She Is Suffering

1994 single by Manic Street Preachers

"She Is Suffering"

Single by Manic Street Preachers
from the album  The Holy Bible
Released| 3 October 1994 (1994-10-03)[1]
Genre| Post-punk[2]
Length|

* 4:44 (album version)
* 4:07 (single version)

Label| Epic
Songwriter(s)|

* James Dean Bradfield
* Sean Moore
* Nicky Wire
* Richey Edwards

Producer(s)| Steve Brown
Manic Street Preachers singles chronology
| "Revol"
(1994)  | "She Is Suffering"
(1994)  | "A Design for Life"
(1996)

|
|

Music video
"She Is Suffering" on YouTube

"She Is Suffering" is a song by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. It was released in October 1994 by record label Epic as the third and final single from the band's third studio album, The Holy Bible (1994). It was their last single to feature Richey Edwards before his disappearance on 1 February 1995. The single reached number 25 on the UK Singles Chart on 15 October 1994.

## Content

[edit]

According to its lyricist, Richey Edwards, the song's title refers to "Desire. In other bibles and holy books, no truth is possible until you empty yourself of desire. All commitment otherwise is fake/lies/economic convenience". Nicky Wire also noted, "It's quite a simple song, both musically and lyrically. It's kind of like the Buddhist thing where you can only reach eternal peace by shedding every desire in your body."[3]

## Critical reception

[edit]

Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "You should suffer too if you don't jump on this passionate rock song, their best since 1992's 'Motorcycle Emptiness'. Softies can play "MTV's Most Wanted" acoustic version."[4] Martin Aston from Music Week gave it a score of four out of five, noting that the song "is slower than most of the Manics' predecessors but will still score".[5]

## Promotion

[edit]

Promotion for the single included James Dean Bradfield performing an acoustic version of the song on RTÉ's Sunday afternoon TV/radio simulcast The Beatbox[6]

### Music video

[edit]

A promo video for the song was directed by Alfonso Doring, which featured performance clips interspersed with shots of art mannequins.[7] In the music magazine Melody Maker, Wire described the music video to "She Is Suffering" as "absolute shite beyond belief".[6] It was released on the band's Forever Delayed video compilation DVD (2002).[8]

## Track listings

[edit]

All lyrics are written by Richey Edwards and Nicky Wire, except as noted; all music is composed by James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore.

CD single 1No.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

1.| "She Is Suffering" (7-inch radio edit)|  | 4:07
2.| "Love Torn Us Under"|  | 3:42
3.| "The Drowners" (live) (featuring Bernard Butler)| Brett Anderson, Butler| 3:17
4.| "Stay with Me"| Rod Stewart, Ron Wood| 3:37

CD single 2No.| Title| Length

|
|

1.| "She Is Suffering" (7-inch radio edit)|
2.| "La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)" (Vocal Mix) (remixed by the Dust Brothers)|
3.| "La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)" (Dub Mix) (remixed by the Dust Brothers)|
4.| "Faster" (Dub Mix) (remixed by the Dust Brothers)|

10-inch vinylNo.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

1.| "She Is Suffering" (7-inch radio edit)|  | 4:07
2.| "The Drowners" (live) (featuring Bernard Butler)| Anderson, Butler| 3:17
3.| "Stay with Me" (live)| Stewart, Wood| 3:37

CassetteNo.| Title| Length

|
|

1.| "She Is Suffering" (7-inch radio edit)|
2.| "Love Torn Us Under"|

European Maxi-CD singleNo.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

1.| "She Is Suffering" (7-inch radio edit)|  |
2.| "The Drowners" (live) (featuring Bernard Butler)| Anderson, Butler| 3:17
3.| "Stay with Me" (live)| Stewart, Wood| 3:37
4.| "She Is Suffering" (acoustic version) (live on MTV's Most Wanted)|  | 4:01

* All live tracks (excluding the European release) were recorded at the Clapham Grand, Battersea, London, England, on 2 March 1994 in aid of the Philip Hall Memorial Fund for Cancer Research.

