“All the Vilest Things” initially sounds like a song about retaliation. The speaker has been attacked, wounded, and subjected to things that were intended to destroy him, and much of the language is deliberately violent. Yet Manson's own explanation points in a different direction. He describes the song as being about “balancing your resentments” and determining the proper measure of punishment in matters of war. More importantly, he says that the song provides “a real balance to the idea of vengeance.” The lyrics suggest that this balance comes from recognizing the damage that has been done without allowing the desire for revenge to become the thing that defines what happens next. The opening establishes the situation immediately: “You tried your best To destroy me I don't want revenge Because you only Made me stronger.” There is no attempt to minimize what happened. The speaker acknowledges that someone genuinely tried to destroy him. What changes is his response t...
January 5th 2025 marks Marilyn Manson's 57th birthday and the anniversary of his five years of sobriety. To celebrate, as he does every year, he and his wife Lindsay hosted a birthday party where he was surrounded by friends and loved ones.
Among the attendees who joined him to celebrate were Billy Corgan, Courtney Love, John 5, Danny Elfman, Vincent Gallo, Billy Morrison, Tim Skold, Greg Puciato, Charles Fleischer, Paul Wiley, Manson‘s ex-wife Dita Von Teese, death pop duo VOWWS, and many more.
In his birthday speech before blowing out 57 candles on his birthday cake, which was topped by an illustration of Gustave Doré for John Milton's Paradise Lost titled "The Fall of Lucifer," Manson said the following:
"Thanks everybody for coming. I love you guys. It's been a great year. 2026 is gonna be even better. I've got another album coming out, another world tour that's gonna be extra special, and five years continuous sobriety."
Among the attendees who joined him to celebrate were Billy Corgan, Courtney Love, John 5, Danny Elfman, Vincent Gallo, Billy Morrison, Tim Skold, Greg Puciato, Charles Fleischer, Paul Wiley, Manson‘s ex-wife Dita Von Teese, death pop duo VOWWS, and many more.
In his birthday speech before blowing out 57 candles on his birthday cake, which was topped by an illustration of Gustave Doré for John Milton's Paradise Lost titled "The Fall of Lucifer," Manson said the following:
"Thanks everybody for coming. I love you guys. It's been a great year. 2026 is gonna be even better. I've got another album coming out, another world tour that's gonna be extra special, and five years continuous sobriety."
On the night before Marilyn Manson's 57th birthday, he posted two sets of photos all of which were shot by his wife Lindsay Warner. One set he captioned "Time has been bent" and the other was captioned "2026 will be our strongest year ever." With these messages, it seems like Manson is telling us the same thing, that 2026 and his 57th birthday mark a time in his career which will show not only his timelessness as an artist, but his relevancy and resonancy as well. He has "bent" the timeline to pick up exactly where he left off, and is accelerating to be even stronger. It positions 2026 not as a year that evokes nostalgia, but as a peak in his career. In summary, Manson is interpreting his birthday as a pivot point. He is telling his audience that he has successfully "bent" the narrative of his downfall into a story of unprecedented strength and artistic survival for 2026, with no expiration date.
