This
is today. This is the man we see on stage night after night, telling us what is wrong with
where we live. Someone has to point out the glaring problems in our society. Someone has
to be the catalyst for mass deconstruction. JIM AND DONNA GIVE THEIR ON INTERPRETATION OF
MARILYN MANSON'S ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR
CYCLE III
Jim:
This
is today. This is the man we see on stage night after night, telling us what is wrong with
where we live. Someone has to point out the glaring problems in our society. Someone has
to be the catalyst for mass deconstruction.
"Someone had to go this far..."
Donna:
The final cycle of Antichrist Superstar is the most philosophical of the three. Chronologically, "Disintegrator Rising" starts immediately after "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" in the immediate future. At this point in time, the band Marilyn Manson is immensely popular worldwide. Legions of fans surround Marilyn, who in turn lashes out at the world, exposing the fraud and selfishness that exists in American culture and the Christian religion. But he has paid the ultimate price for this power - he has sacrificed what was left of his soul and humanity.
Nietzsche's Overman is the model for the character of the Antichrist Superstar. The Overman is a being above the level of man, who has the will to create and live out his own set of values, and, by his own influence and charisma, can make others follow his lead. But, despite this incredible Will to Power, the Overman is trapped in a cycle of disgust. He hates himself for having weaknesses, but yet without those very weaknesses he would not driven to be the Overman. Thus, he is doomed to a state of constant contradiction, where he at once loves himself enough to exercise his will over others and hates himself enough to require constant change. He can never be happy, and if he ever ceases to be influential or to be disgusted with himself, he will cease to be.
In "Disintegrator Rising", Marilyn becomes trapped in the cycle of the
Overman. At one moment, he lords his power over the world, gleefully watching his fans and
even his enemies follow his every move and lead. But, simultaneously, he hates himself for
what he has become, and wishes only to go back to a simpler time without the power or
corruption. As the album looms to a close, the question remains: what is left for Marilyn
Manson?
Track 12: "Antichrist Superstar"
Donna:
The title track to the album marks
the end of the second cycle of Marilyn Manson's life. It is within this song that Marilyn
Manson makes his final evolution into the Antichrist Superstar, the unfeeling avenging
angel determined to bring down both the world and himself. This new metamorphosis is
signaled by the return of the idee fixe, the "prick your finger" invocation that
first appeared in "Cryptorchid". In the song's lyrics, Marilyn restates that it
was the way of the world that has created this Antichrist, and if we need to blame someone
for his existence, then we need look no further than our own mirrors: "You built me
up with your wishing hell - I didn't have to sell you... whose mistake am I anyway?".
Marilyn openly challenges us to see the flaws in ourselves, our religion, and our society
that have brought about this terrible yet beautiful creature of destruction. To hate the
Antichrist is to hate ourselves - the cries of "REPENT!" demonstrate that
terrible fact. It is perhaps this message - look to your own house to find the evil within
- that has made this one of the most controversial songs on the album. "Antichrist
Superstar" is Marilyn's first chance to exercise his power to create his own morality
by showing the world what is wrong with the pre-existing system of values. This song is
the Will to Power in action, and it gives us our first glimpse of the true power of the
Antichrist Superstar.
Jim:
The epitome of every charismatic leader that has ever lived, The Antichrist has come. Nietzsche predicted him, America created him, and Marilyn Manson became him.
He's the harbinger and the prophet and the savior and the destructor. He's everything to all, or so we make him. He is anti-everything this country holds dear, and we want him to be more, and more, and be the rallying cry around which we lead our charge.
"You built me up with your wishing hell
I didn't have to sell you."
Much of organized religion today has more to do with the Almighty Dollar than the Almighty. We have created a need for false prophets and tricksters dressed in priestly garb, offering salvation at a price. "Who's mistake am I anyway?" The answer is America's. And regardless of how many times the fake is exposed, there is always another to take his place.
"Cut the head off... grows back hard..."
Track 13: "1996"
Jim:
We have created something that is so anti-everything he is a walking contradiction and has nothing left to be in favor or, to love, to support. All hate has got him, and us, nowhere. Did we really want someone who found no value in anything? If he values nothing... he doesn't value us either.
How could we expect a man, who by our definition must be against everything and everyone, to exist without imploding?
"Anti-gay and anti-dope
I am the faggot anti-pope."
Did we mean to go this far? Did we want to push him to these limits? This is what he's asking us. And again, this song ends with a warning form the Angel/Antichrist: "I don't deserve a chance to be." This is both a warning and evidence of the self-loathing that a Nietzschian Antichrist must experience in order to become what he strives to be.
Donna:
"1996" marks the height of the power of the Antichrist Superstar. The
terrible angel that is Marilyn screams his way through this track, which explodes with raw
energy and sonic flares. In this song, Marilyn has become a being of pure contradiction, a
creature within whom love and hate, light and dark, life and death all mean the same
thing. Marilyn here becomes the antithesis of everything we know and understand:
"Anti Satan, anti black, anti world is on my back. Anti gay and anti dope, I am the
faggot anti-pope..." With these contradictions, he presents himself to the world,
saying, "Anti people now you've gone too far; here's your Antichrist Superstar".
