The Everlasting (song)

"The Everlasting"
Single by Manic Street Preachers
from the album This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours
B-side	"Black Holes for the Young" "Valley Boy"
Released	November 30, 1998 (1998-11-30)
Format	CD single Cassette single 12" vinyl
Genre	Alternative rock, Britpop
Length	6:11 (Album Version) 4:07 (Edit)
Label	Epic
Writer(s)	James Dean Bradfield Sean Moore Nicky Wire
Producer(s)	Mike Hedges
Manic Street Preachers singles chronology
"If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" (1998) "The Everlasting" (1998) "You Stole the Sun from My Heart" (1999)

"The Everlasting" is a song by Manic Street Preachers, released as a single on November 30, 1998, the second single to be released from the This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours. All three members of the band - James Dean Bradfield, Sean Moore and Nicky Wire - share the writing credits. Nicky Wire borrowed the title, "The Everlasting", from a poem by his brother Patrick Jones, after spending some time trying to think of something similar to Blur's "The Universal" or Joy Division's "The Eternal".

CD single number one included "Black Holes for the Young" - a duet with Sophie Ellis-Bextor which is a criticism of London culture - and "Valley Boy", a song which criticizes the European Union. A second CD single featured remixes of "The Everlasting" - "Deadly Avenger Mix" and "Stealth Sonic Orchestra Mix".

The promotional video that accompanied the song was censored because it contained people on fire. The original version was considered insensitive as the release of the single coincided with the well-publicised inquest into the death of Michael Menson, who had been set on fire by three men in a street attack. Two versions of the video were therefore produced - one with computer generated flames, one without. The video was filmed at Euston railway station in London.

The single reached #11 on the UK Single Charts, breaking their run of consecutive top ten hits.^[1]

Track listings

CD single #1 (UK)

Epic 666593 2

1. "The Everlasting" – 6:11
2. "Black Holes for the Young" (Ft. Sophie Ellis-Bextor) – 4:11
3. "Valley Boy" – 5:10

CD single #2 (UK)

Epic 666686 5

1. "The Everlasting" – 6:11
2. "The Everlasting" (Deadly Avenger Psalm 315) – 5:42
3. "The Everlasting" (Stealth Sonic Orchestra Remix) – 5:11

CD single (EU)

Epic EPC 666593 1

1. "The Everlasting" – 6:11
2. "Black Holes for the Young" (Ft. Sophie Ellis-Bextor) – 4:11

CD single (Australia)

Epic 6668542

1. "The Everlasting"
2. "Black Holes for the Young" (Ft. Sophie Ellis-Bextor)
3. "Valley Boy"
4. "The Everlasting" (Deadly Avenger's Psalm 315)
5. "The Everlasting" (Steath Sonic Orchestra Remix)

Cassette single

1. "The Everlasting" – 6:09
2. "Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky" (live)

12" vinyl single

UK: Sony XPR3297

Side one

1. "The Everlasting" (Deadly Avenger's Psalm 315) – 5:40
2. "The Everlasting" (Deadly Avenger's Psalm 315 Instrumental) – 5:40

Side two

1. "The Everlasting" (Deadly Avenger's 69th St. Mix) – 4:46
2. "The Everlasting" (Deadly Avenger's 69th St. Instrumental) – 4:51

Charts

UK Chart Performance

References