"The Love of Richard Nixon" is a song by

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...

. It was released on 18 October 2004 by

Sony Music UK Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

as the first single from their seventh studio album, '' Lifeblood'' (2004), and reached number two on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Content

The song is, according to the band, "a soundtrack to disillusion, hatred, love and never giving up".Martin Clarke, ''Manic Street Preachers: Sweet Venom'' (Plexus, 2009). More specifically, the song is a sympathetic appraisal of former US president

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

and mentions some of his positive achievements, inevitably overshadowed by the

Watergate Scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...

. The timing of the single's release, two weeks before

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

's victory at the 2004 US presidential elections, can also be seen as a statement by the band concerning the reputation of the USA's leadership at the time. In an interview with Repeat Fanzine, the band also said it represents how they feel in comparison to

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

. Nicky in particular commented that they feel like

compared to Radiohead's

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

: "'If Radiohead are Kennedy, then Manic Street Preachers are Nixon: the ugly duckling who had to try 10 times harder than anyone else. Paranoid megalomaniacs.'" The sound is more

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

than most of their previous hits, indicative of a slight switch in sound on ''Lifeblood''; according to the band the song contains no guitars.

Release and reception

"The Love of Richard Nixon" was released on 18 October 2004 by record label

as the first single from the band's seventh studio album, ''Lifebood''. Unusually, the three formats of the single—two CDs and a DVD—could be bought together for £5 at most record stores, encouraging multiple purchases of the single. The song reached number two on the

, number 15 on the

Spanish Singles Chart Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

, and number 17 on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

Track listings

UK CD1 # "The Love of Richard Nixon" # "Everyone Knows/Nobody Cares" UK CD2 # "The Love of Richard Nixon" # "Everything Will Be" # "Askew Road" # "The Love of Richard Nixon" UK DVD single # "The Love of Richard Nixon" # ''Quarantine (In My Place Of)'' (short film) # "Voodoo Polaroids"

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the UK CD1 liner notes. *

James Dean Bradfield James Dean Bradfield (born 21 February 1969) is a Welsh singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. He is known for being the lead vocalist and guitarist for the Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. Biography Early life B ...

– writing *

Nicky Wire Nicholas Allen Jones (born 20 January 1969), known as Nicky Wire, is a Welsh musician and songwriter, best known as lyricist, bassist and secondary vocalist of the Welsh alternative rock band, Manic Street Preachers. Prior to the group, Wire s ...

– writing * Sean Moore – writing * Nick Nasmyth – keyboards * Jeremy Shaw – additional keyboards * Greg Haver – percussion, production *

Tom Elmhirst Tom Elmhirst (born 8 June 1971) is a British mix engineer. He has worked with artists including Adele, Beck, David Bowie, Cage the Elephant, Lady Gaga, Residente, and Amy Winehouse, among many others. Elmhirst has received numerous accolades a ...

– additional production, mixing * Steve Davis – additional engineering,

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

* Martin Hall – management * Farrow Design – artwork design and direction * John Ross – portrait

Charts

References

External links

''NME'' article on the song
{{DEFAULTSORT:Love of Richard Nixon, The 2004 singles 2004 songs Manic Street Preachers songs Songs written by James Dean Bradfield Songs written by Nicky Wire Songs about Richard Nixon Songs written by Sean Moore (musician) Sony Music UK singles Works about the Watergate scandal