Editing Generation Terrorists (section)

=== Lyrical content ===

All lyrics were written by Richey Edwards and [[Nicky Wire]]. All music was written by James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore (except "Damn Dog", which is a cover version of a song by the Sleez Sisters from the 1980 movie ''[[Times Square (1980 film)|Times Square]]''). The album's lyrics are politicised similar to that of The Clash and [[Public Enemy (band)|Public Enemy]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/wales/posts/john_robb_on_manic_street_preachers |title=BBC – Blogs – John Robb on Manic Street Preachers |last=McLaren |first=James |date=9 February 2012 |website=[[BBC Online]] |access-date=24 September 2012}}</ref> with the album's songs regularly switching from a critical focus on global [[capitalism]] to more personal tales of despair and the struggles of youth.{{sfn|Price|1999|p=75}} Examples of the more politically inspired side of ''Generation Terrorists'' include the opening track "[[Slash 'n' Burn]]", which concerns "[[third world]] exploitation",{{sfn|Price|1999|p=75}} the track "Repeat (Stars and Stripes)", a remix of the band's own anti-[[monarchy]] tirade by Public Enemy production team [[The Bomb Squad]]{{sfn|Price|1999|p=77}} and "Another Invented Disease", a song whose title was deliberate [[word play]] on [[HIV/AIDS|AIDS]] and referred to a [[conspiracy theory]] insinuating that the virus was manufactured by American [[biological warfare]] scientists.{{sfn|Price|1999|p=77}}

{{listen |filename=Motorcycle_emptiness.ogg|title="Motorcycle Emptiness"|description="[[Motorcycle Emptiness]]", which criticizes [[consumerism]] as a "shallow dream",{{sfn|Price|1999|p=76}} was released as a single|format=[[Ogg]]}}

Other tracks combine personal and political themes, implicating a connection between global [[capitalism]] and personal struggle; "Nat West-Barclays-Midlands-Lloyds" was written as a critique of overseas banking credit policies, but also concerned [[Richey Edwards]]' issues involving overdrafts and refused loans.{{sfn|Price|1999|p=76}} Marc Burrows of [[Drowned in Sound]] considered the song to be an accurate prediction of "global financial meltdown" and its effects on everyday life.<ref name="Burrows">{{cite web |url=http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4145695-manics-monday--rain-down-alienation-generation-terrorists%E2%80%99-key-tracks |title=Manics Monday: Rain Down Alienation – ''Generation Terrorists''<nowiki>'</nowiki> Key Tracks. / In Depth // Drowned in Sound |last=Burrows |first=Marc |date=5 November 2012 |work=[[Drowned in Sound]] |access-date=30 December 2014 |archive-date=6 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150106122603/http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4145695-manics-monday--rain-down-alienation-generation-terrorists%E2%80%99-key-tracks |url-status=dead }}</ref> The single "[[Motorcycle Emptiness]]", meanwhile, criticizes [[consumerism]] as a "shallow dream"{{sfn|Price|1999|p=76}} that makes human life overtly commercialized.<ref name="Burrows"/> "[[Little Baby Nothing]]", a duet between [[Traci Lords]] and Bradfield, was described by Priya Elan of the ''[[NME]]'' as a "perfect snapshot of [female] innocence bodysnatched and twisted".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=10&title=manic_street_preachers_their_10_best_tra&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 |title=Manic Street Preachers – Their 10 Best Tracks <nowiki>|</nowiki> nme.com |last=Elan |first=Priya |date=7 October 2011 |website=[[NME]]|access-date=30 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008113059/http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=10&title=manic_street_preachers_their_10_best_tra&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 |archive-date=8 October 2011}}</ref>

Wire and Edwards' love of poetry is also evident in their lyrics. [[Stuart Maconie]] of ''[[Select (magazine)|Select]]'' speculated that the album's lyrics were not primarily written for usage in song format: "You got the impression that often they haven't even been tried out in the mouth".{{sfn|Price|1999|p=78}} Instead, revolutionary slogans,<ref name="Beaumont">{{cite web |url=http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/manic-street-preachers-20-reasons-to-love-generation-terrorists |title=Manic Street Preachers – 20 Reasons to Love <nowiki>'</nowiki>''Generation Terrorists''<nowiki>' |</nowiki> nme.com |last=Beaumont |first=Mark |date=10 February 2012 |website=[[NME]]|access-date=30 December 2014}}</ref> and rhyme-free verse conveying multiple messages{{sfn|Price|1999|p=78}} combine to create an album "drenched in Richey and Nicky's cut-n-paste lyrical agitation",<ref name="Beaumont"/> with vocalist Bradfield "fitting sentences along the lines of '[[Nagasaki]] royal alienation consumer deathmask strychnine [[The Holocaust|holocaust]] hate' into the restrictive confines of a melodic rock chorus."