We Are Chaos
- Release date: September 11, 2020
- Genre: Country Rock, New Wave, Glam Rock
- Length: 42:27
- Label: Loma Vista
- Written by: Marilyn Manson, Shooter Jennings
Track List
| Lyrics | Music | |
|---|---|---|
| Marilyn Manson | Shooter Jennings | |
| Red Black And Blue | X | X |
| We Are Chaos | X | X |
| Don't Chase The Dead | X | X |
| Paint You With My Love | X | X |
| Half-Way And One Step Forward | X | X |
| Infinite Darkness | X | X |
| Perfume | X | X |
| Keep My Head Together | X | X |
| Solve Coagula | X | X |
| Broken Needle | X | X |
Introduction
For many years, Manson's 1998 album Mechanical Animals was considered the biggest stylistic change in his career, going from the dirty industrial sounds of Antichrist Superstar to melodic, electronic, and Bowie-esque glam rock. But Mechanical Animals' title of "biggest change" has been seriously challenged by the release of We Are Chaos, an album that followed the rather aggressive Heaven Upside Down with country rock, power ballads, and once again- Bowie influences.
The man responsible for the musical switch was Shooter Jennings, a country and southern rock musician, and the son of country singers Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter. Jennings stepped in to replace Manson's previous artistic collaborator Tyler Bates, who left the band to return to what he always considered his main career: film scoring.
But the novelty of We Are Chaos wasn't limited only to the new musical direction. Lyrically, it is Manson's most introspective record to date, featuring many moments of Manson wondering what he represents to the world and how he would like to be remembered. It is also a record filled with self-acceptance and positivity, with messages about living in the moment and accepting his shortcomings in a loving way. In an interview for Apple Music, Manson explained the source of this new attitude:
I found a focus, and it was a focus I realized my importance as a human being in the world ... Once you find that, it kinda shuts out all of the darkness around you.
When the first music video for the era was released, ahead of the album's release, it was accompanied by a press statement which introduced the album and gave some background on its creation:
When shooter and I decided to start making this album almost 2 years ago, we were both doing tours, so we had to work around our schedules. Shooter and I had a shared love for Bowie's era with Brian Eno, and I wasn't afraid to try new things with him writing the music. He also helped me to be unafraid to try old things. As a producer, he really pushed me to be both new and still true to what the core of Marilyn Manson is. His perspective added the trans-dimensional element that I was always looking to tap into.
When I listen to We Are Chaos now, it seems like just yesterday or as if the world repeated itself, as it always does, making the title track and the stories seem as if we wrote them today.
This was recorded to its completion without anyone hearing it until it was finished. There is most definitely a side A and side B in the traditional sense. But just like an LP, it is a flat circle and it's up to the listener to put the last piece of the puzzle into the picture of songs.
This concept album is the mirror shooter and I built for the listener- it's the one we won't stare into. There are so many rooms, closets, safes and drawers. But in the soul or your museum of memories, the worst are always the mirrors. Shards and slivers of ghosts haunted my hands when I wrote most of these lyrics.
I explore ideas on the album, such as perfume. Something so beautiful, the scent can be remembered forever. But it is also flammable enough to burn down a house. It's the fragile balance of power and the ones who hold the match or smell the loveliest. The painting I did specifically to accompany the music... those are my reflections.
Making this record, I had to think to myself: 'tame your crazy, stitch your suit, and try to pretend that you are not an animal' but I knew that mankind is the worst of them all. Making mercy is like making murder. Tears are the human body's largest export.
Recurring Themes
Time
The perspective of time plays a key role in the record. Don't Chase The Dead is all about living in the moment, while Keep My Head Together outlines the relationship one should have with the past, present, and future. On Infinite Darkness Manson makes the statement that the length of your death will dwarf the length of your life, and Half-Way & One Step Forward seems to be a reference to the fact that Manson is already past his midlife.
Legacy
A great deal of the lyrics features Manson wondering about the value of what he has done, and what he means to the world. "Am I garbage or god?" he asks himself on Red Black And Blue. "Am I a man or a show, or moment? The man in the moon, or a man for all seasons?" he asks in the title song We Are Chaos. On Half-Way & One Step Forward, he talks about how he wants to be mourned for his death, rather than for his life, and on Infinite Darkness he imagines life after death.
Positivity and self-acceptance
On Red Black And Blue's opening prose, Manson describes himself as someone who can be the savior to people, and who has abundance of good to offer. Keep My Head Together is essentially a "how to live life correctly" song, featuring ideas such as "don't try to change other people, just take care of yourself and let them take care of themselves", and that you have the power to turn your life around and become deserving of something better. It also features a celebration of love. Both the title track and Solve Coagula feature Manson admitting his faults in a compassionate manner. Broken Needle speaks of letting go of painful memories.
Song Analysis
Red Black And Blue
In an interview for Apple Music, Manson explained that this song is about how he feels about being an American:
How the record starts with Red Black and Blue it's not really political as much as it is the struggle between being an American and not wanting to be an American because of what it represents ... This entire country has been based on oppression and just horrible behavior that built this country and when people say you know "you can forgive this mistake" there's so many more things that this entire country [has done] which I'm a part of so it's a real struggle to be- am I a spokesperson for a voice of reason, or am I against it, and it's tough for me on a daily basis...
