Just wanted to share a little essay I wrote for my college literature class. This is an analysis of Marilyn Manson’s Great Big White World song from the Mechanical Animals album.
Poetry is used to convey emotions and thoughts which, in most cases, cannot be described adequately without providing similes and metaphors to better describe what the author feels, and what the author wants us to feel. From what I have found while reading and enjoying poetry, these are not typically written just to tell a story, but to give us a glimpse into the writer’s soul. It gives us just a moment to experience the world through another’s eyes, to perceive what they perceive, and to understand a little better how they feel and why they contain those feelings. Poetry is about feelings; about emotions; about the world; and about the soul. Perhaps this is why I have enjoyed music my entire life. One of the most rewarding and fulfilling hobbies I enjoy is listening to music. This gives me a chance to listen to poetic lyrics written by others who I feel I can connect with on an emotional or theoretical level. One of the artists I feel I am able to relate to is Brian Warner, known in the music industry as Marilyn Manson.
Growing up in an oppressive and, what most would consider being a fanatical religious community, Brian, having interests which this community considered to be inappropriate, such as rock and roll music, was ostracized as a person, and to an extent was damned to spend his time without the comfort of social acceptance. Educated in a Christian environment which he wanted to be a part of, Brian often did his best to fit in. On one occasion described in his autobiography entitled The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell, Brian brought to class a picture of a cloud formation which he though resembled a group of angels. Upon presenting this picture to the class during a show and tell activity, the teacher of this class denounced his image as false, and proceeded to name Brian as a heretic. After this Brian was suspended from school for bringing this picture to school. These trends of behavior continued throughout his adolescence, and even until this day. Marilyn Manson is often portrayed as evil; even as a symbol for violent and anti-religious views. Some have even gone as far as to give him the title of the self proclaimed Anti-Christ due to the 1996 album which he titled Antichrist Superstar. Before learning about Manson’s life I thought a lot of his lyrics to be obscure, difficult to understand, and perplexing. They seemed to contain such an anti religious and hopeless views of our world and those who lived within this world. After learning of the treatment Manson had received his entire life by those around him, I think I have been able to gain a better appreciation for how he felt and his reasoning for his views.
As a poem I have decided to read and research Great Big White World from his Mechanical Animals album. I feel this work has great imagery, and most of all, complex metaphors which although may be been extremely short with words, speak volumes of the author’s social and emotional position on the world. The first line reads, “In space the stars are no nearer, they just glitter like a morgue.” One thing I would like to mention is that many songs contained within this album seem to reference space. This can be interpreted as a lack of anything real and a lack of anything alive. In space there is no air and the temperatures are entirely too cold for anyone to survive. This lack of air means that there is no sound, and this lack of sound means there is a lack of communication between those caught out in space without the assistance of electronics. We can also take note that space has little color, another subject which is later addressed within this work, with the only light sources being stars so far away from us. Space has no gravity. There is no up, and there is no down. Space is chaos in nearly every sense in reality, and also creates this feeling when used metaphorically. This first line mentions the distance of the stars from the character’s location. “The stars are no nearer.” This makes me believe that although this person is caught in a chaotic environment which is in no way suited for human life, he is still striving to get to the stars. In a sense he is seeking the star’s light, but no matter what he does “the stars are no nearer.” Light is traditionally used as a symbol for things pure in nature. We get the idea that this character is seeking the goodness in the world, but no matter what he does, he is trapped in a place which has no reason; a place that cannot be survived; a place where he is alone. The second half of this line mentions that the stars “glitter like a morgue.” We all know that a morgue is a place cadavers are brought to, to be prepared for burial. A morgue in our society is a reference to death. Although the character wants to be brought to this star, or to be a part of the light which these stars provide, he recognizes that this star would bring death, and here lies the unsolvable problem within this poem. Manson is basically stating that he would like to leave this state of unbalance and loneliness, and be a part of that which is good, but at the same time he realizes that if he were to somehow become a part of this light, it would ultimately lead to his demise.
