A Design For Life - Forever Delayed

cherrybomb · #1 10-08-2013, 22:15

I remember the first time I ever heard A Design For Life very clearly. I was working for a waste paper company and on that day I was busy pulling cardboard, plastic and other contaminants from a conveyor belt full of newspapers and magazines when whoever was on Radio One at the time announced the new Manics single over the crappy radio we had. All eyes turned on me as I was forever going on about the band at the time-I'm sure my workmates thought to the point of obsession. Anyway the radio was turned up full whack, the song was played and I could have died, it was awful schmaltzy bollocks! When it ended everyone was keen to hear me gush about it but all I could tell them was 'That is really shit!'. In my defense it was my first listen, on a crap radio, over the noise of a clanking conveyor and a rumbling Bobcat. But God I hated it. It was such a different sound from THB which I played to death and I was probably extremely resentful of the decision the band took to continue without Richey. Of course I grew to love it, but the thing that strikes me about it now is how fucking prophetic it was, it's far more relevant today than it ever was given the library closures, atos and the determination of the government to starve the poor. Imagine how powerful it would sound if today was the day it got its first radio play, it would be what Ghost Town was to the 80s.

The Gutless Wonder · #2 10-08-2013, 22:37

Great personal anecdote there!

I probably heard the instrume9ntal of Design on the Welsh tourist board advert but had no idea who it was by until I discovered the Manics in1998!

Europa Gluten Free · #3 11-08-2013, 09:31

I have a memory of hearing it every day after school in my local Virgin when it was released. I would spend half an hour in there looking at CDs 2 or 3 times a eek and it always seemed to be on. But I didn't get into the Manics during EMG. It wasn't until seeing a programme on Irish TV on the Manics and seeing the video for ME around the time of Tolerate that I got into them. I appreciate DFL but it is nowhere near my fav song. And I don't like the production on the single version.

Brent_Bradfield · #4 11-08-2013, 10:22

Never did like the tune much... Then I heard it live...

Now it's the welsh national anthem :-)

Porco · #5 11-08-2013, 10:23

The first time I heard A Design For Life I was messing around with my 8-bit sound sampler on my Amiga computer. I'd attached my walkman to it and tuned to Radio 1 when I heard maybe half the song at most. Then I think for at least a couple of days I had no idea who it was by (this was before I had internet access... weird days) but I had this sample a few seconds long in glorious 8-bit stereo to listen to! It's my favourite song to this day, I love everything about it, and when I heard the album (which is also still my favourite) I immediately fell in love with that too...

I still regard it as some kind of crime against music that Return Of The Mack beat ADFL to number one in the charts.

A Design For Manic · #6 11-08-2013, 10:41

the first time I ever listen to ADFL was maybe when I was 10 or even more, in the tv, but I never pay attention to it, only when I was a bit older I saw the video in MTV but I didn't know who are The Manics and only in 2007, when I started to be a Manics fan I was like "hey, they are the guys who play A design for life!"

p.s: I'm still got goosebumps when I listen to the song

sculptureofabloke · #7 11-08-2013, 13:10

I remember A Design For Life coming out but I think I must've heard it about 50 times before I even knew who it was, somehow every time I heard it on the radio I'd miss the dj saying what it is. Twats. Must've heard it thousands of times and it still doesn't get old and I agree, it's as powerful now as it ever has been.

amnesic · #8 11-08-2013, 15:05

I remember having a friend at uni who was a die hard Manics fan who bought it the day it came out and played it for me. Have no memory of what I thought of it. A few months before I had borrowed her manics CDs but bar Motorcycle I wasn't convinced. A year later and I was in the right frame of mind to get into them. 1995/6 was taken up by being a die hard Joy Division/New Order fan, I had no room for further devotion!

Littlesue · #9 11-08-2013, 16:17

I remember buying it and also buying Return of the Mack the same day, both good singles in diferent genre's, Mack being one of the last decent RnB tunes. Don't know how it can be compared to Ghost Town if it was released today though as Design for Life is not a straight forward lyric like Ghost Town.

hummingbird · #10 11-08-2013, 16:31

i envy anyone that hears it for the first time

mar · #11 11-08-2013, 17:34

I bought EMG when it came out in 1996, so my first memory about it is actually listening to the CD, didn't hear the song before buying it. It's not one of my fave manics tracks but I kinda like it.

cherrybomb · #12 11-08-2013, 18:41

Favourite bit is the arpeggio (think that's right-I'm no musician) guitar bit that at first compliments the strings then turns into angry strums which compete with them.

Littlesue · #13 11-08-2013, 18:47

Must admit its one of my least favorite Manic songs, I find it a bit boring and repetative

Mr.Selfdestruct · #14 11-08-2013, 18:49

I was never a big fan of it, before or after i got into the band. A lot of strings on that album sound dated to me now.

MoMoney MoJunk · #15 11-08-2013, 18:58

Before I got into the band I was in a pub and ADFL came on. There was 5/6 people at a table near us and they only knew the 'we only wanna get drunk' line, and I remember thinking that surely whoever sang the song meant it ironically. Then I wondered if the people were aware of the irony.

Brilliant song though. And probably my fave video too!