Marilyn Manson is Literally Sick of His Own Music

When alt rock took off in the early 90s, and being punk came in vogue again, there was a period where shock value was brought back into rock. The slam-dancing punk rock of the late 70s and early 80s had done their best to challenge the establishment, but there were only so many body parts you could pierce with safety pins before the effect wore off. This gave way to the 80s and more mainstream artists like Cyndi Lauper and Missing Persons making bold fashion statements by co-opting what was previously meant to shock.

After a while, that subsided and rock was once again fairly clean cut. Sure Motley Crue and GnR had did their best, but for each of them, there were 7 Warrants and 10 Def Leppards negating the attempt to defile every nubile girl and snort every ounce of coke on the Sunset Strip.

So when Nirvana came along, with their metered and determined anti-establishment ethos, and the resurrected gimmick of smashing their instruments after every performance, they seemed new and interesting and edgy. Kurt died his hair and wore a dress. He kissed his bandmates. They put a naked baby on the cover of their album.

While Nirvana and others did their best to upset things, there was a band gaining popularity in Florida that was determined to take it even further.

With each member creating pseudonyms for themselves comprised of a famous beautiful person and a serial killer, Marilyn Manson was born. The band, I mean. Not Brian Warner, the lead singer of the band that shares his fake name.

In starting a band, Warner seemed more intent on garnishing negative attention from his persona and stage antics than he did the music he was attempting to draw attention to. He was arrested for performing oral sex on a man onstage (really Jack Off Jill singer Jessicka Addams wearing a dildo). He named a song "Cake and Sodomy." He wore face paint.

This rebelliousness continued as the band gained popularity, largely based on an interesting cover of the Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams" and its video in which Warner rides a pig. 

 

Seriously. That's what he does.

Deciding he wasn't getting the right kind of attention, Manson named his next album Antichrist Superstar (at least he had a sense of humor about the whole thing. Kinda.) which spawned their most successful single to date, "The Beautiful People." And it was this song that prompted Manson to collapse and vomit onstage yesterday in Saskatoon, Canada, when he just kinda tipped over mid-song.

Good thing it was in a land with universal health care, eh?

Here's the video:

"The beautiful people, the beautiful pee- BLEEEECHHHH!!!!"

Compounding the problem was that he fell right as the song exits the chorus, when Manson and/or the backing track let out a pained wail. Even watching the video, it's hard to tell whether or not A. he sang that part and B. if it was a legitimate moan this time. Concert goers reported that he barfed all over but you can't tell from the video. Which is a good thing.

Given that this is the band's biggest and sort-of-only hit, Manson probably has had enough of the now 17-year-old (!!!) song and just doesn't want to play it anymore.

Maybe slipping back into the androgynous alien costume he wore during the Dope Show tour will lift his spirits. It certainly did ours.

Whatever.