The name of the song is a play on the colors of the flag of the United States, but with the color white replaced with black. If the above quote wasn't enough of a hint for what the colors imply, Manson also posted this image on Instagram, captioned "RED BLACK AND BLUE (Photo by @lindsayusichofficial)":
One way to understand the color change from white to black is that it is part of the color-related wordplay in this song. Red is the color of anger, blue represents sadness, both emotions that are appropriate for Manson's sentiment that he doesn't like what being an American represents. The color white on the other hand, has mostly positive connotations, so black, which is grim and depressing, is more fitting for Manson's sentiment. It could also symbolize opposition to being an American, since black is the polar opposite of white.
| Lyrics | Commentary |
|---|---|
| I can stick a needle in the horror and fix your blindness See, I was a snake but I didn't realize that you could walk on water without legs Now I'm a bee, the king bee And I will destroy every flower And I will cover the earth in honey And everyone will eat themselves My eyes are mirrors All I can see are gods on the left and demons on the right | The song starts with a piece of prose for an intro. In an interview for Apple Music, Manson
said that it was meant to set the tone for the record. The overall idea in this section
seems to be Manson's realization that he can do a lot of good in the world, but that the
world isn't able to receive that good in a positive manner, perhaps because it is too busy
with its wars.I can stick a needle in the horror and fix your blindness We're starting with the idea that horrific images are monopolizing people's vision, making them blind to everything else, and Manson has the ability to pierce through it and let the light in once again, thus curing the blindness. Quite helpful of him... He goes on to elaborate that: See, I was a snake but I didn't realize that you could walk on water without legs Snakes are a symbol of evil. Describing himself this way recognizes the role of cultural antagonism he always assumed throughout his career. But turns out his antagonism can also save people. He can still be the savior just like Jesus Christ, famously known for walking on water. Now I'm a bee, the king bee But just because you have something good to offer (honey), doesn't mean it would be received as a force for good. Manson describes himself as not just any bee, but the ultimate bee, a king bee. He is so productive in his generation of honey, that it is cataclysmic. He destroys the flowers, he covers the world in honey like a flood, and instead of appreciating the honey they are covered in, people just end up eating themselves. In an interview for Apple Music, Manson shared an amusing anecdote about this section: A lot of people say to me when they hear it, they say: there's no such thing as a king bee, and I say: well there is now... Because it's you know I'm a writer, so I'm allowed to take as many liberties as I want when it comes to making up new words, new ideas. My eyes are mirrors The idea that Manson's role is to reflect people back to themselves is as old as his first record, which had the words "I am you" in the album artwork (as well as other references, see the song Organ Grinder for example). Reflecting people back to themselves has always been a key component in his art, and that theme continues on with this line, and with Manson's statement in the Apple Music interview that: Ideally if I could make a book out of [the album], it would be mirrors for pages so you could just see your own story. All I can see are gods on the left and demons on the right ...and what he sees when looking at us is a schism, a battle of opposing sides. |
| Set fire to the tree of life Not for death just to watch the suffering Get high on the smoke and dance In the ashes | We begin with a scathing description of someone who enjoys destruction. This represents the idea that America was built using horrible deeds. |
| This arrangement is deranged Imagine us engaged in flames | But many of those horrible deeds are a thing of the past, and today, people might be
disconnected from the reality of it all, just because it was before their time. So, Manson
asks the listener to stop and think about it for a moment: this is actually deranged if you
think about it, imagine if it was us who were doing these terrible deeds (engaged in flames,
the same flames that burn down the tree of life in the previous verse). The idea that this section is comparing today to the past is based on the same Apple Music interview referenced above, where Manson also said that: "Can you imagine what our parents went through, and their parents. This entire country has been based on oppression". |
| Red black and blue Red black and blue Red black and blue Red, black and I'm blue | As discussed in the introduction to this song, he's an American who's anti-American (red
|
| Am I garbage or God? Church or a trashcan? Either way you're a waste of my time | So, what is he, as someone who's an artist, and also an American. Is he like a God because
America is the mightiest nation in the world? Is he trash because he lives off of the bad
deeds of America? As an artist, what did his art achieve? Either way, he seems fed up with
trying to engage with the topic. It's not entirely clear who "you" in this segment is, but I think it could be whoever represents this conflict for him. It could be a personification of America, meaning that he is done trying to help it or change it, or it could be the people he feels observed by as an American artist. |
| This arrangement is deranged Imagine us engaged in flames | |
| Heroes destroy Murder without a choice Just linear fucking lines | This is a reference to America's propensity to go to war. The soldiers are lauded as heroes, but what they really are is just people who follow orders, marching in their straight lines on the assembly line of war. |
| Cuz I'm red, black and I'm blue Red, black and I'm blue Am I garbage or God? Church or a trashcan? Either way you're a waste of my time Red, black and I'm blue | |
| Sick sick sick of you And all your attitude and I'm sick sick sick of you | As with the "you" in the chorus, it's not entirely clear who "you" is, but the same options that are discussed in the chorus also apply. The attitude could belong to those who would judge him, or it could refer to America's self-aggrandizing attitude, believing it's on a different level from everybody else on account of its greatness. |
| Cuz I'm red, black, blue Am I garbage or God? Church or a trashcan? Either way you're a waste of my time I'm red, black and I'm blue |
We Are Chaos
We Are Chaos was written about a year and a half before the album's release. So even though it's talking about being ill, it had nothing to do with the pandemic that broke out around the time the album was released. In an interview for Consequence of Sound Manson said:
"WE ARE CHAOS" [the song] was written at least a year and a half ago, initially lyrically. It was more me thinking about how I can relate to the rest of the world, emotionally and mentally, and not dwelling on politics or religion so much.
