Throughout One Assassination Under God – Chapter 2 , Marilyn Manson constructs a dark journey through death, violence, accusation, isolation, mortality, and the search for something beyond him. “Don’t Answer the Door” speaks of a voice being a guiding light in the darkness, while “None of the Suns” speaks of running away from the daylight and being “in the black.” By the time we arrive at “Lucifer’s Teardrop,” the journey has reached a different point. The darkness is still present, but the speaker is finally prepared to stand before what shines. “Lucifer’s Teardrop” is therefore less a departure from everything that came before it than a turning point within it. The fallen angel at the center of the song has been cast out, wounded, and changed by what happened to him, but he is no longer simply defined by the fall. He is “finding my way home.” That movement becomes especially important when considered alongside Manson’s own explanation of the song. He said that its title was inspired...
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.