The Masses Against The Classes

Album: Forever Delayed (2000)
Charted: 1
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The title is taken from a quote by the 19th century British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, "All the world over, I will back the masses against the classes."
  • This was released in a strictly limited edition and deleted after one day. As a result it sold 35,000 copies on the day of its release.
  • The opening sample, "This country was founded on the principle that the primary role of government is to protect property from the majority," is by linguist and socialist Noam Chomsky. At the end of the song a line is quoted from the French novelist and playwright Albert Camus' 1951 book The Rebel: "The slave begins by demanding justice and ends by wanting to wear a crown."
  • This was the first UK #1 of 2000.
  • Bassist and lyricist Nicky Wire explained the song's meaning to NME: "It was a reaction to the supposed bigness and blandness of This Is My Truth…, coming back with something that starts with a Chomsky sample. It's not such a political song, it's a song about us. That idea that 10 years on, we'd become one of the biggest bands in Britain. But nobody really wanted to do it except me."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."

Millie Jackson

Millie JacksonSongwriter Interviews

Outrageously gifted and just plain outrageous, Millie is an R&B and Rap innovator.

Don Dokken

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17Songwriter Interviews

Martyn talks about producing Tina Turner, some Heaven 17 hits, and his work with the British Electric Foundation.

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In Songs

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.

John Lee Hooker

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.