Different parts of the song certainly fit this interpretation. However, it also seems to be in part about his relationship with his second wife Lindsay Usich. This is because:
- The song has romantic undertones, and a great deal of it sounds like he is talking to a specific person, not a group or a personification of a group.
- It mentions marriage. Manson and Lindsay married in February of 2020, while the album was released in September of 2020.
- It mentions perfume. Lindsay has her own signature perfume, so perfume as a recurring topic on this album was probably inspired by her.
- We've seen indications from various sources that they had a chaotic relationship. The most credible example of that comes from a series of text messages between Manson and Johnny Depp that was included as evidence in Johnny Depp's defamation lawsuit against Amber Heard, and unsealed after the trial ended. The exchange included Manson calling Lindsay "an Amber 2.0", and saying that she filed a restraining order on him (note: no restraining order was actually filed).
So, in that light, "we are chaos" could really mean "Lindsay and I are chaos", but the song treats that as empowering, rather than negative. There's a hidden blessing in being ill (as the first verse states), and there is something powerful about being chaos together. It also makes a statement; the stronger is the chaos that tries to tear you apart, the bigger is the love that manages to keep you together, and the more meaningful is the commitment to stay together. More generally, "we are chaos" can also mean "we humans are chaos", because chaos is part of the human condition.
Samples
"Some, you know, we need to find some help for you." At the beginning of the song. Source unknown.
| Lyrics | Commentary |
|---|---|
| If you say that we're ill Just give us your pill hope we'll just go away but once you've inhaled "DEATH" everything else is perfume | If you think we are ill, go ahead and get rid of us, but just so you know, being ill is a
blessing in disguise, because once you experience the worse (inhaled "DEATH"), it changes
your perspective on life, making you appreciate everything much more (everything else seems
like perfume now). Notice that the word "death" is stylized like it's a brand name of a product. |
| Maybe I'm just a mystery I could end up your misery In the end we all end up in a garbage dump But I'll be the one that's holding your hand | Maybe I'm just a mystery A marriage/relationship is an act of faith, because no matter how much you try to predict it, there's no reliable way to tell how it's going to play out until you try it, and it can definitely end with both parties being each other's misery. In that respect, every lover is a mystery, and every relationship is a leap of faith. Manson spent his entire career in constant flux, and in a conscious effort to maintain mystique about himself. As someone who doesn't make a big distinction between his art and himself, that makes him the biggest mystery of them all. He also experienced many failed relationships that ended in misery, and with each additional example in that pattern, it became more apparent that not being able to tell how things will turn out is his lot in life. Therefore, with a new relationship, there's no choice but to take a chance on things, which is expressed in his "all-in" dedication to stick by her until the end (I'll be the one that's holding your hand [in the end]). |
| We are sick, fucked up and complicated We are chaos, we can't be cured | |
| Maybe I'm just a mystery I could end up your misery Marry with the left hand So far so far from the mad'ning crowd | "Marry with the left hand" is a reference to morganatic marriage, sometimes called
"left-handed marriage". This is marriage between unequal social ranks. In the context of
royalty, this entails a sacrifice for the person who holds the royal title, because it makes
the children ineligible to inherit the royal title and the privileges that come with it.
Because of that, it can be seen as an act of true love, because you're sacrificing your royal
legacy for it. One famous example for that is king Edward VIII, who decided to give up his
throne in order to marry "the woman I love" (Wallis Simpson, who was politically and morally
unacceptable as queen due to her status as divorcee).So far from the mad'ning crowd Manson and Lindsay did end up marrying "far from the crowd", in a private ceremony attended by few people over FaceTime, due to COVID-19 quarantine restrictions. The marriage wasn't a public affair like his first marriage with Dita Von Teese was, and in fact fans initially learned about it indirectly when Lindsay changed her Instagram name to Lindsay Elizabeth Warner (Manson's real name is Brian Warner). |
| We are sick, fucked up and complicated We are chaos, we can't be cured | |
| Am I a man or a show, or moment The man in the moon or a man of all seasons Will I be in at the kill With you? | In this section, Manson wonders what kind of a man he is. This section most prominently ties
in with the idea of him thinking how he can relate to the rest of the world.The man in the moon The Man In The Moon is a coming of age movie about a 14 year old girl who falls in love with an older boy. When she was little, her mother used to tell her that if things get all mixed up, all you had to do is tell everything to the man in the moon, and he'd work out the solution for her while she slept. In other words, the man in the moon is a fable. A Man For All Seasons is a historical drama film about Sir Thomas More, a 16th century Lord Chancellor of England who died for his principles when he refused both to sign a letter asking Pope Clement VII to annul king Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and to take an Oath of Supremacy declaring Henry Supreme Head of the Church of England. He, the man for all seasons, is the ultimate man of conscience amid rising corruption, and a voice of reason. Will I be in at the kill "The kill" is "the crucial moment". He's asking if he'll have the conviction to be there when it matters the most. |
| We are sick, fucked up and complicated We are chaos, we can't be cured We are sick |
Don't Chase The Dead
This song is about dealing with an incoming doom by living in the moment. In an interview for Consequence of Sound, Manson described the song as follows:
It sort of has this postulating feeling of unease but romance at the same time. And it almost sounds like what it's saying. It sounds like the end of the world, in a way. That really was what I was trying to capture.
