Some Kind of Nothingness

I know this is said a lot about many Manics songs, but I really do think this one is about Richey. It just all seems to fit. First verse: 'Crushed any happiness you knew'--'knew' being the key word, Richey became more and more depressed with age, longing for his childhood when he knew untainted happiness; the tree could be referring to the cherry blossom tree outside the place Richey & Nicky shared that has come to kind of represent Richey; and how the tree 'gave more to you than love' could refer to Richey's rejection of the idea of love and his struggle with finding any meaningful relationship. Chorus: describes Richey's perpetual loneliness in 'all alone forever'; suggests the memory of someone who's passed away, but still 'conclusions' are 'foregone'--a satisfying conclusion has never been reached regarding Richey's disappearance. Second verse: referring to Richey's choice to end the life as he knew it; 'some peace at last so don't be sad'--could be talking to himself (Nicky, I mean, being the lyricist) or to fans, saying reassuringly that while Richey might be gone, at least he is at peace. Third verse: 'Your future glories all empty of thoughts'--because he's gone, he cannot achieve any more of the glory he had in the limelight; 'There's beauty doing nothing at all/It's what you wanted, it's what you got/Your final search for truth has stopped'--again referring to Richey's decision to either disappear or commit suicide. Anyways, could be off the mark here, but that's just my take on it. Maybe the kind of gospel choir in this one is supposed to give it a spiritual feel to suit these (in my opinion) bereaved lyrics.

Brilliant song, Seems to be about lost love.

Beautiful song, deserved to be a bigger hit

'I wrote the music for this, it's probably the most I've ever put in to a lyric and writing the tune, I really did. I was gnawing my teeth so hard at this point that that one actually cracked out in the night, I literally snapped my own tooth! Going back to the touch stones of our youth, Ian McCulloch, that kind of really deep, rich baritone seemed to... and y'know, he was just- it was one of the strangest days I've ever had in the studio in my life. Ah, he was truly stunning and truly... I mean for three hours he just did impressions of David Bowie and Stan Boardman and, y'know, all kinds of stuff. But when he sang he really tried to dig something out of the song, y'know he just said to James "I'm the man and you're the girl". So it was a nice relief for James to be the girl I think!' - Nicky Wire

They sample Echo and the Bunnymen's 'Never Stop' in the middle bit. Which is rather appropriate, I suppose, as it's Ian McCulloch doing the duet. Both fantastic songs :)