Lyrically, the song describes advanced-stageanorexia;[10][11][12][13] it is about a teenage girl who wants "to be so skinny, that she rots from view".[14][15][16][17] It has been widely interpreted as a reflection of the band's guitarist and lyricist Richey Edwards's own personal struggle with the disease,[18][19][20][21][22] which was confirmed by the band's bass guitarist and co-lyricistNicky Wire.[23] The spoken intro was sampled from the documentaryCaraline's Story, which chronicles the final months of Caraline Neville-Lister, who died of anorexia in 1994 at age 29.
The song was named after 4stones 7pounds, or 63 pounds (29 kg), the weight below which death is said to be medically unavoidable for an anorexia sufferer.[6][24]
The song received acclaim frommusic critics. Nick Butler of Sputnikmusic praised the song, referring it as "quite simply, genius". He also commented that the song "contains one of the best lyrics even written by anyone, replete with the awesome chorus", while describing the song's musical structure in detail.[6]Stephen Thomas Erlewine ofAllMusic wrote: "the diary of anorexia '4st 7lb' is one of the most chilling songs in rock & roll".[10] Tim O'Neil ofPopMatters described the song as "the most specifically evocative track on the album".[15] Mark Edwards ofStylus Magazine stated that the song, along with two other tracks, "Mausoleum" and "Faster", "takes your breath away", while commenting that the song is deeply disturbing. He also inferred that "it comes as close to glamourising anorexia as you can get".[14] In a retrospective review, critic Mike Cormack wrote that "Simply as a literary artefact, “4st 7lb” (the weight at which anorexia becomes fatal) is among the most impressive achievements in rock music. Its music is equally crafted, nauseating waves of guitar in the first half subsiding in a rare diminuendo, gradually declining to nothingness to mirror the anorexic’s final decline... '4st 7lb' is a towering reminder of the potential of rock music. It is utterly harrowing and yet almost majestic in its artistry."[25]