| Lyrics | Commentary |
|---|---|
| Angels in exile Here lies the dead An ice cream truck in your inferno | For an angel to be in exile, removed from the presence of God, is to have fallen from grace as far as you possibly can. The dead are of the past, and they are like a comfort (an ice cream truck in an inferno) for the situation these angels are in. The idea here is that if you hit rock bottom, and you can't get back to the greatness you came from, it becomes tempting to live on the memories of your past glory. |
| Don't chase the dead or they'll end up chasing you | ...but you shouldn't. If you keep chasing your past, you'll become haunted by it. |
| If tonight lasts forever It won't matter if there's no tomorrow No tomorrow | Conversely, people can also be caught up in the future, constantly worrying about what's
coming. This is especially true when an end of the world (no tomorrow), real or metaphorical,
is indeed looming over you in the future. How do you deal with something like this? Manson's answer is to live in the moment. This is represented by the proposition of "if tonight lasts forever". When you live in the moment, it means that you do not allow considerations of the future into your thought process, so it's as if the future doesn't exist, and if there's no future, then you're just left with an eternal now. So, if all you have is now, who cares about later? |
| Got my tickets to hell I know you so well And I know you wanna be there too | Now Manson injects some romance into the song. All this "no tomorrow" business is not theoretical. He is in fact on his way to hell, but he goes there with acceptance, even buying his own tickets. His lover even wants to join him there, so they'll make an adventure out of it. |
| If tonight lasts forever It won't matter if there's no tomorrow Don't chase the dead or they'll end up chasing you |
Paint You With My Love
This song is about the exploitative nature of the music industry (or perhaps show business in general), and what fighting against it means.
| Lyrics | Commentary |
|---|---|
| Honky-tonk devils glitter in Like royal rats in kitten skin And all the blondes drop their panties and cry To their father's first lullaby | Honky-tonk devils glitter in Honky Tonk is both a style of country music, and a type of bar that plays this sort of music. In the first half of the 20th century, Honky Tonk establishments were common in the southern side of the United States. They had a reputation for being cheap, noisy, and disreputable because they catered primarily to the working class, and were often centers for prostitution. Therefore, Honky Tonk as an adjective can represent a shady music scene (or maybe show business in general), and these devils, also described as rats, another unflattering term, are the kings of it, because they're royal rats. They wear kitten skin to hide their true nature, and glitter in to attract people. And all the blondes drop their panties and cry A popular explanation for what drives some women to overuse their sexuality to get male attention is that it's a compensation for not getting enough love from their fathers. Every time they drop their panties to engage in sexual behavior, it's a cry for that father daughter connection they did not get enough of. This makes them an easy target for Honky Tonk devils. |
| So let me paint you with my love With my love, with my love | In response, Manson offers to paint her with his love. Painting is an art form, one that
Manson is very fond of, being a prolific painter himself, so he is offering to love her
through art. The fact that he says this in response to the unloving content of the verses
can be seen as a statement on the difference between art as art vs art as business. Art as business is a perversion of art, because when business considerations twist the motivations behind the art, all sorts of unpleasant pathologies emerge, and it becomes an unloving environment, as we've seen in the first verse. Only when art is done for the sake of art can it offer love, and for Manson, painting was something he always did primarily as a hobby, free from all business-related pressures, hence he is able to use the honest expression of this artform to offer love. |
| To kill the man behind the crowd Would be viewed as amateur Because the king is invisible The king is invisible and death is a profession | The word profession means 'paid occupation', but it is also another word for 'statement'.
When Manson says that death is a profession, he means that it's a statement, so when
something is amateur, that is- not professional, it means that it doesn't make a statement.