We have made him, and whether we love or despise our creation, we have to live with what
we have done.
Track 14: "Minute of Decay"
Donna:
This surprisingly quiet song fractures the sonic wall that was "1996", revealing to us the underbelly of the Antichrist - his disgust with himself. One of the most poignant songs on the album, "Minute of Decay" grapples with the self-loathing that the Overman must feel. All emotion gone or deadened beyond repair, Marilyn is trapped within himself, completely alone: "I feel the empty, I feel the minute of decay..." Realizing that he's gone too far, he wishes for someone to love, someone who can quench the feelings of desperation that are overpowering him: "I'm on my way down now, I'd like to take you with me". Desperately, Marilyn wishes to be able to go back, but he realizes that who he used to be is dead now, a sacrifice to the Antichrist. All is lost, and his only real hope is to start to believe once again in who he has become, who he was created to be: "I'd love to just give in; I'd love to live this lie". There simply is no future for him now, and this quietly desperate song becomes Marilyn's final acceptance that he will continue to live and die alone as the Antichrist that he and the world have created.
Jim:
A last reflection of the Angel before he gives himself over completely? A last reflection of the humanity of the Angel/Antichrist? I think this is a very autobiographical song...
The first instant that the worm conceived of a plan to become this great and charismatic statesman of the impending apocalypse, he created the mechanism of his own death.
"The minute that it's born,
It begins to die..."
When Brian Warner became Marilyn Manson, he erased... ("I whited out my name")... his name, the only thing we can ever say is ours until we die. This despair and desperation fills him with the feeling that he really doesn't have anything else for us, after waving his arms frantically and screaming for us to look.
"A lack of pain, a lack of hope, a lack of anything to say."
"I've looked ahead and saw a world that's dead
I guess that I am too."
It's lonely at the top? True... but try being both the top and the last in line.
Track 15: "The Reflecting God"
Jim:
Let me just say that musically, this song is everything Marilyn
Manson is today. This song is obviously influenced by Trent Reznor, but it is NOT a Trent
Reznor song. Reznor's assistance only helped to shape the modern day Marilyn Manson... a
juggernaut of sound, a complex and ever changing symphony of aural pain and subtle sonic
melody destined to bring you in, kick your ass, teach you something and set you free.
Lyrically, this is the gist of the personal philosophy of Marilyn Manson, the Angel, The Antichrist, and myself, actually.
BE YOUR OWN GOD. BELIEVE IN YOU.
Let me paraphrase what I think this song says:
"You have been taught by Christian America to value not giving yourself pleasure, or allowing someone to give it to you. They are stealing from you. You have become complacent and accepting that you need someone else to validate your existence. This is not true. Look at me. All I have to do is exercise the will to power and my thoughts become reality. What makes you think you can't do the same? I investigated the alternatives, and discovered that the only way to be powerful in this world is to give yourself power.
I don't expect this to sink in now. In fact, I don't expect most of you to have the ability to affect any change anytime in the near future. But be warned... when I finally achieve my goals, al that you know will die. A new way of doing things will be created...
Maybe I won't be here when it happens. Maybe no one will understand this for years to come. Maybe it was take the death of the Angel/Antichrist to make you see. But you will see"
It's also my belief that the line "you'll understand when I'm dead" is a distillation of something Nietzsche tried to impart. The following is from the preface to Nietzsche's "The Antichrist":
"This book belongs to the very few. Perhaps not one of them is even living yet. Maybe they will be the readers who understand my Zarathustra: how could I mistake for one of those for whom there are ears even now? Only the day after tomorrow belongs to me. Some are born posthumously."
This is what I believe Marilyn is saying... after all, this is beyond our experience.
Donna:
"The Reflecting God" is the most philosophical song on the album. It is rife with references to Nietzsche, clearly showing the Overman to be the artistic template for the Antichrist Superstar. The lines "You'll understand when I'm dead" are a direct reference to Nietzsche's claim that no one alive could ever understand his brilliance. Nietzsche's doctrine of "be your own god" is referenced in the lines "I went to God just to see, and I was looking at me" and "I say it is and it's true". Even Nietzsche's dismissal of Heaven and Hell show up when Marilyn says he "saw Heaven and hell were lies".
The lyrics to the song are raw and powerful, showing us the Antichrist/Overman
at his most terrifying level. After the final acceptance in "Minute of Decay",
Marilyn lashes out against everyone and everything in "The Reflecting God".
Painting a bleak picture of an uncaring world in the song's opening lines, the Antichrist
declares himself to be "unaffected" by the damage he has wrought. It no longer
seems to matter to him that many have put their faith and trust in him as a savior and
hero. He has gotten what he wanted out of the masses, and they are now dispensable to him.
