1. Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch
Source: Doll-Dagga Buzz-Buzz Ziggety-Zag, a blend of dirty swing beats and hard rock off of the 2003 album The Golden Age of Grotesque.
The album, greatly influenced by the "degenerate" art of 1930's Weimar Berlin, references the book in the following verse:
Say, all you pin-down girls
and bonafide ballers, so manically depressed
and manically dressed
We've got our Venus not in furs
but in uniforms
If you're not dancing, then you're dead
2. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Source: The novel's controversial nature, as well as the iconic heart shaped glasses worn by Sue Lyon on the poster for its cinema adaptation were used by Manson and his thentime girlfriend Evan Rachel Wood as a tongue-in-cheek statement of their relationship (ERW is approximately half Manson's age). A single off of the 2007 album Eat Me, Drink Me--Heart Shaped Glasses--ran with this concept further.
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| Evan Rachel Wood in the Heart Shaped Glasses music video |
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| Poster for 1962 Edition of Lolita |
3. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Source: Manson has spoken on numerous occasions about his love of Oscar Wilde:
Among the inspirations for the thematics in The Golden Age of Grotesque, you also have to mention Oscar Wilde or the Marquis de Sade, artists that were unfortunately persecuted in their everyday life simply because of their imagination or thought. Their lifestyle, as well as the fact of putting so much of themselves in their art, have always fascinated me.
- MM, D-Side Magazine, 2003
Both Manson and Wilde also reputedly share a love for the green fairy--otherwise known as absinthe. Additionally, part of the visual persona he adopted for the "Arch Dandy" in The Golden Age of Grotesque was largely a visual amalgam of the dandyism made famous by such figures as Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley.
Source: MM is an outspoken fan of Quills (a bio-pic of the Marquis de Sade). He has also described one of his albums as "the Marquis de Sade with a drum machine". Pressed about his connection to the author in an interview he stated:
I relate to how he was a person who had a very vivid imagination that scared a lot of people. (...) He was using his mind and his art to exorcise his demons and he was punished for that. I feel that a lot of times I get myself into similar circumstances
Source: Manson has spoken of his admiration for Baudelaire in numerous interviews. He also painted a watercolour entitled Les Fleurs du Mal, as well as displaying it as a backdrop during his live performances. He went one step further and named his art exhibition in Zürich, Switzerland from 2007-2008 by this title as well.
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| Les Fleurs du Mal a watercolour by Marilyn Manson |
6. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
Source: The Lottery was quoted as being an influence of Manson's for his album Antichrist Superstar, particularly for the music video Man That You Fear, which depicts a scene heavily reminiscent of the book.
7. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind
Source: Referenced off hand on a number of occasions, particularly during his early years. He also made mention of this book a few years ago when he was debating entering the fragrance market.
8. The Holy Bible (KJV) by Dozens of Jews and Christians over a Period of Several Hundred Years
Source: Marilyn's triptych of Antichrist Superstar, Mechanical Animals and Holy Wood contains, somewhat ironically, the most concentrated amount of biblical references of any popular artist of the 90's. To date, The Holy Bible is the single most referenced piece of literature that Marilyn Manson is inspired by (on a side note, when I met him I gave him The Gospel of Judas. It seemed appropriate.)
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For God So Loved the World He Gave His Only Begotten Son. Mixed medium by Marilyn Manson The bible pages are taken from II King, Chronicles I and II, and Revelation |
From dressing as the pope in live concerts, to burning bibles, Christ and Antichrist allusions in countless videos, touring with a giant flaming cross made out of televisions, more than half a dozen watercolour paintings with religious iconography, his cover of the song Personal Jesus, and the endless variety of lyrical references--the most recent being a lyrical allusion to John 1:5 in the song I Have to Look Up Just to See Hell-- it is evident that Manson is no stranger to religion (or controversy).
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| Manson as the Pope |
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| And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and a girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire - Revelation 1:13-14 |
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| Trismegistus, a three headed christ painted by Manson onto a 19th century embalming table; the title also references Hermes-Trismegistus, the combination of the Greek deity Hermes and the Egyptian deity Thoth |
9. The Golden Game: Alchemical Engravings of the Seventeenth Century by Stanislas Klossowski de Rola
Source: Many of the alchemical engravings, figures and diagrams contained within have made it into the album artwork of Manson's albums, especially Holy Wood, which thematically employed no less than a dozen of these obscure 17th century illustrations.
10. The Fall by Albert Camus
Source: The track listing for Marilyn Manson's album Holy Wood was subdivded into several sections, one of which was The Fall, a two part reference, both to the biblical understanding of the fall of man, and additionally as a literary reference to Camus.
After the fallout of Columbine, when Manson was (erroneously) declared by every major news network to be Dylan and Eric's favourite musician, he found himself the scapegoat for the perennial bullshit lobbied by politicians and ignorant Americans that always manages to resurface, blaming any act of youth-violence upon musicians. Manson used much of this fodder to write Holy Wood, but he also responded to the accusation directly in an essay for Rolling Stone titled Columbine - Whose Fault Is It? (Is Adult Entertainment Killing Our Children or is Killing Our Children Entertaining Adults?) Give it a read if you haven't, because it is simply astounding.
Manson closes the essay with "Don't expect the end of the world to come one day out of the blue — it's been happening every day for a long time", which is a nod to Camus' work-- "Don't wait for the Last Judgment. It takes place everyday."
For more on Manson's references (be it literary, cinematic, or theological) please visit The Nachtkabarett (an encyclopedia of perversions created by my brother, which I have also been known to write for)
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