Revision as of 11:28, 21 September 2011

This article is about the song. For the single, see Man That You Fear (single). For the live bootleg recorded on May 4, 1997, see Man That You Fear (bootleg).

"Man That You Fear"
Song by Marilyn Manson
Album	Antichrist Superstar
Released	October 8, 1996
Recorded	1996 at Nothing Studios in New Orleans, Louisiana
Genre	Alternative rock, Experimental rock
Length	6:10
Label	Nothing, Interscope
Writer	Marilyn Manson
Composer	Twiggy Ramirez, Marilyn Manson, Madonna Wayne Gacy, Daisy Berkowitz
Producer	Trent Reznor, Dave Ogilvie, Marilyn Manson

"Man That You Fear" is the third and final single and the sixteenth track of the second album Antichrist Superstar. The song is inspired by what Manson had to grow up with and how it turned him into what he is now, a man or monster that people now have grown to fear. The line, "Are all your infants in abortion cribs?" refers to a story told in The Long Hard Road Out of Hell in which Manson as a child found a coffee can with something rotting inside. His mother told him it was discarded meat, but later told him that it was actually an aborted fetus.

Appearances

Albums

• Antichrist Superstar

Singles

• Man That You Fear

Versions

• Man That You Fear — Appears on Antichrist Superstar.
• Man That You Fear (Radio Edit) — Appears on the "Man That You Fear" promotional single.
• Man That You Fear (Acoustic Requiem for Antichrist Superstar) — Appears on Remix & Repent.

Music video

Manson as seen in the music video

In the music video, directed by Wiz, Manson portrays a man who is condemned to die. He is "chosen" by a blindfolded child who spins around pointing her finger. When she stops spinning, she removed the blindfold and sees the trailer home that she is pointing to — the condemned's home. The video features all events of his last day on earth, leading up to his death by stoning in an isolated location of the desert. It is oddly reminiscent of Shirley Jackson's short story The Lottery.

Lyrics

    the ants are in the sugar
    the muscles atrophied
    we're on the other side, the screen is us and
    we're t.v.
    spread me open, sticking to my pointy ribs are
    all your infants in abortion cribs
    I was born into this
    everything turns to shit
    the boy that you loved is the
    man that you fear
    pray until you're number, asleep from all
    your pain, your apple has been rotting
    tomorrow's turned up dead
    i have it all and i have no choice but to
    i'll make everyone pay and you will see
    you can kill yourself now
    because you're dead
    in my mind
    the boy that you loved is the
    monster you fear
    peel off all those eyes and crawl into the
    dark, you've poisoned all of your children
    to camouflage your scars
    pray unto the splinters, pray unto your fear
    pray your life was just a dream
    the cut that never heals
    pray now baby, pray your
    life was just a dream
    (I am so tangled in my sins that I cannot
    Escape)
    pinch the head off, collapse me like a weed
    someone had to go this far
    I was born into this
    everything turns to shit
    the boy that you loved is the
    man that you fear
    peel off all those eyes and crawl into the
    dark, you've poisoned all of your children
    to camouflage your scars
    pray unto the splinters, pray unto your fear
    pray your life was just a dream
    the cut that never heals
    pray now baby, pray your life was just a
    dream
    the world in my hands, there's no one left to
    hear you scream
    there's no one left for you

Demo Version

The first one was recorded fall 1995, and the other in 1996 !

Trivia

• The opening line of the song was first used in the song "Luci in the Sky with Demons" from The Family Jams.
• The song was initially penned during Manson's cousin's wedding ceremony.