This is why killing someone behind the crowd is amateur: if nobody sees the death, it
doesn't make a statement. There's an idea in this verse that the true king of the show is not the performer who is in front of the crowd, but someone behind the crowd. In other words, it's the managers and executives who control the show business in the background. These managers and executives are the Honky Tonk devils from the previous verse, because they are royal rats, and the man behind the crowd is a king. Taken together, we realize that fighting the music business is futile. The managers are the ones you really want to strike at, because they are the true rulers of the business, but since they are behind the crowd, striking them doesn't make a statement. |
| So let me paint you with my love With my love, with my love | |
| It's not a life sentence but a death dream for you | I see two ways to interpret this segment, depending on which line you wish to focus on: If we consider the first line as the more important one, that makes the "life sentence" the focal point. This might be in connection to the talk of killing the king in the previous verse. Killing someone generally results in a life sentence, but in this case, when you kill the king, you get a death dream instead. This might be a commentary on the personal toll it takes on you if you do choose to bring down a powerful show business figure (such as Harvey Weinstein). You won't be the same person by the time the ordeal is over, so it's as if the old you is plunged into an unconsciousness. Maybe someday, once you work out that trauma, you'll be able to awaken from it, and return to the person you once were, but until then, that person is for all intents and purposes dead. Or, if we focus on the second line as the more important one, then the death dream becomes the focal point. "Death dream" is a reference to the fairytale Snow White. In that story, Snow White is poisoned by an apple that sends her into a magically induced coma, called "sleeping death". She bites from the apple because she is made to believe it is a wish granting apple, so she bites it wishing for love. It's a metaphor for how the search for love leads you into a trap, and that ties in with the themes of this song- the blondes who drop their panties and cry for their father's lullaby are lured into show business by promises of adoration. Sure, it's not a life sentence, but a death dream is nevertheless hard to wake up from. |
Half-Way & One Step Forward
At the time of the album's release, Manson was in his early 50s. With an average United States life expectancy of 77 years, this made him past the midpoint of his expected lifespan. In other words, he is half-way and one step forward, past the point of no return. This seems to have prompted reflection on his legacy and how he would like to be remembered, and in this song, he says that being mourned for your absence is way more meaningful than being mourned for your life. In the same breath, he also criticizes people's tendency to inflate their pain in order to be mourned for their life.
| Lyrics | Commentary |
|---|---|
| The smell of your blood Is like a carnival or a state fair Skin is cotton candy So easy to melt in my mouth | The smell of blood implies a bleeding wound, which in this song is a metaphor for personal
tragedy. The smell of blood attracts pray animals, like carnivals attract humans. Also,
since carnivals are large scale festivities, then the smell of blood is something that acts
as entertainment for the people. Skin is often used as a metaphor for resiliency. If you're thick skinned it means that insults and criticism don't hurt you. Being thin skinned means the opposite- you're easily injured. This person's skin is as flimsy as it can possibly be. |
| Don't wanna know Don't need to know You got champagne problems | Manson is utterly uninterested in people who convert their personal drama into entertainment, saying it is nothing more than a case of rich people problems (champagne problems). You're not a tragic figure just because you lack basic resilience, or because you publicize your problems on a grand scale, while actually living a pretty good life all things considered. |
| I need a raincoat for tomorrow I need a raincoat for tomorrow It's about how much people cry When you die It's not about the storm of tears That you make when you're alive | The real measure of how impactful you are, according to Manson, is not how sad people are for you, but how sad people are for themselves because you're no longer around. The storm of tears Manson is aiming for is the one after his death, hence him needing a raincoat for the future. |
| Half-way and one step forward Past the point of no return | As discussed in the introduction, he is past the middle of his life, and there's no going back. |
| Ring all the bells you can ring There's a crack in everything That's how the sunlight gets in | This lyric is taken from the song Anthem by Leonard Cohen:Ring the bells that still can ring Leonard Cohen commented about these lyrics in an interview, and I think his commentary is very apt for Manson's song as well: It's no excuse ... the dismal situation.. and the future is no excuse for an abdication of your own personal responsibilities towards yourself and your job and your love. Rather than succumbing to drama which ultimately isn't important, keep doing great things, in spite of everything. Be motivated to seek the light, and you too will be someone worth crying over after your death. |
| Don't wanna know Don't need to know You got champagne problems Half-way and one step forward Past the point of no return Don't wanna know Don't need to know You got champagne problems |
Infinite Darkness
In this song, Manson appears to grapple with the experience of death, trying to use imagination to grasp its eternity and nothingness, which he describes as an infinite darkness. In the song's fantasy, Manson is a vampire haunting the astral plane, and praying on those who pass through it. The astral plane is a mystical place between the mortal world and the afterlife, which the spirits of the dead must cross on their way to the afterlife. The vampire connection is given to us by the album artwork, which features a painting by Manson called "Never-Ending Astral Vampire". This fantasy helps Manson connect to the experience of death, because this is a creature that calls this environment his own, so it understands its nature better than anybody.
