Little Baby Nothing

This song is not only a biopic of how women are treated but also a metaphor of how men with feminine traits are viewed. This especially applies to Richey and Nicky with all the dress that they wore etc. The fact that Richey was anorexic in itself is a feminine trait. Self abuse is considered feminine, and abuse of others out of pity for yourself is considered masculine. The line "you are pure, you are snow" is especially intersting. Richey always seemed to view snow as perfection or purity (see 4st 7lb "I want to walk in the snow and not soil its purity") but in this case, it refers to the masculine side. So he's saying that society views this as perfection for a male and the rest are condemned to a life of being "useless sluts" despite the fact that he holds this in much higher esteem. By the way, "culture, alienation, boredom and despair" according to Richey was the central theme for every Manics song, their actions and their reasons for creating art. It was the original working title for Generation Terrorists but the record company said it was too depressing and not PC, preferring Generation Terrorists. And lets be perfectly honest, that's not really PC either!!!

Parts of this song remind me of the relationship between Dolores & Humbert in Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita" (which was also one of Richey's favourite novels).

Damn, this has gotta be my favorite song of generation terrorist. That last part always gets me, it's just such a good melody.

And of course the lyrics have richey written all over them. I love how he can get away with being so blunt. He was one of those guys that just had the credibility that so many lack.

I believe that the song was originally intended as a duet with Kylie Minogue but, for obvious reasons, she did not wish to be involved and Traci Lords was drafted in.

Following Kylie's split from her writing and producing team and before she reinvented herself as a dance musician, she recorded an album which featured songs written and produced by Bradfield and Wire.

In answer to a couple of the above criticisms, this song isn't exactly about abusive males or groupies...It's specifically aimed at the sex industry - it's anti-porn and anti-prostitution. The 'used by men' line, I think, is meant to be wholly literal.

It is an ode to how women, in a world sometimes hostile to them and treating them as objects, stand strong and how in fact they are the strong gender, using their beauty and male fascination with it when they can. The band wanted Kylie Minogue to sing the choruses but she was not affordable at that time, so Tracy Lords did the job. Think that was a good choice, definitely an example of a woman who stayed strong in a world/scene dominated by men and treating women as objects of desire.

Note the socialist/communist note too in the line "all they leave behind is money: paper made out of broken twisted trees", devaluating the value of money.

their lyrics and traci lords's voice sums up (for me anyway) the sex industry

Definitely a classic song.

yeah a very good classic indeed, sung very well aswell,

This is one of my faveourite songs. I hate it that some guys think that treating you like a peice of meat and taking advantage of someone when they're vunrable is acceptable.Just the chorus,"used,used,used by men" it's like true in so many casses, and i can really relate to it, as can so many others, which is why you have to love richey for not only his amazing looks but his talent for putting even the darker things in life into such beautiful and clever words!