Editing The Fight Song

{{Disambiguation|the song|the single|The Fight Song (single)}}

{{Song
|Name        = The Fight Song
|Cover       = HolyWood(InTheShadowOfTheValleyOfDeath).jpg
|Artist      = [[Marilyn Manson (band)|Marilyn Manson]]
|Album       = [[Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)]]
|Released    = November 13, 2000
|Recorded    = 1999–2000 at the Mansion in Death Valley, California
|Genre       = Alternative metal, punk metal, industrial rock
|Length      = 2:55
|Label       = [[Nothing]], [[Interscope Records|Interscope]]
|Writer      = [[Marilyn Manson]]
|Composer    = [[John 5]]
|Producer    = Marilyn Manson, Dave Sardy
}}
"'''The Fight Song'''" is the second single and the third track of the fourth album ''[[Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)]]''. The title is a pun on to sports team anthems known as ''Fight Songs'' as the song is partially a post-Columbine statement disparaging mainstream America's own glorification of violence amongst it's youth, while also criticizing the slave mentality of Christianity. "I'm not a slave to a god that doesn't exist" is thought to be inspired from a passage by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche which states "the only excuse for God is that he doesn't exist." The music is often compared to Blur's "Song 2". It may also be noted that the line, "the death of one is a tragedy but the death of millions is just a statistic" is a quote from Joseph Stalin and also a quote from Erich Maria Remarque's novel ''The Black Obelisk.''

== Appearances ==
[[File:TheFightSongScreenshot.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|Manson as he appears in the music video]]
=== Albums ===
* ''[[Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)]]''
* ''[[Lest We Forget – The Best Of]]''
* ''[[Lost & Found]]''

=== Singles ===
* "[[The Fight Song (single)|The Fight Song]]" Pt. 1 and 2
=== Soundtracks ===
* Mean Machine

== Versions ==
* The Fight Song — Appears on ''Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)'' and ''Lost & Found''.
* The Fight Song (Clean version) — Appears on "The Fight Song" single.
* [[The Fight Song (Slipknot Remix)]] — Appears on the ''Resident Evil'' soundtrack, "The Fight Song" Pt. 1 single and [[The Nobodies: 2005 Against All Gods Mix]].
* The Fight Song (Live) — Appears on the "The Fight Song" Pt. 2 single.
* The Fight Song (Live) — Appears on the ''[[Guns, God and Government World Tour]]'' DVD.

== Tarot cards ==
The UK versions of "The Fight Song" included [[Tarot cards]] featured in the ''Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)'' booklet. Each card had a description written on its back.

== Music Video ==
[[File:The Fight Song 2.JPG|thumbnail|right|200px|The band performing in front of the billboard in the video]]
The [http://youtube.com/watch?v=C64FBkb_gRg music video], directed by Wiz, features the band performing on stage at a football game. The teams playing are typical "jocks" facing against "goths", and, according to the scoreboard, are representative of "Holy Wood" and "Death Valley" (a reference to the album featuring the track, ''Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)''. Though it begins as a standard football game, it takes a destructive turn when a player throws a ball at the scoreboard, causing a small explosion, leading to more havoc as a Death Valley player begins cutting down the goal post and setting it ablaze as the music video ends.

As a side note, the billboard behind the band performing reads "We're all HAPPY To live in America", and all the Death Valley players have the numbers "00" on their uniforms (including Manson, having the numbers painted to his back).

=== Analysis ===
The video can be seen as a representation of the concept behind ''Holy Wood''. The two teams of the video (Holy Wood and Death Valley) share the names with the two dueling regions in the world of ''Holy Wood''. Holy Wood is the home of "[[The Beautiful People|the beautiful people]]", who are wealthy and adored, and Death Valley is the host of the lesser, undesirable "Horrible People". In the story, the people of Death Valley revolt against, what they see as a fascist, Holy Wood. The football game is a metaphor for this struggle, and Death Valley's sudden turn to violence acts as the beginning of the revolution. The fact that all Death Valley players have "00" as their uniform number emphasizes their role as "zeroes" or "[[The Nobodies|nobodies]]". It is assumed that the scene of a football game intertwines with the themes of ''Holy Wood'', as football is simultaneously one of the most violent sports and one of America's greatest obsessions.

=== Controversy ===
The music video generated minor controversy for its violent depiction of a football game between jocks and goths, which some sources have interpreted to be directly "echoing" ''Columbine''.<ref name="NME Manson Comes Out Fighting">{{cite web |url=http://www.nme.com/news/marilynmanson/5948 |title=Manson Comes Out Fighting |publisher=''NME'' |date=2001-01-11 |accessdate=2011-03-31}}</ref><ref name="NME See Stills From New Manson Video">{{cite web |url=http://www.nme.com/news/marilyn-manson/6423 |title=See Stills From New Manson Video |publisher=''NME'' |date=2001-02-13 |accessdate=2011-03-31}}</ref> Manson, for his part, has vehemently denied this, stating, "I'm trying to show that sports as well as music can be seen as violent, so I chose a traditional black vs white, good vs evil theme for the video."<ref name="NME See Stills From New Manson Video"/> He further dismissed the claims to MTV News at the American Music Awards on January 8, 2001, stating, "People will put into it what they want if it helps them sell newspapers or helps them write a headline. They're gonna want to turn it into something it isn't. Flak is my job."<ref name="NME Manson Comes Out Fighting"/>

== Lyrics ==
     Nothing suffocates you more than
     the passing of everyday human events
     Isolation is the oxygen mask you make
     your children breathe in to survive
     
     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
     
     And when we were good
     you just closed your eyes
     So when we are bad
     we'll scar your minds
     
     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
     but 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
     
     fight, fight, fight, fight

== Trivia ==
* Clips of the music video appear in the Michael Moore movie ''Bowling for Columbine''.
* The lyrics, "The death of one is a tragedy. The death of a million is just a statistic" is a reference to Erich Maria Remarque, "Black Obelisk".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=Erich_Maria_Remarque&oldid=1713687#Sourced}}</ref>
* Following it's release as a commercial single, "The Fight Song" was often criticized for sounding too similar to "Song 2" by Blur, or in some cases, a direct rip-off. By the time "The Fight Song" debuted as a radio single, "Song 2" had been part of most rock station's regular rotation for a few years.
* The song "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icRL9f5hfec Survival of the Sickest]" by Saliva, released 3 years later, borrows the main riff from "The Fight Song".

== References ==
<references/>

{{Videography}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fight Song}}
[[Category:Marilyn Manson songs]]
[[Category:Songs from Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)]]
[[Category:Songs from Lest We Forget (The Best Of)]]
[[Category:Marilyn Manson songs with music videos]]
[[Category:Songs appearing on soundtracks]]
[[Category:Holy Wood era]]