The Everlasting

Here is some background information on "The Everlasting from Songfacts.com: The second single from The Manic Street Preachers' 1998 album This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours found bassist and lyricist Nicky Wire struggling to come up with a good title. After spending some time trying to think of something similar to Blur's "The Universal" or Joy Division's "The Eternal," he eventually borrowed from a poem by his brother Patrick Jones titled "The Everlasting."

[Verse 1] The gap that grows between our lives The gap our parents never had Stop those thoughts control your mind Replace the things that you despise Oh you're old I hear you say It doesn't mean that I don't care I don't believe in it anymore Pathetic acts for a worthless cause [Chorus] In the beginning when we were winning When our smiles were genuine In the beginning when we were winning When our smiles were genuine But now unforgiven, the everlasting Everlasting [Verse 2] The world is full of refugees They're just like you and just like me But as people we have a choice To end the void with all its force So don't forget or don't pretend It's all the same now in the end It was set in a different life Destroys my days and haunts my nights [Chorus] In the beginning when we were winning When our smiles were genuine In the beginning when we were winning When our smiles were genuine But now unforgiven, the everlasting Everlasting In the beginning when we were winning When our smiles were genuine In the beginning when we were winning When our smiles were genuine But now unforgiven, the everlasting Everlasting In the beginning when we were winning When our smiles were genuine In the beginning when we were winning When our smiles were genuine In the beginning when we were winning When our smiles were genuine In the beginning when we were winning When our smiles were genuine