4st 7lb

Infobox Song
Name = 4st 7lb


Border =
Caption =
Type =
Artist = Manic Street Preachers
alt Artist =
Album = The Holy Bible (album)
Published = 1994
Released = 1994
track_no = 7
Recorded = Soundspace studios, Cardiff, 1994
Genre = Hard rock, Post-Punk
Length = 5:05
Writer = James Dean Bradfield, Sean Moore, Richey Edwards
Composer =
Label = Epic
Producer = Manic Street Preachers, Steve Brown
Tracks =
prev = Revol
prev_no = 6
next = Mausoleum
next_no = 8
Misc =
Audio sample? =

"4st 7lb" (pronounced 'four stone, seven pounds') is a song by the Manic Street Preachers from their third album "The Holy Bible".

History

An ode to the eating disorder Anorexia nervosa, the song has gained a degree of notoriety since much of its lyrical material is partly autobiographical, based on Edwards' own documented problems with eating, which had escalated by the time of writing. Its uncompromisingly dark tone has led to the song often being singled out as representative of "The Holy Bible" as a whole, whilst it has been recognised as offering a key insight into the depths of Richey Edwards' personal torment. In his review of the album on Allmusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine specifically mentions "4st 7lb", calling it "one of the most chilling songs in rock & roll".

Recording

The music was co-written by bandmembers James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore. Along with "Die in the Summertime", it is one of the two songs on the album reported to have lyrics written entirely by Richey Edwards. Other bandmember Nicky Wire, who was co-lyricist with Edwards up to that point in the band's career, had no input in the song's writing, despite being credited."4st 7lb" begins with a soundbite taken from a documentary called "40 Minutes: Caroline's Story", a 1994 documentary on the life of Caroline, a 21 year old woman suffering from anorexia as a result of years of sexual, physical and mental abuse.

ong Structure

The song takes the form of a diary written from the point of view of a young adolescent girl suffering from the disease. It consists of two sections. In the first half, the unnamed girl, in graphic detail, describes the ongoing effects the eating disorder is having on her body, represented by lines during the verses such as "See my third rib appear/A week later all my flesh disappears" and "Stomach collapsed at five/Lift up my skirt my sex is gone". In the pre-chorus it is strongly hinted that the girl abstains from eating to emulate the celebrity supermodels who are depicted as role models to other young women, making references to such models as Kate Moss ("Kate") and Emma Balfour ("Emma") who are famous for their slender build [Richey Explaining who the names references were of [http://www.thisisyesterday.com/ints/richey1994.html] ] . The pre-chorus also explores her parents failure to help her, either because they don't understand the root of the problem (the father dismisses her concerns over her weight, saying "that's the way you're built") or because they don't create the right impression themselves (the mother is on a diet but strongly encourages her to eat "roast beef"). In each chorus, the girl ultimately declares she wants to lose so much weight that her presence is no longer felt - "I want to walk in the snow/And not leave a footprint". The music throughout this section is generally loud and harsh.

In the second half, the music completely changes, becoming much slower-paced, quieter and more ambient, consisting of four verses with no chorus. The lyrics offer an unconventional resolve for the narrator, if any at all. She does not overcome the disease, instead learning to cope with it and in fact gains a kind of superiority complex as a result. She refers to the people around her attempting to help as "the fat scum", and ultimately declares she has "finally come to understand life/Through staring blankly at [her] navel". The title of the song refers to the lowest possible weight a fully-grown woman can survive at (4st 7lb being 63lb), as dropping below this weight will result in death for the person. In the song's final verse, the narrator refers to the weight, strongly suggesting she has reached it herself. Whether or not she survives is never explicitly stated.

Trivia

*The 10th Anniversary Edition of "The Holy Bible" contained the mix of each album track intended for release in the US. In the band interview on the accompanying DVD, the US mix of "4st 7lb" was one of the songs particularly cited as an improvement over the original.

References