So Why So Sad

The song includes the line "burns an expressway to your skull",^[2] a reference to the final track on Sonic Youth's EVOL album and a Buddy Miles song. The song deals mainly with the paradoxical high rates of depression and anxiety experienced by those living in affluence and comfort. It has also been suggested that a reference to the Dead Sea scrolls and the line "dependent on above" imply that there is a religious connection, but there's no further support for this outside the chorus.^[3] The single version is shorter, with the phrase "So Why, So Why So Sad?" sung only three times instead of four at the end and the drums finish two bars earlier without a fill.

Exclaim! Canada called the track "an outstanding pop song" with a production style "scarily similar" to the Beach Boys.^[1] It was the only single from Know Your Enemy to be included on the 2002 compilation Forever Delayed, appearing as an edited version.^[4]

The CD version of "So Why So Sad" includes versions of "Pedestal" and a remix of "So Why So Sad" by Australian outfit the Avalanches, whereas the cassette single includes a live version of "You Stole the Sun from My Heart". Issued on 26 February 2001, the same day as "Found That Soul",^[5] "So Why So Sad" was the Manic Street Preachers' first hit since "The Masses Against the Classes" thirteen months earlier.^[4]

The single reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart on 10 March 2001. Spending sixteen weeks on the chart, it is the second-longest charting Manic Street Preachers single in the UK, after "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next", which spent seventeen weeks on the chart.^[6] In Ireland, it peaked at number 16.^[7] In Finland, the single reached number four on the Finnish Singles Chart, spending three weeks on the ranking.^[8] In Sweden, it reached number 26,^[9] while in the Netherlands, it peaked at number 88.^[10] In Germany, it reached number 94.^[11]

All tracks were written and composed by Nick Jones, James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore.

UK CD single^[12]

1. "So Why So Sad" – 3:55
2. "So Why So Sad" (Sean Penn mix—Avalanches) – 4:58
3. "Pedestal" – 4:50

UK cassette single^[13]

1. "So Why So Sad" – 4:02
2. "You Stole the Sun from My Heart" (live at Millennium Stadium, 31 December 1999) – 4:25

European CD single^[14]

1. "So Why So Sad" – 3:55
2. "So Why So Sad" (Sean Penn mix—Avalanches) – 4:58

Australian CD single^[15]

1. "So Why So Sad" – 3:55
2. "So Why So Sad" (Sean Penn mix—Avalanches) – 4:58
3. "Pedestal" – 4:50
4. "You Stole the Sun from My Heart" (live at Millennium Stadium, 31 December 1999) – 4:25