Yes (song)
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"Yes" is a song by the Manic Street Preachers and is the first track on their album The Holy Bible. Like most other songs on the album, the lyrics are known to be written mostly by Richey Edwards, as opposed to being co-written equally with the band's other lyricist Nicky Wire, as was done for their two prior albums. As always, the music was co-written by other band members James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore.
"Yes" is about comparing one's life to that of a prostitute, i.e., prostitution of the self. According to Edwards, "The majority of your time is spent doing something you hate to get something you don't need," whilst Wire explains how it "looks at the way that society views prostitutes as probably the lowest form of life. But, we feel that we've prostituted ourselves over the last three or four years, and we think it's the same in every walk of life." One may also interpret some of the lyrics as an attack on consumerist values, as one is seemingly able to acquire anything they want for the right price.
Like many other songs on the album, the lyrics to "Yes" are recognized as shocking and dark, which have been attributed to the declining mental state of Edwards at the time of writing. However, the music throughout is generally upbeat, especially when compared to other songs on the album. It was because of the accessibility of this song, musically, that it was chosen as a potential single to promote the album. However, Bradfield stated in an interview that they would have refused to remove or censor expletives such as the word "cunts" in the song, because they were uncompromising as a band at the time, hence, why it was never released.
The song begins and ends with soundbites taken from a Channel 4 documentary on prostitution entitled Hookers Hustlers Pimps and Their Johns. The voice is that of an anonymous New York pimp as he guides the documentary's director through a whorehouse.
[edit] 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 "Yes" was one of the songs particularly cited as a significant improvement over the original.
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