The Beautiful People
Encyclopedia
"The Beautiful People" is a song from Marilyn Manson
's second full length album, Antichrist Superstar
, released as a single
in September, 1996. An industrial metal
hit written by Marilyn Manson and Twiggy Ramirez
, and produced by Trent Reznor
, Dave Ogilvie
and Manson, its lyrics discuss two major themes: what Manson refers to as "the culture of beauty", and that culture's connection to Friedrich Nietzsche
's theory of master-slave morality
— the song's "weak ones", who are "always wrong", are oppressed by and exist solely to "justify the strong"; the kratocratic
beautiful people whose power is, in a double entendre
of phallic and religious implications, "relative to the size of their steeple
".
The single peaked at number 26 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and remains known as one of Marilyn Manson's most famous and most successful original songs; in a 2004 review, Richard Banks of the BBC called the track "still the most impressive" in the band's catalogue, and it was ranked in 2006 at number 28 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs.
The song is also available as DLC for Guitar Hero 5
and is included in the Rock Band 3
soundtrack.
demo version was recorded, in a hotel room while on tour, by Manson, Ramirez, and drummer Ginger Fish
. Manson recalled to Kerrang! magazine in May 2005: "It was somewhere in the South, which is ironic. I remember playing the drum beat on the floor and then having my drummer duplicate that on the drum machine. It happened in one day pretty much".
The title of the song comes from Marilyn Bender's 1967 book The Beautiful People, which exposed the world of scandal within the "jet-set" lifestyle of the 1960s, and the culture of beauty as it pertained to fashion and politics. The phrase itself was popularized by Vogue magazine in the early 1960s and was particularly used to describe the Kennedy family
, a frequent source of inspiration in Marilyn Manson's work.
feedback and electronic noise, with an extremely distorted spoken sample
; it is Tex Watson declaring "[We would] swoop down on the town. . . [and] kill everyone that wasn't beautiful". This is also said in the beginning of Manson's demo song, "Dune Buggy", except it is not distorted.
The song is written in drop D tuning
, and is built primarily out of the notes of a diminished chord
, each made into a power chord
. It also incorporates extensive use of guitar distortion, and the use of palm muting creates a highly rhythmic, driving style which is amplified by a heavy percussion
track. The song's characteristic element is its repetitive drum track, a five-beat common time
pattern played on floor tom
s, in which swung notes create a triplet feel.
Hard rock
producer Sean Beavan
, a musician with a close connection to jazz guitar
, also appears on the track. Beavan, credited with "descending horn guitar", can be heard playing a repeated descending figure
using a guitar effect which produces a brass instrument
-like tone.
Lyrically, it is intertwined with the Antichrist Superstar album's 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: "There's no time to discriminate", sings Manson, "hate every motherfucker
that's in your way". A strong anti-capitalism
sentiment stems from exploration of Nietzsche's view of master-slave morality ("It's not your fault that you're always wrong / The weak ones are there to justify the strong") along with its connection to Social Darwinism
.
song "My Monkey". It was "officially" premiered on October 3, 1996, at the State Theatre in Kalamazoo — the second show of the band's Dead to the World
Tour.
On September 4, 1997, Marilyn Manson performed the song as the grand finale of the MTV Video Music Awards
. Preceded by a marching band playing "Hail to the Chief
", Manson entered the stage flanked by mock United States Secret Service agents and, from a microphone-covered podium, delivered a speech to the audience:
Manson then threw off his costume, revealing "a leather corset, leather G-string and fishnet stockings", and the band delivered a performance of "The Beautiful People" that Rolling Stone called "riveting", in spite of the magazine's extremely negative review of the program as a whole. As the show closed, host Chris Rock
teasingly yelled for the audience to "Run to church right now! Get your asses to church, or you're going to Hell!".
Marilyn Manson and Twiggy Ramirez joined The Smashing Pumpkins
at Mountain View, California's Shoreline Amphitheatre
for an acoustic performance of "The Beautiful People" during the venue's annual Bridge School Benefit
on October 18, 1997. Nine Inch Nails
also performed "The Beautiful People", with frontman Trent Reznor
on bass guitar and Marilyn Manson on lead vocals, on May 9, 2000 at Madison Square Garden
. Manson had been a surprise guest at the concert, appearing unannounced on stage during Nine Inch Nails' "Starfuckers, Inc.
" Recording of this performance can be found on Nine Inch Nails' live DVD And All That Could Have Been
released in 2002.
In live performance, Manson frequently introduces the song with the lyric "How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?" (originally from The Beatles
' "Baby, You're a Rich Man") over its instrumental break. It is also the former theme of WWE SmackDown! and was used for WWF Raw is War in 1997, making it the only song to have been used as a theme for both of the WWE's flagship television shows.
Three official remixes of "The Beautiful People" have been released. The first, "The Horrible People", was created by Danny Saber
and appears on the 1997 Remix & Repent EP; the remix features a fast-tempo drum n bass backing track, and accents the original song's swing jazz
-inflected rhythm with brass and piano samples. J. G. Thirlwell
's "The Not-So-Beautiful People" is a straight industrial
reworking of the track, with rhythmic vocal samples and churning, filtered
synthesizer
s. A different remix of the track was used as the opening theme for WWE SmackDown! from 2001 to 2003 and is available on WWF Forceable Entry
as well as a 10-inch picture disc single of the song.
