The Holy Bible is an ironic album because its made in such a way that it encourages listeners to read its lyrics, but the whole thing is overshadowed by the fact that the lyrics’ author, Richey James Edwards, killed himself shortly after the album’s release. Richey’s name often comes up on lists of rock’s most outrageous moments for the time he answered the question, “Are you for real?” by carving 4 Real into his forearm. He was for real.
Some people are able to stare into the darkness and not be consumed by it. The darkness ate Edwards up. He was an alcoholic, an anorexic, a self-mutilator, and an intellectual. He saw that the things that plagued him were the result of systematic societal ills and its what he made the subject of his songs. The Holy Bible contains tracks about self-mutilation, anorexia, the futility of justice, child prostitution, etc.
I think Edwards saw himself as a Nietzsche-like figure, which wouldn’t be a surprise given that he makes allusions to Foucault in his lyrics. On The Holy Bible, Edwards throws everything into question and he foresees the backlash such an act would merit him. “I am an architect, they call me a butcher/ I am a pioneer, they call me primitive/I am purity, they call me perverted."
If you can imagine Intervention set to rock, but self-aware and highly literate, then you get The Holy Bible.
