Revision as of 16:49, 27 April 2010

"The Fight Song"
Song by 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
Length	2:55
Label	Nothing, 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). It is a Nietzsche inspired song that is often seen as reminiscent of Blur's "Song 2". The line, "the death of one is a tragedy but the death of millions is just a statistic" is a quote from Erich Maria Remarque's novel The Black Obelisk.

Appearances

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" 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 (Radio version) — 2:51 (without second guitar intro), appears on Fight Song UK Promo Single
• The Fight Song (Clean version) — Appears on "The Fight Song" single.
• The Fight Song (Slipknot Remix) — Appears on the Resident Evil soundtrack and "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.

Track listings

UK CD1

1. "The Fight Song"

2. "The Fight Song" (Slipknot Remix)

• "Disposable Teens" (Video)

UK CD2

1. "The Fight Song"

2. "Disposable Teens" (Bon Harris Remix)

3. "The Love Song" (Bon Harris Remix)

UK Vinyl Picture Disk

A1. "The Fight Song"

B1. "The Love Song" (Bon Harris Remix)

B2. "The Fight Song" (Slipknot Remix)

EU CD1

1. "The Fight Song"

2. "Disposable Teens" (Bon Harris Remix)

3. "The Fight Song" (Live)

EU CD2

1. "The Fight Song"

2. "The Love Song" (Bon Harris Remix)

3. "The Fight Song" (Slipknot Remix)

• "Disposable Teens" (Video)

Japan

1. "The Fight Song" (Live)

2. "The Love Song" (Bon Harris Remix)

3. "Disposable Teens" (Bon Harris Remix)

4. "The Fight Song" (Slipknot Remix)

5. "Diamonds & Pollen"

6. "Working Class Hero"

7. "Five to One"

8. "Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes"

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

The band performing in front of the billboard in the video

The 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", who are wealthy and adored, and Death Valley is the host of the lesser, undesirable "ugly" 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 "nobodies". It is assumed that the scene of a football game intertwines with the themes of Holy Wood, as football is both one of the most violent sports and one of America's greatest obsessions.

Lyrics

    Nothing suffocates you more than
    the passing of everyday human events
    Isolation is the oxygen mask you make
    your children breathe into 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
    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 Micheal Moore movie Bowling for Columbine.
• The line "The death of one is a tragedy/ but the death of millions is just a statistic" references the quote "The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic" by Joseph Stalin.