Ready For Drowning

Manic Street Preachers

"Here's a true story"
Said someone to me yesterday
Said he'd heard it in a taxi
Must have had him at my mercy
Drown that poor thing put it out of its misery
Condemn it to its future deny its history, deny its history

So where are we going?
We are not ready for drowning
So where are we going?
We are not ready for drowning

Look through my venetian blinds
Dusting the past off my mind
Seeing orange everywhere
I'd go to Patagonia but it's harder there
I'll do anything to prove I care
Fascinated by good destroyed by evil
What is there to believe in

So where are we going?
We're not ready for drowning
So where are we going?
We are not ready for drowning

So where are we going?
We are not ready for drowning
So where are we going?
We are not waving, we're drowning, ooh


Lyrics submitted by pumkinhed

Ready for Drowning Lyrics as written by Jones Bradfield

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

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Ready For Drowning song meanings
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7 Comments

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  • +3
    General CommentHow on earth do none of you know about this? The song is about the town of Capel Celyn which was drowned to supply water for Liverpool in the 60s. Families who had relatives buried in the cemetery were given the option of either moving them to another cemetery, or leaving them. Consequently, eight bodies were disinterred, and the remainder left. All headstones were removed, and the cemetery was then covered in a layer of gravel, then concrete.

    God save the queen
    Smileydogdanceon December 06, 2010   Link
  • +1
    Song MeaningAs far i'm concerned, this song is about how so many artists (including Welsh and Britain poets like Richey) suffered or died because of alcoholism. And theres a historical reference of Liverpool (i don't know when) once flooding nearby places for their water distribution.
    PauloDon October 24, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General CommentThe last line - So where are we going we're not waving we are drowning is based on a line from a poem by Stevie Smith:

    Nobody heard him, the dead man,
    But still he lay moaning:
    I was much further out than you thought
    And not waving but drowning

    Poor chap, he always loved larking
    And now he's dead
    It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
    They said.

    Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
    (Still the dead one lay moaning)
    I was much too far out all my life
    And not waving but drowning.
    LittleBabyNothingon June 30, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Commentthe song is about a village in wales that was flooded to supply power to a town (I think the town was in England)
    darylcon May 26, 2010   Link
  • -1
    General CommentDrowning and Richey James Edwards connection perhaps?

    There use to be a Welsh colony in Patagonia (Argentina)
    Onlineon April 07, 2007   Link
  • -1
    General CommentI will bring the whole edifice down on their unworthy heads :D

    So sayeth Richard Burton.
    ThierryHenryyyon January 30, 2010   Link
  • -1
    General CommentHow could they drown a whole village to make a reservoir, why couldn't they just use a completely uninhabited area? You have to wonder about some people.
    manic4manicson October 25, 2012   Link

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