4 Stones 7 Pounds

Words by: Nicky Wire/Richey James;

Music by: James Dean Bradfield/Sean Moore



I eat too much to die
And not enough to stay alive
I'm sitting in the middle waiting



Days since I last pissed
Cheeks sunken and despaired
So gorgeous sunk to six stone
Lose my only remaining home



See my third rib appear
A week later all my flesh disappears
Stretching taut, cling-film on bone
I'm getting better



Karen says I've reached my target weight
Kate and Emma and Kristin know it's fake
Problem is diet's not a big enough word
I wanna be so skinny that I rot from view



I want to walk in the snow
And not leave a footprint
I want to walk in the snow
And not soil its purity



Stomach collapsed at five
Lift up my skirt my sex is gone
Naked and lovely and 5st. 2
May I bud and never flower



My vision's getting blurred
But I can see my ribs and I feel fine
My hands are trembling stalks
And I can feel my breasts are sinking



Mother tries to choke me with roast beef
And sits savoring her sole Ryvitta
That's the way you're built my father said
But I can change, my cocoon shedding



I want to walk in the snow
And not leave a footprint
I want to walk in the snow
And not soil its purity



Kate and Kristin and Kit Kat
All things I like looking at
Too weak to fuss, too weak to die
Choice is skeletal in everybody's life



I choose my choice, I starve to frenzy
Hunger soon passes and sickness soon tires
Legs bend, stockinged I am Twiggy
And I don't mind the horror that surrounds me



Self-worth scatters, self-esteem's a bore
I long since moved to a higher plateau
This discipline's so rare so please applaud
Just look at the fat scum who pamper me so



Yeh 4st. 7, an epilogue of youth
Such beautiful dignity in self-abuse
I've finally come to understand life
Through staring blankly at my navel



© 1994 Sony Music Publishing Ltd.



This song is called 4st 7lb and it's by the Manic Street Preachers.
It was written by their guitarist and lyricist Richey James Edward who is/was suffering from anorexia