may be a reference to anthony burgess' novel 1985, an attempt at updating 1984 by george orwell, on the 30th anniversary of that work. see 1985 [book] for a comprehensive synopsis of this novel. the triple meaning (a reference to the condition of society in the year 1985, to the way the young manics were reading 1984, and to the book 1985 as well) of the line 'In 1985 Orwell was proved right' points to this interpretation.1985 describes the importance of the year 1985 for manic street preachers, 'only sixteen years of age'. in the words of nicky wire: "It was the year we came together as four young people and formulated all our ideas, started listening to the same records, started watching the same films, reading the same things, looking the same way. It wasn't necessarily the year we started making music but it was the year we started creating our own world"