It's a very Manics song in that it was flying in the face of conventional youth culture at the time. In the early '90s "drug culture" was hip and the NME et al used to play-up bands' chemical excesses as being part of a youthful rebellion against staid, conservative, mainstream culture. In this song the Manics are turning that on its head, arguing that designer-drug users are apathetic, decadent, apolitical and self-destructive and are doing nothing to make the world a better place, quite the opposite. "Show me your scars you're so aware" might be a reference to Ritchie Edwards' self-harming, comparing it to drug-use as self-harm (Edwards also had a drink problem) or it might be having at go at "heroin chic" and the idea of the emaciated look as something to aspire to. "Dance like a robot when you're chained at the knee
The C.I.A. say you're all they'll ever need" is the most explicitly political part; at the time designer drugs (notably ecstacy or "E" as referenced in the song's last line) were associated with rave culture which these lines allude to with its "robotic" glass-eyed dancers. The Manics seem to be suggesting that, rather than being a threat to the established order, such pleasure-seeking consumers were actually re-enforcing it.
It's a very Manics song in that it was flying in the face of conventional youth culture at the time. In the early '90s "drug culture" was hip and the NME et al used to play-up bands' chemical excesses as being part of a youthful rebellion against staid, conservative, mainstream culture. In this song the Manics are turning that on its head, arguing that designer-drug users are apathetic, decadent, apolitical and self-destructive and are doing nothing to make the world a better place, quite the opposite. "Show me your scars you're so aware" might be a reference to Ritchie Edwards' self-harming, comparing it to drug-use as self-harm (Edwards also had a drink problem) or it might be having at go at "heroin chic" and the idea of the emaciated look as something to aspire to. "Dance like a robot when you're chained at the knee The C.I.A. say you're all they'll ever need" is the most explicitly political part; at the time designer drugs (notably ecstacy or "E" as referenced in the song's last line) were associated with rave culture which these lines allude to with its "robotic" glass-eyed dancers. The Manics seem to be suggesting that, rather than being a threat to the established order, such pleasure-seeking consumers were actually re-enforcing it.