There is a point in One Assassination Under God – Chapter 2 where the language of survival finally becomes the language of retaliation. “The Arsonist” is that point. The song is not simply about having survived an attempt to destroy you. It is about what happens afterward, when the person who has been burned decides that the fire did not finish him and that the scars it left behind have become part of his strength. Manson himself described the song as the moment when the narrative of the two chapters “crystallizes into a battle stance,” and, referring to the painting he created for it, said that the “burned scar tissue” had formed into armor. That description gets very close to the heart of the song. The fire has not disappeared. It has changed him. The title is important because Manson does not call the song The Survivor or The Victim . He calls it "The Arsonist." An arsonist deliberately starts a fire, and this changes the entire perspective of the song. The speaker is no...
In a developing story, Rolling Stone reported about an hour ago that Marilyn Manson dropped his lawsuit against Evan Rachel Wood. According to the article, he has agreed to pay nearly $327,000 in Evan’s attorneys’ fees. The article refers to a statement issued by Evan's attorneys (Michael Kump, Shawn Holley and Katherine Kleindienst of Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir LLP) which Rolling Stone summarizes as follows: "Brian Warner had sought to settle the lawsuit this past spring at the same time he was appealing a judge’s rulings against him. His initial offer was to pay a portion of Wood’s fees in return for keeping the settlement confidential, other than releasing a mutually agreed-upon statement. Wood rejected this offer. Her lawyers say she did not want to agree to confidentiality or the other terms. Warner subsequently agreed to drop his suit against Wood completely and pay her full lawyers’ fees." A rep for Evan Rachel Wood stated: "Marilyn Manson — who...