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...
Reba Meyers Reveals in New Interview That the Actual Story of Marilyn Manson Is More Interesting Than the Controversy
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review published an interview with Pittsburgh native Reba Meyers on September 17th 2025, ahead of Marilyn Manson's show in The Steel City on September 20th. In this interview Reba dives deeper than ever before about what its like being not only the newest but also the youngest current member of Marilyn Manson. She even talks about the Manson controversies that have been the focus of people's attention for the past five years, but instead of focusing on the controversies, she says the actual story is much more interesting and deserves to be more noticed: "The actual story of what’s happening is more interesting than the controversy by far. We have a lot more to teach people about with that. It’s like the real story is not even being noticed by most people, which is sad." For Reba, the actual story is a story of redemption: "But for me it’s about redemption, and I’ve seen that with the crowd, and the more important part to me is how people ...