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Rating: We are in Columbine, where two boys burst into a school and commit a massacre before ending by taking their own lives.
For some strange reason, instead of asking how two kids had a war arsenal at home, it was decided to point the finger at easy targets such as video games, movies, and music.
Indeed, because with the latter, they targeted Marilyn Manson (and also Rammstein), raising a media storm that would end up overwhelming Brian Warner as well, and if until a few years earlier he loved being at the center of scandals and being America's bogeyman, now he no longer stands being accused of inspiring two boys to commit a massacre.
His true response would come a year later with the album "Holy Wood," a concept album centered on the cult of weapons, the capitalistic "American Dream" of being someone at all costs, the various attacks on American presidents, and religion. It thus portrays a bitter and merciless vision of Uncle Sam's America, where violence is ingrained in its DNA and is perpetuated through every form, such as the media with their morbid voyeurism in showing cruel news events and turning the perpetrators into celebrities.
Musically, it is a mix of the two previous works, all darker and with a gothic flavor in some parts. The singles, however, are the weakest part, "Disposable Teens" is a silly version of "The Beautiful People," and "The Fight Song" is a poorly concealed plagiarism of Blur's "Song 2."
But there's a but, it's an album that has aged very well, it's still relevant, perhaps even more so now than it was then, in this decade of terrorist attacks, pandemics, and wars (and unfortunately school shootings, like the latest one that occurred in Texas).
At the time, however, this album wasn't a great success, as Manson's character began to be accepted, and the MTV audience was more for the new controversial figure, namely Eminem, with whom Manson even made a track.
An album to absolutely rediscover.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Godeatgod (02:34)
Dear god do you want to tear your knuckles down
and hold yourself
Dear god can you climb up that tree
meat in the shape of a 'T'
Dear god the paper says you were the King
in the black limousine
Dear John and all the King's men
can't put you head together again
Before the bullets
before the flies
before authorities take out my eyes
the only smiling are you dolls that I made
but you are plastic and so are your brains
Dear god the sky is as blue
as a gunshot wound
Dear god if you were alive
then I would kill you.
Before the bullets
before the flies
before authorities take out my eyes
the only smiling are you dolls that I made
but you are plastic and so are your brains
03 The Fight Song (03:01)
Nothing suffocates you more than the passing of everyday human events
And isolation is the oxygen mask you make your children breath it to survive
I'm not a slave to a God that doesn't exist
I'm not a slave to a world that doesn't give a shit
And when we were good
You just closed your eyes
So when we are bad
We'll scar your minds
Fight, fight, fight, fight
Fight, fight, fight, fight
You'll never grow up to be a big-rock-star-celebrated-victim-of-your-fame
They'll just cut our wrists like cheap coupons
And say that death was on sale today
And when we were good
You just closed your eyes
So when we are bad
We'll scar your minds
But I'm not a slave to a God that doesn't exist
I'm not a slave to a world that doesn't give a shit
The death of one is a tragedy
The death of one is a tragedy
The death of one is a tragedy
The death of millions is just a statistic
But I'm not a slave to a God that doesn't exist
I'm not a slave to a world that doesn't give a shit
But I'm not a slave to a God that doesn't exist
I'm not a slave to a world that doesn't give a shit
Fight, fight, fight, fight
Fight, fight, fight, fight
04 Disposable Teens (03:04)
And I'm a black rainbow
And I'm an ape of God
I got a face that's made for violence and porn
And I'm a teen distortion, survived abortion
A rebel from the waist down
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I wanna thank you mom
I wanna thank you dad
For bringing this fucking world to a bitter end
I never really hated the one true God
But the God of the people I hated
You said you wanted evolution
The ape was a great big hit
You said you want a revolution, man
And I say that you're full of shit
We're disposable teens
We're disposable teens
We're disposable teens
We're disposable
We're disposable teens
We're disposable teens
We're disposable teens
We're disposable
You said you wanted evolution
The ape was a great big hit
You said you want a revolution, man
And I say that you're full of shit (Yeah, yeah, yeah)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
The more that you fear us, the bigger we get
The more that you fear us, the bigger we get
And don't be surprised
And don't be surprised
And don't be surprised when you discover it!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
You said you wanted evolution
The ape was a great big hit
You said you want a revolution, man
And I say that you're full of shit (Yeah, yeah, yeah)
You said you wanted evolution
The ape was a great big hit
You said you want a revolution, man
And I say that you're full of shit (Yeah, yeah, yeah)
We're disposable teens
We're disposable teens
We're disposable teens
We're disposable
We're disposable teens
We're disposable teens
We're disposable teens
We're disposable
05 Target Audience (Narcissus Narcosis) (04:22)
Am I sorry your sky went black,
put your knives in babies backs?
