International Blue
2017 single by Manic Street Preachers
"International Blue" is a song by Manic Street Preachers, released as a single in December 2017. This song is the first single for the album Resistance Is Futile (2018), written by James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire and Sean Moore.
An alternative version called "International Blue" (the Bluer Skies version) was released on 9 February 2018.
Background
Influences
The song is inspired on the artist Yves Klein, with Wire saying that "There was a joy to 'International Blue' that we weren't sure we could convey any more, the feeling of being in love with something like Yves Klein, to pass on the joy of that colour and that vividness – we weren't sure if we still had it in us. It sounds quite young." The band further added that there was a certain naive energy and widescreen melancholia on the song that is reflected through the whole album, comparing it to "Motorcycle Emptiness". Furthermore, the album focused on "(...)things that make your life feel a little bit better. Rather than my internalised misery, I tried to put a sense of optimism into the lyrics by writing about things that we find really inspiring."
Music and themes
Stephen Dalton of LouderSound commented that "International Blue" was a "lithe and melodic rocker" and simultaneously "muscular" yet "light on its feet". Darren Burke of Doncaster Free Press labelled the single as a "hefty slab of power pop".
Bradfield added that the song "could have been on Futurology but there always comes a cut-off point where we go, 'We've got what we need, let's just improve on what we've got. This lyric is another travelogue-style inspiration.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “International Blue” as 2017 single by Manic Street Preachers. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as 2017 single by Manic Street Preachers. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 15, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q45106795. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2017 and 2018.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “International Blue”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow International Blue primary sources, International Blue archive and International research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “International Blue”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “International Blue” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.