Synopsis

The Manic Street Preachers perform in a stark indoor industrial setting, where cold lighting and hard-edged imagery give the song a deliberately austere atmosphere. Their performance is interrupted by slogans promoting domesticity, obedience and consumer capitalism, alongside archival footage from the 1950s. Images of fox hunting, polo, Royal Ascot and the Last Night of the Proms broaden the critique, contrasting working-class identity with symbols of privilege and an officially approved way of life.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was released in 1996 to accompany the first single from the album "Everything Must Go."

• It was the band's first new single following the disappearance of guitarist and lyricist Richey Edwards in February 1995, giving the performance an unusually significant place in the group's history.

• The production used four cameras. Editor Tony Kearns later discussed the shoot as an example of a multi-camera performance video assembled around movement and continuity.

• The visual concept expands the song's class-conscious lyrics by placing the band against slogans and archival material associated with postwar British respectability, consumer culture and social hierarchy.

• The song reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, becoming one of the band's defining songs and a major part of their post-Edwards identity.

• The track's orchestral arrangement and direct political language helped make it an unusual crossover success: a polished, radio-friendly rock song carrying an explicitly class-focused message.