Am I sorry you killed the Kennedy's and Huxley too?
But I'm sorry Shakespeare
was your scapegoat
and your apples sticking into my throat
Sorry your Sunday smiles are rusty nails
and your crucifixion commercials failed
but I'm just a pitiful anonymous
And I see all the young believers
Your target audience
I see all the old deceivers
we all just sing their song
Am I sorry to be alive
putting my face in the beehive?
Am I sorry for Booth and Oswald, pinks and cocaine too?
I'm sorry you never check
the bag in my head for a bomb
and my halo was a needle hole
I'm sorry I saw a priest being beaten
and I made a wish
but I'm just a pitiful anonymous
And I see all the young believers
Your target audience
I see all the old deceivers
we all just sing their song
And I see all the young believers
Your target audience
I see all the old deceivers
we all just sing their song
we all just sing their song
we all just sing their song
"the valley of death we are free
your father's your prison you see"
And I see all the young believers
Your target audience
I see all the old deceivers
we all just sing their song
you're just a copy of an imitation
you're just a copy of an imitation
("The president is dead. Let us pray.")
08 Cruci-Fiction in Space (04:56)
this is evolution
the monkey
the man
and then the gun
if Christ was in Texas
the hammer
the sickle
the only son
this is your creation
the atom of Eden
was a bomb
if Jack was the Baptist
we'd drink wine
from his head
this is evolution
the monkey
the man
and then the gun
I am a revolution
pull my knuckles down
if I could
I am a revelation
and I'm nailed
to the Holy Wood
this is evolution
the monkey
the man
and then the gun
we are dead and tomorrow's canceled
because of things we did yesterday
we are dead and tomorrow's canceled
they crucify us in our space
in our space
in our space
this is evolution
the monkey
the man
and then the gun
flies are waiting
09 A Place in the Dirt (03:37)
We are damned and we are dead
all god's children to be sent
to our perfect place in the sun
and in the dirt
There's a windshield in my heart
we are bugs so smeared and scarred
and could you stop the meat from thinking
before I swallow all of it,
could you please?
Put me in the motorcade
put me in the death parade
dress me up and take me
dress me up and make me
your dying god
angels with needles
poked through our eyes
let the ugly light
of the world in
we were no longer blind
we were no longer blind
Put me in the motorcade
put me in the death parade
dress me up and take me
dress me up and make me
your dying god
Now we hold the "ugly head"
the Mary-whore is at the bed
They've cast the shadow of our perfect death
in the sun and in the dirt.
10 The Nobodies (03:34)
Today I am dirty
I want to be pretty
Tomorrow I'll know that I'm just dirt
Today I am dirty
I want to be pretty
Tomorrow I'll know that I'm just dirt
We are the nobodies
We wanna be somebodies
When we're dead
They'll know just who we are
We are the nobodies
We wanna be somebodies
When we're dead
They'll know just who we are
Yesterday I was dirty
Wanted to be pretty
I know now that I'm forever dirt
Yesterday I was dirty
Wanted to be pretty
I know now that I'm forever dirt
We are the nobodies
We wanna be somebodies
When we're dead
They'll know just who we are
We are the nobodies
We wanna be somebodies
When we're dead
They'll know just who we are
Some children died the other day
We fed machines and then we prayed
Puked up and down in morbid faith
You should have seen the ratings that day
Some children died the other day
We fed machines and then we prayed
Puked up and down in morbid faith
You should have seen the ratings that day
Na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na, na
Na, na, na, na
We are the nobodies (Na, na, na, na, na)
Wanna be somebodies (Na, na, na, na, na)
When we're dead (Na, na, na, na, na)
They'll know just who we are (Na, na, na, na, na)
We are the nobodies (Na, na, na, na, na)
Wanna be somebodies (Na, na, na, na, na)
When we're dead
They'll know just who we are
We are the nobodies
Wanna be somebodies
When we're dead
They'll know just who we are
13 Born Again (03:23)
Do you or don't you want this to be your song?
