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...
Tyler Bates joined the podcast Loudwire Nights on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, where he went into some detail working as a producer for Marilyn Manson.
Bates and Manson first met on the set of Californication, a TV show Bates was working on and Manson happened to appear in.
"I was a bit irritated at the time," Bates recalled with Loudwire Nights' Chuck Armstrong.
"It's the end of a 10-hour day at 100 degrees in the rehearsal studio, he was the last one to show up of course. And we were ready to get out of there, so it took a minute. I never expected that I would work with him."
They did two shows together, followed by a "wrap party" which was essentially a full-on concert. Bates described it as an amazing atmosphere filled with nearly 1,000 people.
"That's when we first spoke about sort of a reinvention," he said.
"It took awhile before we actually ever did get to the studio — and that led to The Pale Emperor."
Not only did Bates produce The Pale Emperor, but he also played guitar on the album, something he never intended to do. And as they were working on this album, another opportunity that Bates wasn't expecting popped up.
"A colleague of mine called me and said, 'Hey, I've been told that I need to speak to you about an original Marilyn Manson song for a movie,'" he remembered.
"I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'They said you're the one who is in charge of all of that.' And I said, 'Okay.' So this guy happens to live in my neighborhood, he came over and he listened to a few of the songs. And as soon as he heard 'Killing Strangers,' he's like, 'That's it. That's the song for this movie.' I'm like, 'What's that called again?' He says, 'It's just a little movie, it's called John Wick.'"
At the time, Bates was also scoring Guardians of the Galaxy, but he quickly found time to meet with the director and producer of John Wick.
"Then Keanu [Reeves] came over and I think at that point I'd only done a couple movies with Keanu, so I got to know him a bit," Bates shared.
"Of course, Manson was here and it turned out to be a hell of a Tuesday afternoon, let's just put it that way. We blasted the record like it was a concert and everybody responded to 'Killing Strangers.' They're like, 'That's John Wick.'"
He also spoke about his conversation with Marilyn Manson before working on One Assassination Under God – Chapter 1: "I got together with Manson and I said, 'Look, if you're really serious about doing the best work of your life, I will do that with you. Anything less than that isn't going to work for you anymore. You're in a place in life where you have one chance to show people that you're a serious person and that you're a great artist ... The stuff you used to do isn't going to be good enough. You have to be open and honest with people in this music. If you're interested in doing that kind of work, then I'm into it.'"
Tyler also discussed what it's like in the studio with Manson: "It's just he and I. I play everything, I record everything, I record him. That's it. Just the two of us when we make these records. It is a very intimate conversation of music. And because we've worked this way, I know him probably better than anybody on this earth besides perhaps his wife...it's a really heavy, interesting thing."
Bates and Manson first met on the set of Californication, a TV show Bates was working on and Manson happened to appear in.
"I was a bit irritated at the time," Bates recalled with Loudwire Nights' Chuck Armstrong.
"It's the end of a 10-hour day at 100 degrees in the rehearsal studio, he was the last one to show up of course. And we were ready to get out of there, so it took a minute. I never expected that I would work with him."
They did two shows together, followed by a "wrap party" which was essentially a full-on concert. Bates described it as an amazing atmosphere filled with nearly 1,000 people.
"That's when we first spoke about sort of a reinvention," he said.
"It took awhile before we actually ever did get to the studio — and that led to The Pale Emperor."
Not only did Bates produce The Pale Emperor, but he also played guitar on the album, something he never intended to do. And as they were working on this album, another opportunity that Bates wasn't expecting popped up.
"A colleague of mine called me and said, 'Hey, I've been told that I need to speak to you about an original Marilyn Manson song for a movie,'" he remembered.
"I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'They said you're the one who is in charge of all of that.' And I said, 'Okay.' So this guy happens to live in my neighborhood, he came over and he listened to a few of the songs. And as soon as he heard 'Killing Strangers,' he's like, 'That's it. That's the song for this movie.' I'm like, 'What's that called again?' He says, 'It's just a little movie, it's called John Wick.'"
At the time, Bates was also scoring Guardians of the Galaxy, but he quickly found time to meet with the director and producer of John Wick.
"Then Keanu [Reeves] came over and I think at that point I'd only done a couple movies with Keanu, so I got to know him a bit," Bates shared.
"Of course, Manson was here and it turned out to be a hell of a Tuesday afternoon, let's just put it that way. We blasted the record like it was a concert and everybody responded to 'Killing Strangers.' They're like, 'That's John Wick.'"
He also spoke about his conversation with Marilyn Manson before working on One Assassination Under God – Chapter 1: "I got together with Manson and I said, 'Look, if you're really serious about doing the best work of your life, I will do that with you. Anything less than that isn't going to work for you anymore. You're in a place in life where you have one chance to show people that you're a serious person and that you're a great artist ... The stuff you used to do isn't going to be good enough. You have to be open and honest with people in this music. If you're interested in doing that kind of work, then I'm into it.'"
Tyler also discussed what it's like in the studio with Manson: "It's just he and I. I play everything, I record everything, I record him. That's it. Just the two of us when we make these records. It is a very intimate conversation of music. And because we've worked this way, I know him probably better than anybody on this earth besides perhaps his wife...it's a really heavy, interesting thing."
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