The second line reads, “And I dreamed I was a spaceman; burned like a moth in a flame, and the world was so ****ing gone.” The portion of this speaking how he dreamed of being a spaceman compliments the first lines idea of wanting to visit a faraway place: the stars, but that he had been burned like a moth in a flame. We can picture this event of a moth burning in a flame. We have all been camping where we have seen moths being attracted to the light emitted from our lantern. This light gives the moth warmth and a sense of protection, the same emotional warmth and protection our author seems to be seeking in this song. Often the moth gets too close to the very flame providing this warmth and protection, and when it does it catches fire. As the moth’s wings are ever more consumed by this flame the insect spirals downward to the ground where it flops and soon dies. This line makes me believe that this persistent dream of visiting the star has been attempted, where our author was burned. Fire is often used to show torment. The fires of hell, for example, are the punishment to those leading lives outside of the commandments of God. In addition to this, we often say that someone was burned when they have been offended in a social situation. The author desires this light, but has tried before and was punished and likely offended, an obvious reference to the social problems experienced as an adolescent. The last line stating that the world was so ****ing gone lends itself to the shock value which seems so much to be a part of Manson’s material. In addition to this, we see the world is now gone. At this point our spaceman has no place to go back to as he drifts through space. There is only him and then the stars which have burned him. He has no place to go, he has no one to talk with, and no one to relate to. He is emotionally dead.
Next in this work we read, “But I’m not attached to your world. Nothing heals. Nothing Grows.” Your world seems to be referring to these ever looming stars as the earth is gone, and the fact that he mentions that he is not a part of that world gives off the idea that because of the harm their world has caused to him, he realizes that he does not have to be a part of it, and almost seems to take pride in this detail. “Nothing heals” tells us that what this world has done to him has never gotten better. Perhaps he has never forgiven them, and perhaps there are too many wounds caused too often to heal properly. “Nothing grows.” The thing most often talked about growing in our society is love. We grow into love, our love grows, and love blooms. Where he is all love has died, there is no love, and there is no forgiveness.
The chorus begins with, “Because it’s a great big white world. And we are drained of our colors.” In this we see white used in an unusual way. Generally we see this used in the same way that light has been used within this work. It tends to represent purity. In this line white represents the lack of color. Color is what makes our world interesting. Color is also often used as a description of our emotions: a colorful person, a colorful world; these all sound exciting. In this world being described in this work everything is static. Nothing has character here.
“We used to love ourselves. We used to love one another.” This is a reminiscent line possibly referring to Manson’s childhood. A time more simple which contained some of the only good memories his life ever presented to him. The fact that love is used with a past tense also tells us that we no longer love ourselves and that we no longer love one another. The world has changed, and works well with the line that we have been drained of our colors. This tells us that his world was not only this way.
“All my stitches itch; my prescriptions low. I wish you were queen just for a day. In a world so white, what else could I say?” I think this first part is all about conveying a sense of discomfort. At a point in his life where he was able to numb the pain, the means by which he was numbing these emotions, his prescriptions, are nearly gone. He will begin to feel his pain again. Perhaps the most difficult line and reference to decipher is that addresses to the person he wishes was a queen. To me this is someone who cared about him like no one else had; a girlfriend most likely. If she were in charge of the world, and being someone who understood him, maybe the world would stop being cruel. Maybe the world could understand him as she does.
“And hell was so cold; all the vases are so broken, and the roses tear our hands all open.” With constant references with heaven and hell, hell in this line seems to be the state of him being all alone. At this point our character is so numb to everything around him, that even the pain and misery of hell could not make him feel the fires of hell, but instead it is cold, just as the space he is floating in. Roses are often portrayed as a symbol of beauty in life. The fact that these roses are now tearing our hands open can be a statement that everything which once appeared to encompass beauty in life has come back to damage him. Vases are another symbol of beauty which has now been destroyed.
“Mother Mary miscarry, but we pray just like insects. The world is so ugly now.” Mother Mary miscarry; possibly the most profound yet most offensive line within this entire song says more to me than any other line. Mother Mary is the mother of Jesus, who most people consider to be the savior of the world, the only person who can save us from our sins. The fact that Mary miscarried says that his savior never came to his world. To him life is hopeless. No one can save him from his sins, and perhaps no one would want to. Even though he does not believe he has a savior, he still prays like an insect. Insects are known for their preprogrammed behaviors. They do things for the sake of doing them. They have a job and they do it. They do it for the benefit of the other bugs. In a sense he says that praying in his case is mindless, even as an insect; a lesser life form. The world is so ugly now. Because of the automation being described as we are described as insects, the world is ugly. No one thinks for themselves, but just accepts their pre-programmed duties and behaviors.
To me this is the most telling and most personal of his songs, but unless we take a step back and examine his life, it can be easy to be critical of his views, rather than perhaps examine our own lives, and how we treat others. To me society breeds hate and unacceptance. Upon reviewing what this poet has gone through, it is so easy to see why he feels this way. We are all guilty of the very things which bred these feelings within Brian Warner. To me it really makes me want to adjust and observe how I treat people. I never want to feel responsible for someone going through these feelings of distrust and hate. Isn’t this the message? Isn’t this what poetry is about? To learn about others and to take these things we learn to improve our own lives is invaluable, and for me, poetry in the form of music provides this.