## Charts

[edit]

Chart (1994)  | Peak
position

|

UK Singles (OCC)[9] | 25

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 1 October 1994. p. 27.
2. ^ Trendell, Andrew (23 September 2014). "Manic Street Preachers' The Holy Bible: the tracks ranked". Gigwise. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
3. ^ "The Holy Bible – According to Nicky and Richey". richeyedwards.net. Archived from the original on July 7, 2002. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
4. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 11, no. 48\. 26 November 1994. p. 12. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
5. ^ Aston, Martin (24 September 1994). "Market Preview: Alternative" (PDF). Music Week. p. 16. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
6. ^ a b Price 1999.
7. ^ "[A67] 'She Is Suffering'". Manic Street Preachers: A Critical Discography. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
8. ^ Power, Martin (17 October 2010). Manic Street Preachers. Omnibus Press.
9. ^ "Manic Street Preachers". Official Charts. Retrieved 18 March 2015.

### Sources

[edit]

* Price, Simon (1999). Everything (A Book About Manic Street Preachers). London: Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0139-2.

* v
* t
* e

Manic Street Preachers

* James Dean Bradfield
* Sean Moore
* Nicky Wire

* Richey Edwards

Studio albums|

* Generation Terrorists
* Gold Against the Soul
* The Holy Bible
* Everything Must Go
* This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
* Know Your Enemy
* Lifeblood
* Send Away the Tigers
* Journal for Plague Lovers
* Postcards from a Young Man
* Rewind the Film
* Futurology
* Resistance Is Futile
* The Ultra Vivid Lament
* Critical Thinking

Compilation albums|

* Forever Delayed
* Lipstick Traces
* National Treasures – The Complete Singles
* Sleep Next to Plastic

EPs|

* New Art Riot
* Life Becoming a Landslide

Singles|

* "Suicide Alley"
* "Motown Junk"
* "You Love Us (Heavenly Version)"
* "Stay Beautiful"
* "Love's Sweet Exile"/"Repeat"
* "You Love Us"
* "Slash 'n' Burn"
* "Motorcycle Emptiness"
* "Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide Is Painless)"
* "Little Baby Nothing"
* "From Despair to Where"
* "La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)"
* "Roses in the Hospital"
* "Faster"
* "Revol"
* "She Is Suffering"
* "A Design for Life"
* "Everything Must Go"
* "Kevin Carter"
* "Australia"
* "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next"
* "The Everlasting"
* "You Stole the Sun from My Heart"
* "Tsunami"
* "The Masses Against the Classes"
* "So Why So Sad"
* "Found That Soul"
* "Ocean Spray"
* "Let Robeson Sing"
* "There by the Grace of God"
* "The Love of Richard Nixon"
* "Empty Souls"
* "Underdogs"
* "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough"
* "Autumnsong"
* "Indian Summer"
* "(It's Not War) Just the End of Love"
* "Some Kind of Nothingness"
* "Postcards from a Young Man"
* "This Is the Day"
* "Show Me the Wonder"
* "Anthem for a Lost Cause"
* "Walk Me to the Bridge"
* "Futurology"
* "Together Stronger (C'mon Wales)"
* "International Blue"
* "Distant Colours"
* "Dylan & Caitlin"
* "Liverpool Revisited"
* "Hold Me Like a Heaven"
* "People Give In"
* "Orwellian"
* "The Secret He Had Missed"
* "Rosebud"
* "Decline and Fall"

Other songs|

* "4st 7lb"
* "Peeled Apples"

Video albums|

* Everything Live
* Leaving the 20th Century
* Louder Than War
* Forever Delayed

Solo Albums|

* The Great Western
* I Killed the Zeitgeist
* Even in Exile
* Intimism

Related articles|

* Discography
* Culture, Alienation, Boredom and Despair

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz work
* MusicBrainz release group

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