This is Nietzsche's master and slave morality in action - no pity or compassion for those
who are weaker than you. The Antichrist is racing towards his own death, but even that no
longer seems to matter to him. Begging for the bullet that will finally put an end to it
all, The Antichrist's world comes crashing down around him, and he is once again left all
alone...
Track 16: "Man That You Fear"
Donna:
"Man That You Fear" isn't merely the
end of the album, but the end of the life of the Antichrist Superstar. The fans have all
left, betrayed by their master. Society has shunned him, and Marilyn is left alone, even
less of a man as an angel than he was as a worm. "Man That You Fear" works
lyrically on two levels - it is at once a description of the death of the Antichrist and a
condemnation of the Christian Church that created him. On one hand the song is the
sorrowful, almost apologetic final words of a man who knows his life is over and that he
has failed. But, at the same time, it is a direct assault on the Christian church, who has
failed just as badly as he has. Virtually every line in this song can be read either way,
and I think that both interpretations are equally valid and powerful.
Once again, Marilyn reiterates for the listener that he is only what the world has made him, that he is no more evil than it is. Marilyn is almost penitent here, saying that he "had no choice" to become what he did, that he was "born into this". He openly admits that he has hurt far too many along the way in an effort to bring himself power: "Peel off all those eyes, crawl into the dark. You've poisoned all your children to camouflage your scars..." His voice breaking, Marilyn begs for his life to be "just a dream", for it all to finally be over: "I am so tangled in my sins that I cannot escape". But, at the same time, Marilyn shows that the church has lost as well. They are left as frightened and as alone as he is, their morality and society in shambles as well. Marilyn taunts the church saying they can't ask God for help any longer. For he is God now, he has the power. It is up to Marilyn now whether or not anyone is saved, anyone is worth anything, and there is no salvation or forgiveness in Marilyn's world. All that is left of Christianity are the mere splinters of Christ's cross - even the afterlife has ceased to exist. The only one who can answer any prayers won't help anyone anymore: "The world in my hands - there's no one left to hear you scream". Marilyn has both lost and won his war The song ends with a computerized voice repeating over and over "When all of your wishes are granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed". Marilyn craved power and love, but achieving his goal required the death of all he was. He got his wish, but his dreams were shattered with that very action, leaving him worse off than when he began. There is a period of silence after this song, when suddenly track #99 begins with the same notes that ended "Man That You Fear". Track #99 ends with the same notes that begin the album in "Irresponsible Hate Anthem", creating another cycle, moving from birth to death to rebirth as the album cycles through.
The message here is profound, and is again rooted in Nietzsche. Nietzsche believed in an Eternal Recurrence, where the same people and events occur over and over again infinitely in time. The cycle of the Antichrist is this Recurrence come to life. Marilyn Manson is not the sole Antichrist - far from it. The potential of the Antichrist lives in all of us, and when one tries and fails, there is always another waiting to take his place. The battle between innocence and corruption, religion and atheism, good and evil can never be won. It will be fought until the end of time, and Marilyn Manson is simply another player in this eternal game. Somewhere right now there is another young boy in another small town, feeling just as disillusioned as Brian Warner once did. And one day, that young man will grow into another Antichrist, and the whole cycle will repeat again and again. There is no end or beginning, no losers or winners. Only our scars remain to remind us of the battles we fight over and over.
Jim:
Duality. Like so many other things about both the man and the band Marilyn Manson, this song has a dual nature. It is both a confession/admission from the Angel/Antichrist and a condemnation of those that built the climate in which he grew.
"The boy that you loved is the man that you fear."
This song also points to what I believe is Marilyn's belief that this was his destiny. Being who he was and knowing what he knew, there was no other alternative for him but the path he chose. ("I have it all and I have no choice but to...")
I see accusation of hypocrisy in this song as well. Christian love should encompass all, as they proclaim it does. Yet Marilyn Manson is strangely excluded. They loved him as a child, or so they told him... yet scorn him as an adult. This could be directed at parental/authority figures as well.
"You've poisoned all your children,
To camouflage your scars"
They perpetuated the problem they had to their children just to avoid having to view their own deficiencies. The flip side that while he can say these thing to Christian America, he is also accusing himself of doing the same things to us. The self-loathing to create an Antichrist under the Nietzschian philosophy is apparent here... We have given him the reigns, turned control over to him, and he feels inadequate to handle it... and again, warns us to go away. It is far too late to physically run, so the advice is to turn inward and pretend it isn't happening.
Which puts us in the
role that created him the first place.
Which completes the circle.
Which begins the cycle anew.
Do this; program your CD player to play track 16, then 99, and then track 1. Now listen to the way the three of them blend seamlessly.
The cycle begins anew. The Eternal Recurrence.
This is the Antichrist Superstar.
THIS IS YOUR ANTICHRIST SUPERSTAR.
Source: www.marilyn-manson.com/acs/overview.htm