4st. 7lbs.

Manic Street Preachers · The Holy Bible (10th Anniversary Edition) [2005]

Days since I last pissed

Cheeks sunken and despaired

So gorgeous sunk to six stone

Lose my only remaining home

See my third rib appear

A week later all my flesh disappear

Stretching taut, cling-film on bone

I'm getting better



Karen says I've reached my target weight

Kate and Emma and Kristin know it's fake

Problem is diet's not a big enough word

I wanna be so skinny that I rot from view



I want to walk in the snow

And not leave a footprint

I want to walk in the snow

And not soil its purity



Stomach collapsed at five

Lift up my skirt my sex is gone

Naked and lovely and 5st. 2

May I bud and never flower

My vision's getting blurred

But I can see my ribs and I feel fine

My hands are trembling stalks

And I can feel my breasts are sinking



Mother trys to choke me with roast beef

And sits savouring her sole ryvitta

That's the way you're built my father said

But I can change, my cocoon shedding



I want to walk in the snow

And not leave a footprint

I want to walk in the snow

And not soil its purity



Kate and Kristin and Kit Kat

All things I like looking at

Too weak to fuss, too weak to die

Choice is skeletal in everybody's life



I choose, my choice, I starve to frenzy

Hunger soon passes and sickness soon tires

Legs bend, stockinged I am Twiggy

And I don't mind the horror that surrounds me



Self-worth scatters, self-esteem's a bore

I long since moved to a higher plateau

This discipline's so rare so please applaud

Just look at the fat scum who pamper me so



4st. 7, an epilogue of youth

Such beautiful dignity in self-abuse

I've finally come to understand life

Through staring blankly at my navel.

4st. 7lbs.

4st. 7lbs. stands as a defining track from the Manic Street Preachers' 1994 masterpiece, The Holy Bible. The song captures the band's intense exploration of weight, fragility, and mortality, themes that permeate the album's darker, more introspective sound. James Dean Bradshaw's vocal delivery conveys a sense of vulnerability that contrasts with the band's earlier, more anthemic rock style. As a cornerstone of their mid-nineties output, the recording highlights the group's ability to blend poetic lyricism with driving instrumentation. It remains a significant song in their discography, reflecting the emotional depth and artistic ambition that characterized this pivotal era in their career.