplifies this theme further. Various slogans promoting compliance and domesticity clash with scenes of [[fox hunting]], [[Royal Ascot]], a [[polo]] match and the [[The Proms|Last Night of the Proms]] representing what the band saw as [[social class|class]] [[Privilege (social inequality)|privilege]].

The song was the first to be written and released by the band following the disappearance of figurehead [[Richey Edwards]] the previous year. Interviewed in 2014 by ''[[NME]]'' for their "Song Stories" video series, singer and guitarist James Dean Bradfield recalled that the lyrics had come about as a blending of two sets – "Design for Life" and "Pure Motive" – sent to him by bassist Nicky Wire. The music was written "in about ten minutes" and Bradfield was ecstatic with the result. The song "rescued the band" after the disappearance of Edwards, with Wire describing it as "a bolt of light from a severely dark place".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T4UgrW7tLw |title=How Writing 'A Design For Life' Saved Manic Street Preachers – Interview |via=YouTube |access-date=26 April 2015}}</ref> The band approached [[Mike Hedges]] to be involved in producing the song after hearing [[McAlmont & Butler]]'s string-laden single "[[Yes (McAlmont & Butler song)|Yes]]", which Hedges had worked on.<ref name=wilding>{{cite web |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-manic-street-preachers-their-best-songs-in-their-own-words |title=The Manic Street Preachers: Their best songs in their own words |last=Wilding |first=Philip |date=12 December 2017 |website=[[Louder (website)|Louder]]|access-date=19 August 2021}}</ref>