Format CD, 7" and 12" vinyl Genre Punk rock, hard rock | Recorded Mid 1991 Label Columbia | |
Released 29 July 1991 (1991-07-29) Writer(s) James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Sean Moore, Richey Edwards | ||
"Stay Beautiful" is a song by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers, released on 29 July 1991 by record label Columbia as the first single from the band's debut album, Generation Terrorists.
Contents
Content
The title track was previously entitled "Generation Terrorists" and originally featured the lyrics "Why don't you just fuck off" in the chorus, which was cut to just "Why don't you just... [gap]" in this version with a guitar fill in the aforementioned gap. It has since become the fans' base custom to shout the original lyric out loud when the band still occasionally perform the song live.
Music video
The music video for the song contains Richey Edwards' right eye being splashed with paint, and a somewhat amusing space octopus at the end; references to themes and events in Alan Moore's Watchmen.
Release
"Stay Beautiful" was released as a single on 29 July 1991 by record label Columbia. The single only just crept into the UK Singles Chart, reaching number 40 on 10 August 1991. It was re-issued six years later but failed again to make the top 40, reaching number 52 on 13 September 1997.
The B-sides for all formats included "R.P. McMurphy", with the CD and 12" versions adding "Soul Contamination". The title of "R.P. McMurphy" is based on the protagonist of Ken Kesey's 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (which was subsequently made into a film).
Influence
The title of "Stay Beautiful" was used by Renault in a television advertisement for a car in reference to the song. There is also a bar/club in London named Stay Beautiful in reference to the song. During his solo tour, bassist Nicky Wire performed there.