(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...
27 years ago, in an interview with Rolling Stone (March 6, 1997), Trent Reznor gave a good summary of what Marilyn Manson brought back to the music scene in the 1990's, which not only made him a controversial and misunderstood figure, but unique and successful as well.
When I was growing up, rock & roll helped give me my sense of identity, but I had to search for it. I remember I loved the Clash, but I was an outcast because you were supposed to like Journey. Before that, I loved Kiss. The thing these bands gave me was invaluable - that whole spirit of rebellion. Rock & roll should be about rebellion. It should piss your parents off, and it should offer some element of taboo. It should be dangerous, you know? But I'm not sure it really is dangerous anymore. Now, thanks to MTV and radio, rock & roll gets pumped into your house every second of every day. Being a rock & roll star has become as legitimate a career option as being an astronaut or a policeman or a fireman. That's why I applaud - even helped create - bands like Marilyn Manson. The shock-rock value. I think it's necessary. Death to Hootie and the Blowfish, you know. It's safe. It's legitimate.
Look at Marilyn Manson: They have no qualms about taking that whole thing on. The scene needs that, you know? It doesn't need another Pearl Jam-rip-off band. It doesn't need the politically correct R.E.M.s telling us, "We don't eat meat." Fuck you to all that. We need someone who wants to say, "You know what? I jack off 10 times a night, and I fuck groupies." It's not considered safe to say that now, but rock shouldn't be safe. I'm not saying I adhere wholeheartedly to all that in my own lifestyle, but I think that's the aesthetic we need right now. There needs to be some element of anarchy or something that dares to be different.