The Beautiful People by Marilyn Manson Song Info
Marilyn Manson’s first original hit after the cover of “Sweet Dreams.” The song is preceded with a few seconds of backward-guitar feedback and electronic noise. It includes a heavily distorted spoken sample by Tex Watson, declaring “We would swoop down on the town and kill everyone that wasn’t beautiful.” Lyrically, it is intertwined with 1996’s Antichrist Superstar overarching theme, a semi-narrative examination of the Nietzschean Übermensch. Within this context, “The Beautiful People” deals explicitly with the destructive manifestation of the Will to Power, while also exploring Nietzsche’s view of master-slave morality, particularly the concept’s connection with Social Darwinism and its relation to various political and economic systems such as capitalism and fascism. Directly inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche, "The Beautiful People" critiques the master-slave morality in capitalistic societies. After "Hate Anthem", which was a look into the character of the Antichrist's future in 1997, "The Beautiful People" takes the listener back to his beginnings, witnessing the atrocities committed by the rich and beautiful who rule the world. Lines like "The weak ones are there to justify the strong" and "You live with apes, man, it's hard to be clean" explain the sarcastic attitudes of the controlling forces and their disdain for the weak. The song begins with some eerie guitar sounds and electronic noises, and breaks into an evil march-like quality complete with reckless drums and ominous bass guitar. The vocals range from violent whispers to anthemic shouts. "The Beautiful People" music video shows the band playing in a room. This is interchanged with shots of what appears to be a political rally. Manson is propped up on stilts covered by a long white "skirt", and dances with similar beings in black. There are also scenes of him wearing a deathly-looking dental contraption.