It doesn't take a rebel to sing along.
This art is weak
in its pretty frame
and I am a monkey with
a misspelled name
"I'll put down you disco
and take you heart away.
I'll put down you disco
and take your heart away"
I am born again
I'm someone else
I'm someone new
I'm someone stupid just like you
I'm someone else
I'm someone new
I'm someone stupid just like you
do you or don't you want to take this hit?
Does it make you feel like you're a part of "it."
"I'll put down you disco
and take you heart away.
I'll put down you disco
and take your heart away"
I am born again
I'm someone else
I'm someone new
I'm someone stupid just like you
I'm someone else
I'm someone new
I'm someone stupid just like you
the valley of the dolls is
the valley of the dead
the valley of the dolls is
the valley of the dead
(CHORUS)
I am born again
14 Burning Flag (03:23)
They want to sell it out
buy it up
dumb it down
a good god is hard to find
I'll join the crowd that
wants to see me dead
right now I feel I belong
for the first time
multiply your death
divide by sex
add up the violence and
what do you get?
We are all just stars and we're waiting
we are all just scarred and we're hating
we are all just stars on your burning flag
you can point your gun at me
and hope it will go away
but if god was alive,
he would hate you anyway
my right wing is flapping
the left one is gray
let's hear it for the kids but
nothing they say
they gyrate and G-rate
on Election Day
we got out ABC's and our F U C K
multiply your death
divide by sex
add up the violence and
what do you get?
We are all just stars and we're waiting
we are all just scarred and we're hating
we are all just stars on your burning flag
you can point your gun at me
and hope it will go away
but if god was alive,
he would hate you anyway
We are all just stars and we're waiting
we are all just scarred and we're hating
we are all just stars on your burning flag
stars on your burning flag (x6)
17 The Fall of Adam (02:34)
The Abraham Lincoln town cars
arrive to dispose of our king and queen
they orchestrated dramatic new scenes
for Celebritarian needs
When one world ends
something else begins
but without a scream
just a whisper because we
just start it over again
Do you love your guns?
Your god and your government?
Let me hear you
Hey
Do you love your guns?
Do you love your god and your government?
Let me hear you goddamn it
Hey
Do you love your guns?
And your god and your government?
Let me hear you
Hey
Your mother?
And your father?
And your baby?
Goddamn it let me hear you
Hey
Do you love your guns?
I want your mothers and your fathers
To hear you say it
Hey
Every single one of you motherfuckers
Let me hear it from you
Hey
Do you love your guns?
And your god and your government?
Hey
I wanna hear it from everyone
I wanna hear you say you want a gun
Let me hear it
Hey
18 King Kill 33° (02:18)
Is this what you wanted?
This is what you get.
Turned all your lives into this shit.
You never accepted or treated me fair
blame me for what I believe
and I wear.
You fucked yourselves and you
raised these sheep
the blue and the withered seeds
you will reap.
You never gave me a chance to be me
Or even a fucking chance just to be.
But I have to show you that
you played a role
and I will destroy you with one simple hole.
The world that hates me has taken its toll
but now I have finally taken control.
You wanted so bad to make me this thing
and I want you now to just kill the king
and I am not sorry, and I am not sorry
this is what you deserve
and I am not sorry, and I am not sorry
this is what you deserve
King Kill 33
and I am not sorry, and I am not sorry
this is what you deserve
King Kill 33
and I am not sorry, and I am not sorry
this is what you deserve
King Kill 33
King Kill 33
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Other reviews
By CoolOras
Holy Wood is a dark, gloomy, angry album with gothic-style atmospheres that needs to be listened to with great attention before being judged.
MM has inserted various hidden messages, from 'Death Valley' to 'flies,' symbolizing the mass media's commodification of originality.
By (sic)
"Now this is what you call a masterpiece of a song, damn it!!!"
You can say anything about Manson, except that he is a great musician.
By Andy999
"Everyone needs something to love as much as something to hate, and sometimes it’s easier to do so in a group... Religion is a great example of how hatred can help manipulate the masses."
"Holy Wood (In The Shadow of The Valley of Death) is Manson’s response to the accusations for the Columbine massacre. But it is also much more. The album is a true masterpiece with desolate and esoteric atmospheres."