| Lyrics | Commentary |
|---|---|
| My dirty dreams are filled with ghosts Drowning in a shallow puddle My muck and mud is thicker than the quickest of my demons | The ghosts are the spirits that pass through the astral plane. He enjoys praying on them, hence
they fill his dirty (sexual) dreams. The imagery of them drowning in a shallow puddle evokes
the idea that they were killed, and are now lying face down in the puddle. Don't be fooled by
the fact that they are ghosts. What died was their physical body, not the spirit. The spirit
is still "alive", so it can be killed by the astral vampire. He lays down thick muck and mud that slows down everyone that gets caught in it, which is presumably how he catches his prey. It's so thick that even his quickest demons are no match for it, meaning he has become the apex demon. |
| Fast and ghastly Fast and ghastly Fast and ghastly And unforgiving | He is an undead predator. |
| Someone's gonna die soon Don't get in the way You're not the hero You're not the hero | Another victim is approaching...Don't get in the way Heroes save people from death. When he warns the other person that "you're not the hero", he means that he can't save that someone from dying. That is because ultimately, death is inevitable, so don't try to mess with it. |
| You're dead longer than you're alive | We spend so much time focusing on what we do when we're alive, but in the grand scheme of things the time we'll spend dead will dwarf our life to insignificance. So, in that sense, the legacy of our death is much more meaningful. |
| First class on the astral plane Just 'cause you're famous doesn't mean you're worth anything In this world or the next one or the one before | A famous person is travelling through the astral plane in first class, like on an airplane. Death is the great equalizer, so the status this person used to have, the status they try to bring with them to their journey to the afterlife, is meaningless. |
| 'Cause I'm not forgiving Not forgiving Not forgiving I'm fast and ghastly Someone's gonna die soon Don't get in the way You're not the hero Not the hero You're dead longer than you're alive | |
| Black is real, you can't hide Hearts are the darkest When you see without the sun | You can probably assign some philosophical interpretation to "hearts are the darkest when you see without the sun", but overall, this verse seems like just another description of our astral vampire. The proclamation that "black is real" is akin to saying, "monsters are real". This astral vampire, being a nocturnal creature, certainly sees without the sun. So, it's real, it has the blackest heart, it's coming after you, and you can't hide. |
| You're dead longer than you're alive You're dead Black is real, you can't hide Hearts are the darkest When you see without the sun You're dead longer than you're alive You're dead |
Perfume
This song is about victim culture. When someone survives a difficult ordeal and it becomes publicized, society puts that person on a pedestal, calling them all sorts of flattering names like 'hero' and 'brave'. In some cases, such people receive special treatment, like being able to make a speech in front of congress, or have an entire episode of a talk show dedicated to them. You can argue that this is justified in cases of real victims, but people with narcissistic tendencies look at this and think to themselves "I want some of that attention and adoration too", and thus victimization turns into fashion, as people who have no business being lauded as survivors of anything begin to exaggerate (and in extreme cases make up) personal tragedies.
| Lyrics | Commentary |
|---|---|
| Get behind me Get behind me Get behind me, Satan | This is a line from the New Testament, uttered by Jesus on multiple occasions, most notably in the scene where he is tempted by the devil (Matthew 4, Luke 4). In the New Testament it means "go away, Satan", but in modern English it can also mean "get on my team, Satan", since standing behind someone is an idiom for supporting them. So, you can interpret this line to be from the point of view of the victimization afficionados, or from the contrarian perspective, saying "fuck this" to the victim fashion. |
| So you wear your damage on your sleeve But don't worry, it's all just tongue and cheek yeah | "Wear your heart on your sleeve" is a phrase that means "showing your emotions very openly".
This person is only interested in showing their pain openly. "Tongue in cheek" means "in an ironic, flippant, or insincere manner". In other words, this person is just playing at being hurt. |
| Not a victim of fashion More fascist than vogue 'Cause victim is chic You're as famous as your pain Victim is chic yeah | Not a victim of fashion A victim of fashion is someone who gets caught up in what fashion dictates, even if following that decree doesn't suit them. This line is ironic, because it makes the claim that "I'm a victim, but not of fashion", except that claiming to be a victim is in fact being a victim of fashion. More fascist than vogue Vogue is a fashion magazine. This line attempts to say "more fashion-esque than Vogue", but it comes out "fascist" instead. Indeed, fashion can be seen as fascist, since it's authoritarian about what's "in" right now. When people adopt their victim status out of narcissism rather than authenticity, very often it becomes a tool for them to gain higher moral ground over other people, and a classic symptom of that can be adopting very puritanical (fascist) judgments about society, because the motive is to raise oneself above others, rather than be helpful and enact actual change. In other words, they become moral fascists. You're as famous as your pain This is the crux of the song. We've become a society where flaunting your pain is the latest fashion. |
| If you conjure the devil You better make sure You got a bed for him to sleep in | Make sure you get a bed for the devil, because once conjured, he will never leave. In the context of this song, conjuring the devil can mean making false allegations of abuse. It's akin to conjuring the devil in many ways. First, you're doing something wrong. Second, you initially get an undeserved benefit for it. It is very common for the public to default to believing allegations of abuse until proven otherwise, which plays into the false accuser's plan. And third, once you get entangled with the devil, you can't leave, and that is essentially what happens when your allegations become publicized and litigated. Just look at the punishing experience that Amber Heard's false allegations against Johnny Depp ended up being. Once she lied herself into a corner in the most public way possible, and got entangled in many years of litigation (which she ultimately lost), there was no going back for her. |
| Buckshot glitter perfume Is something you never want to wear In your hair will be brains And your shit won't be the same | Buckshot is a type of 'shot', which is small pellets made of lead which are fired by shotguns
(shotguns don't actually fire the shells, rather the shells are filled with these pellets,
and when the shotgun is fired, the shell explodes and sends the pellets flying). If someone
is wearing a spray of buckshot, it implies that they were fired at with a shotgun. Hence "in
your hair will be brains". Hence "you won't be the same". This lyric alludes to the idea that self-harm is treated like aesthetic: glitter is visual pretty, perfume is olfactory pretty. Manson cautions that playing at being hurt leads to actual hurt. |
| Get behind me Get behind me Get behind me, Satan And your shit won't be the same If you conjure the devil You better make sure You got a bed for him to sleep in Get behind me Get behind me Get behind me, Satan | |
| Am I Superman? Am I superstitious? | I think this is Manson asking himself why he isn't drawn to this fashion himself. Is it because he is so much bigger than this (superman), or is he simply afraid of the devil (superstitious)? |
| Get behind me Get behind me Get behind me, Satan |
Keep My Head Together
This is the most positive song Manson has written to date. It's composed of life lessons and proclamations of gratitude, all of which add up to a song about having a healthy outlook on life.
