If you were to read here, you would see how it wasn’t that long ago when I was still defending Marilyn Manson as a relevant and legitimate performer. I really did have to fight my cause for so long on that one, from the early days of ridicule when his name was synonymous with ostracised teenagers (of which, admittedly I was one) to the more recent years when the majority of people seemed to think that I ought to know better than to hold any form of admiration, let alone respect for the man.
I even supported him when he donned minstrel makeup and Disney ears, turning into some obscure incarnation of Papa ‘Hello Dave’ Lazarus from the League of Gentlemen. I supported him when he started ripping off Faith No More songs (Be Obscene? For shame Brian, for shame), but no more. It was little over three weeks ago that my love affair with Manson, that has spanned for over 14 years, came to an abrupt and brutal end.
As a great believer in synchronicity, I should have seen the warning. As I lay in my tent on the Saturday morning of the Download festival, I was reading a copy of the July issue of Mojo, which featured a lengthy interview with Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor. Most will be well aware of the existing history between the two; Manson was very much a protégé to Reznor in the early years, the pair toured extensively together, footage of which is available on the superb NIN import video ‘Closure’ which is 90 mins of backstage material and 90 mins of promotional videos and live footage. This partnership accumulated in Reznor producing Manson’s breakthrough album ‘Antichrist Superstar’
‘Gave Up‘ : Nine Inch Nails Feat Marilyn Manson
It didn’t take long before things turned sour. Reznor’s declining mental state was leading him to become more isolated and disillusioned than ever before. Manson however was catapulted into mainstream popularity and iconic status, immediately severing all ties with Reznor. Speaking recently on the matter, Reznor quoted:
‘Things got shitty between us and I’m not blameless. The majority of it though was coming from a resentment guy who finally got out from under the master’s umbrella and was able to stab him in the back. He is a malicious guy who will step on anyone’s face to succeed and cross any line of decency. Seeing him now, drugs and alcohol now rule his life and he’s become a dopey clown. He used to be the smartest guy in the room. Getting high deprives you of your creativity and, as a fan of his talents; I hope he gets his shit together.’
How right he was. That night after three cancelled shows which I had purchased tickets for, I finally got to see Manson live. I wish that I never had. The experience was so awful that I will decline to reiterate it for you now; a summary is available from my Download review here. Let’s just say that the dopey clown analogy was a pretty perfect one. Here’s an example, it’s bad fan footage because Download didn’t even stream his set.
Manson followed up this performance by declining to appear at the Metal Hammer awards to receive a prize that had been allocated to him. This following interview was transcribed from a press day with Manson, taken that same week. Apparently, Manson appeared to the event drunk, arm in arm with a prostitute, who he made lift her skirt and expose herself so that he could take photographs of her genitals with his phone.
He then proceeded to inform a Metal Hammer reporter:
‘You have to rebel against the normal usage of pubic hair. So this is what I did last week, or several days ago here you go you have to be patient it’s worth the wait.” [Shows picture of girl's pubic hair shaved into a swastika on mobile phone]. “That’s what I did last week, that’s how I rebel. Twatstika.’
Another example of his debonair wit and rapport were clearly evident when asked:
“If you had to pick one thing that made you happy in life what would it be?”
Manson: “Drugs. I don’t care about money. Do you know what money’s for? It’s for rolling up to snort cocaine.”
Profound.
Other nonsensical babble included:
‘I tried to make a condom once out of tin foil and a rubber band but it doesn’t work because girls when they bite tin foil it hurts your teeth and then I have to knock their teeth out and it’s a whole ruckus. …Not mayonnaise but girls don’t like it some get a rash. I’m allergic to tits I break out in erections.’
I don’t think that it’s acceptable anymore to say:’well he was really intelligent in Bowling for Columbine’
‘I don’t like the drugs, but the drugs like me’, Manson sang on his Mechanical Animals LP, it would appear that they do, although perhaps a little too much. Maybe it’s a show, maybe it’s all put on for spectacle and shock. At this point in his career though, if this is what he has to degrade himself to in a vain attempt to gain column inches, then it’s a sad state of affairs indeed.
Whilst Trent Reznor is steadily becoming a pioneer of the digital age, constantly seeking out innovative new methods of releasing and sharing his vision, Manson is left miles behind, with a bleeding nose and a floppy cock.
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agreed. I’m going to skip those videos and take your word for it.