THE COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED ON THE PRINCIPLE THAT THE PRIMARY ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT IS TO PROTECT PROPERTY FROM THE MAJORITY
AND SO IT REMAINS

1, 2, 3, 4

Hello it's us again
We're still so in love with you
And yes we mean it too
Yes we're so in love with you

Hello it's us again
You thought you were our friends
Success is an ugly word
Especially in your tiny world

The masses against the classes
I'm tired of giving a reason
When the future is what we believe in
We love winter
It brings us closer together

So can you hurt us anymore
Can you feel like it was before
Or are you lost forever more
Messed up and dead on alcohol

Hello, fond farewell my dears
I hope you hear this nice and clear
Our love is unconditional
Our hate is yours to feed upon

The masses against the classes
I'm tired of giving a reason
When the future is what we believe in
We love the winter
It brings us closer together

The masses against the classes
I'm tired of giving a reason
When we're the only thing left to believe in
We love the winter
It brings us closer together

A SLAVE BEGINS BY DEMANDING JUSTICE
AND ENDS BY WANTING TO WEAR A CROWN


Lyrics submitted by Thom Webbe

Masses Against the Classes Lyrics as written by Nicholas Jones James Bradfield

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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The Masses Against The Classes song meanings
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12 Comments

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  • +3
    General CommentI never thought this song really means what the title would suggest at face value.
    I tend to agree with my nothing's analysis except I would say it is aimed more at the so-called "fans" who constantly bitch about how the MSP have got more commercial (Success is an ugly word
    Especially in your tiny world )/crap after Richey left and so on.

    I think the line "I'm tired of giving a reason " is them saying they're fed up of having to justify everything they do to the aforementioned so-called fans. They believe in the future, nothing stays the same etc. if you don't like the music they are putting out now then piss off and spend all day listening to the Holy Bible and feeling nostalgic.
    paulothemanioon January 05, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General CommentI think the greetings are from the masses to the elite.

    The ugly little success is that of the concentrations of wealth and power, who often use their own myths of self-made empires to convince the lower classes that their cooperation with the ruling classes will be rewarded by that same kind of success (this is hinted at in the ending quote). Everybody wants to get rich, few succeed, so for most people the capitalist dream isn't a reality but an ultimately unfulfilled promise which prevents people thinking about different kinds of social order.

    I think the winter they speak of is the intensification of whatever forms of oppression are used by the ruling classes, which tend to galvanize (bring together) popular opposition, where before there was much more complacency. The privatization of (all) water in Bolivia springs to mind.

    They half-sarcastically say their love (for the rich) is unconditional (and it is: if you look at it, people tend to see success as self-legitimating, and don't question its origins), and their hate can be utilized: the ruling classes foster racism, war, and things that divide people on superficial cultural lines rather than risk them uniting as the working class.
    tikbalangon February 22, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Commentone of the best msp songs.straight and aggressive. when i feel lonely and depressed, "we love the winter, it brings us closer togehter"always reminds me i'm not all by myself.weird? of course it's great working-class against oppressing class statement too.great quotes ( chomsky, gladstone,mao tse-tung)also.
    remeronon November 20, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General CommentWho is that at the start? Nixon, Reagan, Bush? Someone else even?
    It was William Gladstone who first said "All the world over, I will back the masses against the classes."
    And aswell as the obvious meaning of the song's title, it also is partially about the critics who wrote the Manics off after Richey's dissapearance and esscentially said they'd never do a great rock and roll song like say, Faster ever again.
    WHO'S LAUGHING NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    my nothingon November 23, 2004   Link
  • 0
    My InterpretationCommunist anthem.
    Cracked Pleasureson August 15, 2012   Link
  • -1
    General Commentlike nostalgic pussheads...
    Mortonium Iceon January 30, 2005   Link
  • -1
    General CommentDoes anyone know who that is at the start? Which line is a quote from Mao Tse-Tung?
    my nothingon May 01, 2005   Link
  • -1
    General CommentThe quote at the start of the song is Chomsky. The only Mao Tse-Tung quote, as far as I can tell, is from the record sleeve, not the lyrics: "We should support whatever the enemy opposes and oppose whatever the enemy supports."
    LittleBabyNothingon July 16, 2005   Link
  • -1
    General CommentThat's Chomsky? Figures! *Begins deriding herself again*
    my nothingon December 05, 2005   Link
  • -1
    General Commentthe last line "A slave begins by demanding justice and ends by wanting to wear a crown" is from french resistance fighter and nobel prize writer Albert camus.
    hconfianceon May 29, 2006   Link

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