When I sat down to listen to Marilyn Manson’s first single since credible accusations of physical, mental, and sexual abuse laid by both his former partner Evan Rachel Wood as well as several others, I had a few expectations in mind. Something caustic and bitter; a screamed middle finger to the world from the one-time king of controversy. Instead, what I got was something insular, quiet, and almost compelling in its self-examination. It also doesn’t go nearly far enough.
Most of the song is Manson-by-numbers (“A reason for me to get by/Became a need to get high”) over the same mid-tempo industrial grind that roared in the 90s but by 2024 has ground down to an anemic moan. But by simply not being an arrogant riposte to his critics and accusers, it does in some limited way intrigue. The titular phrase alone, along with the self-loathing sneer of his delivery–as though Manson is looking at himself in the mirror and hating what he sees–hints at some kind of self-reflection. Does it intrigue me enough to begin to account for what he has done? No, not even close. If such a thing is even possible, this isn’t nearly enough.
I don’t expect I’ll ever listen to it again after today. But after seven years of living in a post-MeToo world, society and pop culture at large has gone a long way towards absorbing this new state of affairs - which is, it must be said, vastly better to the kind Manson wrote about in his autobiography, one where the women he abused and tortured had no kind of recourse, no social media, no platforms they could use to bring him to justice - to the point where we could be moving into a new epoch; one in which the canceled crawl back to art and spin something compelling, and more importantly, honest, out of their shame. Ultimately, “As Sick as the Secrets Within” isn’t anything. It will be received with cheers and respectful silence during his shows as people wait for him to roll out the hits. Manson doesn't deserve the attention, nor a new record contract, nor a world tour; but if they can come up with something meritorious, it’ll at least be more interesting than another “Cancel THIS!” comedy special. “As Sick as the Secrets Within” isn’t that, but it slinks in its direction regardless.
