The subject of the lyric was the 1994 Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, Kevin Carter who was awarded for his photograph the vulture and the little girl, taken in what is now South Sudan. Carter also photographed murders by necklacing in South Africa in the mid-1980s. He later went on to say "The question that still haunts me is 'would those people have been necklaced if there was no media coverage?" Carter was always troubled by the balance of his professional responsibilities with moral considerations. He committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in Johannesburg at the age of 33. His pickup truck was parked near a small river where he used to play as a child, and a note left on the passenger seat read: "The pain of life overrides joy to the point that joy no longer exists." The song's unusual feel can be attributed in part to the track being composed in open G tuning, which is commonly used in the playing of slide and bottleneck guitars. On the record, however, it is played with a Fender Jazzmaster. The jagged, descending chords of the verses lead into a lush extended middle section, which further points to experimental songwriting; reminiscent of the spiky music on the band's previous album, The Holy Bible. James Dean Bradfield has said of the guitar tone on the song, "It's quite a scratchy sound, but it's kind of complicated in its own humble way."
Release
The song reached number nine in the UKSingles Chart on 12 October 1996, giving them a third straight top-ten hit, remaining in the charts for 8 weeks. The song's lyrics were written solely by missing band-member Richey Edwards. The trumpet solo played by Sean Moore, has been used as the theme music to the ITV Wales current affairs programme Wales This Week. The CD included "Horses Under Starlight", "Sepia" and "First Republic", while the cassette included an acoustic version of "Everything Must Go". The second of the three other tracks, "Sepia", is a reference to the final scene of the film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, where the two main characters are shown in freeze frame, which then is colourised to sepia tone. The lyrics also appear to reflect some of Nicky Wire's raw emotion following the disappearance of his close friend and bandmate. The Butch Cassidy connection is also referenced in their song "Australia", and the decision to record "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" for the War Child charity compilation The Help Album. This track was replaced by a single release of the track "Further Away" in Japan.
Track listing
All music written by James Dean Bradfield, Sean Moore and Nicky Wire, except where indicated. All lyrics written by Richey James, except where indicated. ;CD one