| Lyrics | Commentary |
|---|---|
| Do we get what we deserve? Or do we deserve what we get? Steal from the last, fuck the past Here is your present Let's take the future | Do we get what we deserve? Technically, both lines mean "you reap what you sow", but the order of the words changes the direction of the sentence. The first line emphasizes the getting part- we are given based on the world's determination of what we should be getting. The agency in this line is with the world, and this can represent a state of mind of submission to circumstances. The second line emphasizes the deserving part- our role in the situation. The flip side of getting what we deserve is that we control how deserving we are. In other words, with a change of perspective from "the world decides how much we get" to "we control how much the world would like to give us" we can flip our state of mind from submission into one of taking charge of your life. Steal from the last, fuck the past Here's Manson's version of taking charge of your life: learn from the past, but don't get stuck in it. Live in the present (the word play in this line also suggests that the present is gift-like), and aim to conquer the future. |
| Don't try changin' someone else You'll just end up changin' yourself I keep my head together Better keep your head together | Stop trying to fix people, it's going to backfire. Instead, switch to a model where every person takes care of themselves. I take care of myself, and you take care of you. |
| You hand me a shovel and expect me to dig my own grave | This is said as a criticism, meaning he isn't going to do that. |
| Don't try changin' someone else You'll just end up changin' yourself I keep my head together Better keep your head together | |
| I fuckin' love you I love fuckin' you I eat glass and I spit diamonds | The first two lines are like a celebration of a great romance. The last line says, "the pain that goes inside of me comes out in the form of great works of art". |
| Don't try changin' someone else You'll just end up changin' yourself I keep my head together Better keep your head together Keep my head together |
Solve Coagula
This is a song about self-acceptance, inspired by a real-life event in which Manson felt that someone profoundly misunderstood him. In an interview for Apple Music, Manson described the event which inspired this song:
Someone, I don't remember who it was, it wasn't a loved one, it was just in the context of a dispute over something (not with Shooter), someone was telling me that I was special for what I do and it wasn't someone I knew, and [I'm not special, I'm just broken] was my response... and then Shooter pointed out to me that it should be a song.
The name of the song is Latin for "dissolve and coagulate". It's a maxim of alchemy which means that something must be broken down before it can be rebuilt. In this song, Manson is having an argument with another person, who breaks apart in the first verse, and is rebuilt in the second verse. Meanwhile, Manson himself doesn't appear to be interested in coagulation.
| Lyrics | Commentary |
|---|---|
| You are the one Tore off both your arms Gouged out your eyes Ripped out your own tongue So listen | In this verse, some person is willingly disconnecting their senses- sense of touch, sight,
and smell. This can also be seen as the person breaking apart, or "dissolving". Manson
responds with "alright, if you don't want to be told via touch, sight, or smell, then I'll
tell you via sound". This verse is written like a dispute, because the phrasing of the first line "you are the one" suggests casting of blame. "You are the one who isn't receiving what I'm about, because you've shut off most of your senses". |
| I'm not special I'm just broken And I don't wanna be fixed No one else I, no one else I Wanna be like So I stayed the same Like nobody else | |
| So you think you can sing or clap Well all you need is an ear So listen | So you think you can sing or clap The person appears to have been reassembled, since they can now sing and clap, so they clearly got their hands and tongue back. This is the step of coagulation. Singing and clapping is something the audience does at a concert. It's their way of participating in the show. In this verse, Manson is saying "you think that because you're participating in what I do, then you understand me, but to understand me, all you really need to do is just listen to what I'm telling you". |
| I'm not special I'm just broken And I don't wanna be fixed No one else I, no one else I wanna be like So I stayed the same Like nobody else I'm not special I'm just broken And I don't wanna be fixed |
Broken Needle
Manson often writes love songs from the point of view of "I'm ruining everything". In this song, he does this by comparing a relationship to an LP, and himself as a broken needle that scratches it.
[The final lyrics] "I'll never ever play you again", so it's a bit of a play on words comparing a relationship to an LP in a sense, and putting it away after you scratched it and not wanting to hear it again.
