Cardiff (i/ˈkɑrdɪf/; Welsh: Caerdydd (info) Welsh pronunciation: [kairˈdiːð, kaˑɨrˈdɨːð]) is the capital and largest city in Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for Wales. The unitary authority area's mid 2010 population was estimated to be 341,054, while the population of the Larger Urban Zone was estimated at 861,400 in 2009. Cardiff is a significant tourism centre and the most popular visitor destination in Wales with 18.3 million visitors in 2010. In 2011, Cardiff was ranked 6th in the world in National Geographic's alternative tourist destinations.
The city of Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan (and later South Glamorgan). Cardiff is part of the Eurocities network of the largest European cities. The Cardiff Urban Area covers a slightly larger area outside of the county boundary, and includes the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a major port for the transport of coal following the arrival of industry in the region contributed to its rise as a major city.
Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band formed in 1986 consisting of James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar), Nicky Wire (bass, lyrics), and Sean Moore (drums, percussion). The band is part of the Cardiff music scene and were at their most prominent during the 1990s. They are colloquially known as "The Manics" or simply "Manics". Manic Street Preachers were originally a quartet but primary lyricist and rhythm guitarist Richey Edwards vanished on 1 February 1995.
In 1992, the Manics released their debut album, Generation Terrorists. Their combination of androgynous glam punk imagery and critical social lyrics about "culture, alienation, boredom, and despair" soon gained them a loyal following and cult status. The band's later albums retained a leftist politicisation and intellectual lyrical style while adopting a broader alternative rock sound.
Following Edwards' disappearance, Bradfield, Moore, and Wire persisted with Manic Street Preachers and went on to gain critical and commercial success, becoming one of Britain's premier rock bands. Altogether, they have garnered eight Top 10 albums, fifteen Top 10 singles, and have reached number one three times with their 1998 This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours album, the 1998 "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" single, and the 2000 "The Masses Against the Classes" single.
This fluid feels like pain
This stoic mood is all in vain
I reached into the dark
I tear this other me apart
How many years ago?
How many deaths I can't let go?
My flesh is temporary
My God, extraordinary
You can't kill my mind
A man delivered can never
Make his way in darkness
I know tonight will end
But I won't give this life away again
Sifting through this same debris
Oh, my Father, call to me
This smoke is in my blood
This home is just no good
Save me from my bitterness
Give me up, I did my best
Shock this system full of shit
Lock this fucker lost in it
You can't kill my mind
A man delivered can never
Make his way in darkness
I know tonight will end
But I won't give this life away
But I won't give this life away again
A man surrendered can never
Find his own forgiveness
I know my life will end
But I won't give tonight away
I won't give tonight away again
This fluid feels like pain
This ruin feels like rain
I reach into the past
My future's fading fast
How many years ago?
How many I let go?
My flesh is all I have
My face is happenstance
This smoke is in my blood
This life is not enough
This life is not enough
(And now ladies and gentlemen)
Here we go with an energy burst
Disbursed into a room like
We're gonna be in your town soon
So if you wanna hear a rap band
Who can drop the bomb like the Gap Band
Then we got you covered like an afghan
Half man, half cat, raps off the hinges
A knuckle head cringes as if I had syringes
I'm not a doctor but I brought the right dosage
To mend 'em and send 'em on their way like postage
I got the audience noddin their head
Like a foreigner pretending that he knows what I said
With both mics checked, two Tech's and a Vestax
Blowin up the set, make it hard for the next act
Never in the daylight, call me Dracula
Flippin like a spatula once I get the stage mic
Wouldn't leave a page white, I write on
And the crowd stays hype even when I'm gone
I wish I was in Cardiff, they know how to rock
But what about Austin, they were goin off
Don't forget Belfast, they were top notch
So come on everybody let's flop
Einstein, what you doing
(I keep diggin, I keep scratchin)
Oh, well where'd you get this record then huh
(Searched everywhere)
Like where
(I searched for the one in Ohio)
Where else, where else
(New York City, Dallas, and Chicago)
Got the music coming straight out of the mind
Of the Young Einstein
He signed to find beats For my rhyme design
I'm searching for some inventiveness
Within my sentences, rhythm is the genesis
Forming like photosynthesis
Infinite, limitless
As never before
Getting so fly you'll shut the screen door
From mop tops and sock hops
To hot shots with stock ops
To Don Knotts and Sasquatch
Put this in your lock box
I saturate breaks, evaporate tapes
And I made dates in different shaped states
Drove eight hours straight, leavin dents in the vents
Makin sure the show is worth every penny we spent
Livin on per diems, US and European
Mike pack the merchandise (what) believe it
Even when promoters give us the cold shoulder
It wasn't that way in Minnesota (that's true)
But I wish I was in Boston, they know how to rock
But what about Bristol, they were goin off
Don't forget Burlington, they were top notch
So come on everybody let's flop
But wait, before we do, let me say thank you
To every single person who supported the crew
Like the DJ's, the writers, and college radio
But most of all the cats who helped us out at the show
Some even took us out to eat and let us sleep in their house
I got the bed, I got the floor, well then I'll crash on the couch
With all the people that we've met
And all the places we've been
Yo we gotta give it up
Then let me run it again
I wish I was in Berlin, they know how to rock
But what about Boulder, they were goin off
Aberdeen, Eugene, they were top notch
So come on everybody let's flop
Yeah I gotta say hello to my man Tyler
And the big red posse out in Lincoln
I wanna say hey to Molly and Brandon out in Brooklyn
And I wanna send a big "how arrre ya"
Out to Brian at UMass, Boston
Yo I wanna say what's up to my man Rob and Jeremy
From Lawrence, Kansas, what's up
My man Young O for puttin us up in Albuquerque
My man Chad from Chapel Hill, North Carolina
What's up, this is large Meezy
I wanna shout out to Thes One
Yo, if you don't got my money I'm a put you under the stairs
Manchester baby, give it up to Toronto
What's up Dublin Ireland, Tempe Arizona, Catalina
Long Beach California, Humboldt County
Yeah man, yo man I gotta ask you one last question
Before we get outta here