The Masses Against the Classes

"The Masses Against the Classes" was a limited-edition single released by Manic Street Preachers in January 2000 (see 2000 in music), following the success of their year-end concert at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium the month before.

The single reached number one in the UK charts on January 22, 2000 without any promotion by the band; it was their second #1 single joining "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" (August 24, 1998). It was deleted (removed from wholesale supply) on the day of release.

It knocked Westlife "I Have a Dream/Seasons in the Sun" off the #1 spot after four weeks and claimed to the first new #1 of the millennium.

"The Masses Against the Classes" was released both as a CD single and 10"; each version also featured the songs "Close My Eyes" and a cover of Chuck Berry’s "Rock and Roll Music".

A live version of the song has also appeared as a B-side on "Found That Soul" (February 26, 2001).

Although "The Masses Against the Classes" was not formerly featured on any album release, it was included on Forever Delayed (October 28, 2002), Manic Street Preachers' greatest hits album, as track eleven.

The single begins with a Noam Chomsky quotation and ends with a quotation from Albert Camus. The record sleeve features the Cuban flag, a mark of the band's socialist political ideology. They were to play in Havana in February 2001 to a sold-out Karl Marx theatre with Fidel Castro in the audience, whom they met when he arrived just thirty minutes before they were due to play.

The song appears to be a musical reply to criticism of the band's This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours album, seen by many fans as a shift in style from the usual angry alternative rock produced by the band in the early to mid nineties, as it is noticeably harsher and louder than most of the material the band had recorded in the years leading up to the release of the single, most of the lyrics confirm this.

The title is possibly an allusion to a quote from William Ewart Gladstone - All the world over, I will back the masses against the classes.

Preceded by "I Have A Dream / Seasons In The Sun" by Westlife	UK Singles Chart January 16, 2000	Succeeded by "Born to Make You Happy" by Britney Spears

[edit] Track listing

[edit] CD / 10"

"The Masses Against the Classes" - 3:23
"Close My Eyes" - 4:27
"Rock And Roll Music" (Chuck Berry cover) - 2:53

v • d • e Manic Street Preachers

James Dean Bradfield • Nicky Wire • Sean Moore Flicker (Miles Woodward) • Richey James Edwards

Studio albums	"Generation Terrorists" (1992) • "Gold Against the Soul" (1993) • "The Holy Bible" (1994) • "Everything Must Go" (1996) • "This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours" (1998) • "Know Your Enemy" (2001) • "Lifeblood" (2004) • "Send Away the Tigers" (2007)

Singles and EPs	"Suicide Alley" (1989) • "New Art Riot EP" (1990) • "Motown Junk" (1991) • "You Love Us (Heavenly Version)" (1991) • "Feminine Is Beautiful" (1991) • "Stay Beautiful" (1991) • "Love's Sweet Exile/Repeat" (1991) • "You Love Us" (1991) • "Slash 'N' Burn" (1992) • "Motorcycle Emptiness" (1992) • "Little Baby Nothing" (1992) • "Theme From MAS*H (Suicide Is Painless)" (1992) • "From Despair To Where" (1993) • "La Tristesse Durera (Scream To A Sigh)" (1993) • "Roses In The Hospital" (1993) • "Life Becoming A Landslide EP" (1994) • "Faster/P.C.P." (1994) • "Revol" (1994) • "She Is Suffering" (1994) • "A Design for Life" (1996) • "Everything Must Go" (1996) • "Kevin Carter" (1996) • "Australia" (1996) • "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" (1998) • "The Everlasting" (1998) • "You Stole The Sun From My Heart" (1999) • "Tsunami" (1999) • "The Masses Against The Classes" (2000) • "Found That Soul" (2001) • "So Why So Sad" (2001) • "Ocean Spray" (2001) • "Let Robeson Sing" (2001) • "There By The Grace Of God" (2002) • "The Love Of Richard Nixon" (2004) • "Empty Souls" (2005) • "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough" (2007) • "Autumnsong" (2007) • "Indian Summer" (2007)

Promos	"UK Channel Boredom" (1990) • "God Save The Manics EP" (2005) • " Underdogs" (2007) • "Ghost Of Christmas" (2007)

Other releases	"Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" (1995) • "Know Our B-Sides" (2001) • Leviathan" (2005) • "The Instrumental" (2006) • "Umbrella" (2008)

Compilation albums	"Forever Delayed" (2002) • "Lipstick Traces" (2003)

Box Sets	"Six Singles from Generation Terrorists" (1997)

Videos	"Everything Live" (1997) • "Leaving the 20th Century" (2000) • "Louder Than War" (2001) • "Forever Delayed" (2002)

Official book	"Forever Delayed" (2002)

Related articles	Manic Street Preachers Discography Manic Street Preachers B-sides