Aside from the LP metaphor, there is also a prominent reference to the fairytale Snow White, which acts as a metaphor for the turmoil of the search for love.
| Lyrics | Commentary |
|---|---|
| So close your eyes It's only a dream When you wake up Rinse off all this pain And your makeup Stare into the mirror Apples are always something to fear | So close your eyes Close your eyes to disconnect from what you're looking at. Then, you'll be able to detach yourself from what's happening, and realize that: It's only a dream The dream represents the illusion that developed from the relationship. It's when you're so caught up in the narrative of what happened that you can't see the option to let go and walk away, or that the pain you carry is optional, or that you adapted to the masks you put on, etc. Once you realize all that (wake up from the dream), you'll be able to wash away everything you put on, including the pain you accumulated, and start fresh. Apples are always something to fear This is a reference to the fairytale Snow White. In this story, Snow White is a princess with an evil stepmother who hates her for her beauty. Over the course of the story, her stepmother tries to assassinate her multiple times, until eventually one of her plans succeed: Disguised as an old lady, the queen hands Snow White a poisoned apple, telling her it's a wishing apple that can make her wish come true. Snow White wishes to meet the love of her life, and eats from the apple, receiving the curse of a "sleeping death"- a magically induced coma. Therefore, the apple reference represents how the search for love ends up cursing you. |
| Are you alright? 'Cause I'm not okay All of these lies Are not worth fighting for | |
| I am a needle Dig in your grooves Scratch you up Then I'll put you away | Manson often writes love songs from the point of view that "I'm ruining all of my relationships", and this is yet another example. |
| It won't be death But a deep sleep A curse of a hundred years The princess will fall Into a slumber for a century | In the Disney version of Snow White, the death sleep can only be broken by a
lover's kiss, which eventually happens when the prince who fell in love with Snow White
early in the movie discovers her location. In an interview with Consequence of Sound, Manson said that he likes to ask people if they get a sad ending or a happy ending from this song, and I think that the above detail might be the key for the distinction. On one hand, we can consider the death sleep to be tragic, like what happens when you had such a traumatic experience with a romantic partner that it sidelines your life, and takes years to recover from. Alternatively, we can take note of the fact that love wakes you from the coma, and the song starts with the narrator waking up from a dream. Could it be that he finally found love, just like how Manson finally found a relationship that lasts? |
| Are you alright? 'Cause I'm not okay All of these lies Are not worth fighting for I am a needle Dig in your grooves Scratch you up Then I'll put you away | |
| I'll never ever play you again Then I'll put you away | On the vinyl version of the album, the song ends with a closed loop on the last note. That last note keeps playing in perpetuity, until the listener makes the choice to get up and remove the needle from the record. |
Artwork
The cover art on the left is a painting which Manson did specifically for the album, called Infinite Darkness. The painting on the right is called Never-ending Astral Vampire. Both paintings are a reference to the song Infinite Darkness.
The symbol inside the album booklet is a blend of a few symbols:
First, it's obviously a Christian cross. Second, the pointing-in-8-directions appears to be inspired by the Symbol of Chaos. This symbol originated from Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion stories, and quickly found its way into pop culture and even modern occult traditions. Finally, the bottom part looks like the Cross of Lorraine, a symbol Manson adopted many years ago and has been using in artwork ever since. Alternatively, one may consider the Cross of Lorraine section to resemble the upside-down Cross of Lorraine that Manson used in his previous record, Heaven Upside Down.
Beyond The Record
The We Are Chaos era was cut short when Evan Rachel Wood organized a campaign of sexual assault allegations against Manson. In response to the allegations, Manson's entire career ground to a halt as he was dropped by his label, manager, booking agency, and acting roles, and was forced to divert all of his resources to fighting multiple lawsuits. As a result, the We Are Chaos era only yielded 2 music videos, and no tour.
Music videos
We Are Chaos
The music video borrows its imagery heavily from the song lyrics, and is in a way an answer to the question that inspired the song: "how do I relate to the rest of the world?" He is the disease you study under the microscope, he is the cure, he is the storm, he is the people who died, he is the one who sees sunshine and flowers when everything's bleak and dead, he is the man in the moon and the one amid humanity's catastrophes. But more importantly, he is the mask everybody is wearing.
The image of blood pouring out of his head might be a reference to bloodletting, an ancient "medical procedure" designed to alleviate a variety of ills. In the case of a headache, the bloodletting would typically be done from the forehead.
Manson recreating the skull and crossbones symbol with his body, an old symbol for poison and generally toxic substances:
Don't Chase The Dead
In Don't Chase The Dead, Manson, Norman Reedus, and Lindsay Usich, Manson's second wife, execute a heist of an art gallery. It's not entirely clear how Manson ends up with a stab wound in his stomach, but the blood stain on Lindsay's hand, and the image of the knife held by a woman's hand, tell us who did it. Manson seems fine when the 3 return to the car after robbing the art gallery, and at the 2-minute mark we see Manson seemingly surprised to discover the wound, so it might be the case that Manson passed out in the car, allowing Lindsay to stab him, which would mean that Reedus is aware of the deed, and rather than confront Lindsay, he only looks at her through the rear view mirror, as if trying to gauge her reaction. This suggests that the two are in on the attempted assassination. Manson eventually bleeds to death, at which point Lindsay kills Reedus and leaves with the loot all to herself.
According to IMDb and similar resources, Reedus' role is called Charon. Charon is a character from Greek mythology who works as the ferryman of Hades, transporting the souls of the dead across the rivers that separate the world of the living and the world of the dead. This fits somewhat with the fact that in the music video Reedus drives Manson in a car as he transitions from life to death. Charon is also known to have a nasty attitude, which is clearly manifested in Reedus' portrayal of the character.