(When "Exit Wound" was released as a single, before Chapter 2 was released and prior to Manson releasing the artwork and commentary that accompany the song, I wrote my initial thoughts about it, titled " The Scar Left After the Spectacle: Marilyn Manson Releases New Single and Announces New Album ." Without repeating too much of what was written there, the following was written in light of the new information provided with the release of the whole album.) An exit wound is the mark left by something that has passed through the body. It is evidence of an injury, but also of movement: something entered, passed through, and left its mark behind. In Marilyn Manson's “Exit Wound,” the image takes on a much larger meaning. The speaker does not merely describe himself as someone who has been wounded. He identifies himself with the wound itself: “You shot the world I am the exit wound.” It is a strange identification. The speaker is not simply the victim of an attack; he...
It is my intention to explore the Marilyn Manson album One Assassination Under God - Chapter 1 in its entirety, one track and music video at a time. There are two things I want to establish before I begin: 1. I believe the album takes place in the Holy Wood "universe", which Manson described as an "alternate dystopia of Hollywood where everything is taken to the extreme," and which was first explored in Antichrist Superstar , Mechanical Animals and Holy Wood - the so-called Tryptich - and continued to pop up on other albums. 2. I also believe that the album is a metaphor which can be applied to Manson's life, but not only. This also aligns it with what the Tryptich essentially is as well. My thoughts for the interpretation of the album will probably evolve over time, especially since this is only the first half of the story, as Manson mentioned in a statement, and we will have a much clearer picture of the entire story when Chapter 2 is released some time in ...