THE NUMBER ONE SINGLE WITH THE LONGEST TITLE (WITHOUT BRACKETS)

And before anyone grumbles, the picture on the sleeve is distorted as illustrated above.

I've never been a huge lover of the Manics. I've not much of their stuff in the collection.  And I've certainly got no time at all for this abomination of a cover single they recently released.

But there was a time they were riding the crest of a wave and deservedly so. They got to #1 in August 1998 with a song that was inspired by the Spanish Civil War and the part played by left-wing Welsh volunteers who joined the International Brigade in the ultimately doomed effort to prevent the rise of fascism under General Franco.  It's not often get pro-war songs from a left-wing perspective.

The song takes its name from a Republican poster of the time. A photograph of a young child killed by Nationalist bombs is shown under a sky of bombers with the stark warning "If you tolerate this, your children will be next" written at the bottom. An original of the poster can be seen at the Imperial War Museum, London, as well as at the Southworth Spanish Civil War Collection at the University of California.

According to the sticker on the front of my copy, I picked the CD single up for £2. Not bad for a hit as big as this and for the fact there's remixes to suit most folk's tastes:-

mp3 : Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

mp3 : Manic Street Precahers - Massive Attack Remix

mp3 : Manic Street Preachers - The Class Reunion of The Sunset Marquis Mix

The third track features work from uber-producer David Holmes.

Happy Listening