The Love of Richard Nixon explained

The Love of Richard Nixon
Cover:TheLoveOfRichardNixon.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Manic Street Preachers
Album:Lifeblood
B-Side:
  • "Everyone Knows/Nobody Cares"
  • "Everything Will Be"
  • "Askew Road"
Length:3:38
Label:Sony Music UK
Producer:Greg Haver
Prev Title:There by the Grace of God
Prev Year:2002
Next Title:Empty Souls
Next Year:2005

"The Love of Richard Nixon" is a song by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. It was released on 18 October 2004 by Sony Music UK as the first single from their seventh studio album, Lifeblood (2004), and reached number two on the UK Singles Chart.

Content

The song is, according to the band, "a soundtrack to disillusion, hatred, love and never giving up".[1] More specifically, the song is a sympathetic appraisal of former US president Richard Nixon and mentions some of his positive achievements, inevitably overshadowed by the Watergate Scandal. The timing of the single's release, two weeks before George W. Bush's victory at the 2004 US presidential elections, can also be seen as a statement by the band concerning the reputation of the USA's leadership at the time.[2] In an interview with Repeat Fanzine, the band also said it represents how they feel in comparison to Radiohead. Nicky in particular commented that they feel like Richard Nixon compared to Radiohead's John F. Kennedy: "'If Radiohead are Kennedy, then Manic Street Preachers are Nixon: the ugly duckling who had to try 10 times harder than anyone else. Paranoid megalomaniacs.'"[3]

The sound is more electronic than most of their previous hits, indicative of a slight switch in sound on Lifeblood; according to the band the song contains no guitars.[1]

Release and reception

"The Love of Richard Nixon" was released on 18 October 2004 by record label Sony Music UK as the first single from the band's seventh studio album, Lifebood.[2] Unusually, the three formats of the single—two CDs and a DVD—could be bought together for £5 at most record stores, encouraging multiple purchases of the single.[4] The song reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, number 15 on the Spanish Singles Chart, and number 17 on the Irish Singles Chart.

Track listings

UK CD1[5]

  1. "The Love of Richard Nixon"
  2. "Everyone Knows/Nobody Cares"

UK CD2[6]

  1. "The Love of Richard Nixon"
  2. "Everything Will Be"
  3. "Askew Road"
  4. "The Love of Richard Nixon"

UK DVD single[7]

  1. "The Love of Richard Nixon"
  2. Quarantine (In My Place Of) (short film)
  3. "Voodoo Polaroids"

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the UK CD1 liner notes.[5]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Martin Clarke, Manic Street Preachers: Sweet Venom (Plexus, 2009).
  2. Book: Power, Martin . Manic Street Preachers . 17 October 2010 . Omnibus Press.
  3. Web site: An Interview . repeatfanzine.co.uk . 12 April 2015.
  4. Web site: Week Ending October 30th 2004. Masterton. James. James Masterton. Chart Watch UK. 24 October 2004. 13 June 2021.
  5. The Love of Richard Nixon. Manic Street Preachers. 2004. UK CD1 liner notes. Sony Music UK. 675342 1.
  6. The Love of Richard Nixon. Manic Street Preachers. 2004. UK CD2 liner notes. Sony Music UK. 675342 2.
  7. The Love of Richard Nixon. Manic Street Preachers. 2004. UK DVD single liner notes. Sony Music UK. 675342 9.
  8. Hits of the World – Eurocharts. Billboard. 116. 45. 51. 6 November 2004. 31 March 2020.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "The Love of Richard Nixon".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.