"Walk Me to the Bridge" is the first single released by the Manic Street Preachers from the album Futurology. The single was planned for release on 28 April 2014, but it was leaked earlier in the month.[1]
Background
In an interview about the song's lyrics, bass player Nicky Wire approached the topic of whether the song was about former band member, Richey Edwards or not,[a] Wire stated that:
People might have the idea that this song contains a lot of Richey references but it really isn’t about that, it's about the Øresund Bridge that joins Sweden and Denmark. A long time ago when we were crossing that bridge I was flagging and thinking about leaving the band (the "fatal friend"). It's about the idea of bridges allowing you an out of body experience as you leave and arrive in different places.[2]
The band, especially Wire, have stated that he wrote the song at a critical time, when he was, as described above, tired of being in the band, and he wrote the lyrics thinking of that subject. He later felt differently after a gig in Denmark.
Release
The song was released as a digital download and it was backed by two new songs The Sound of Detachment and Caldey, it also featured a live version of the title song and a reworking of "Futurology", album track, Europa Geht Durch Mich.