Marilyn Manson's 2004 greatest hits compilation, Lest We Forget, contains a slightly reworked version of the track. The longer introduction from the single version has been restored, and certain musical elements (most notably, an organ-like sound not noticeable in the previously-released versions) have been made more pronounced.
In 1997, MTV News
reported that Manson had expressed interest in collaborating with Snoop Dogg
to produce a rap
version of "The Beautiful People". It is unknown if the collaboration ever actually occurred, although in his September 4, 1997 keynote address at the CMJ
Music Marathon, the singer referred to the project as "something I would still love to do" and blamed the hectic touring schedules of both his own band and the rapper for the delay.
Floria Sigismondi
directed what has been described as "the creepiest of creepy videos" for "The Beautiful People". The clip, filmed in the abandoned Goodenham and Worts distillery in Toronto, Canada, depicts the band performing the song in a classroom-like area decorated with medical prostheses
and laboratory equipment. Intercut with these performance clips are scenes of lead singer Marilyn Manson in a long gown-like costume and aviator goggles, wearing stilts and prosthetic makeup which make him appear bald and grotesquely tall; after being placed in this costume by similarly-attired attendants, he appears to a cheering crowd through a window in a scene reminiscent of a fascist rally, and later stands in the center of a circle while people crowd around him riot. Other fast cut
scenes include extreme close-ups of crawling earthworms, mannequin heads and hands, and the boots of people marching; and shots of the individual band members bizarrely costumed, including Manson in black and neck braces and an apparent dental device which pulls the flesh of his mouth with hooks, exposing metallic teeth.
The video premiered on MTV
on September 22, 1996 and was nominated for two 1997 MTV Video Music Awards
: Best Rock Video and Best Special Effects.
of Allmusic, "it was the first Manson song with an oversized hook — the kind of song that even the group's detractors couldn't get out of their heads".
In its 1996 review of Antichrist Superstar, Rolling Stone
magazine described "The Beautiful People" as "suspense-filled", with "a zombielike, repetitive quality [and] ghostly electronic sounds. . .", adding that in his vocal delivery, "Manson hisses his lines, punctuating certain words with a shrill, insane pitch, others with a retching scream".
In the United States, the single managed to reach number 29 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks
chart and number 26 on the Modern Rock Tracks
chart. In the UK, it reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart
, peaking on June 7, 1997. The song is also used as plate appearance music for Jim Thome
of the Minnesota Twins
. A portion of the song is used as the Boston Bruins
skate onto the ice at the beginning of a home game. The Toronto Maple Leafs
and the Chicago Blackhawks
similarly sample the song's opening portion. The song was named the 86th "best hard rock song of all time" by VH1
.
ranked "The Beautiful People" 5th in their 100 Greatest Singles of All Time. In 2003, Q
ranked "The Beautiful People" 192nd in their The 1001 Best Songs Ever. Q
also included "The Beautiful People" under the Metal Tracks category of their Ultimate Music Collection in 2005. The music video for the single would be nominated in three categories at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards
namely, Best Rock Video, Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects
, on his Brass Fantasy's 1999 Odyssey of Funk & Popular Music, Volume 1
; metalcore
band Eighteen Visions
, on the 2006 compilation Punk Goes 90s, the Scala & Kolacny Brothers
girls' choir on their 2007 album One Winged Angel, and heavy metal
band Soulfly
on a compilation for Kerrang!
magazine—later the song was included in the special edition of the band's sixth studio album Conquer
.
Christina Aguilera
sang her version (with total change of lyrics and background, including piano and other elements) of the song for the Burlesque
soundtrack
. Apathy
sampled the song and rapped over it in a song by the same name.
Although not technically a cover, a variation of "The Beautiful People" became the entrance theme of WCW
professional wrestler Saturn in the late 1990s. This corresponded with his gimmick of strange goth
and transvestite
characteristics similar to Marilyn Manson.
UK CD single 1
UK CD single 2
European Enhanced CD
single
10" vinyl
single (remixes)
Japanese CD single
U.S. promotional CD single
s:
Production
:
Marilyn Manson (band)
Marilyn Manson is an American metal band from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Formed in 1989 by Brian Warner and Scott Putesky, the group was originally named Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids with their uniquely theatrical performances gathering a local cult following in the early '90s. This attention...
's second full length album, Antichrist Superstar
Antichrist Superstar
Antichrist Superstar is the second full-length studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on October 8, 1996 in the US through Nothing and Interscope Records. The record's success in mainstream charts propelled the band into a household name and turned its frontman overnight...
, released as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in September, 1996. An industrial metal
Industrial metal
Industrial metal is a musical genre that draws from industrial music and many different types of heavy metal, using repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Founding industrial metal acts include Ministry, Godflesh, and KMFDM.Industrial metal's...
hit written by Marilyn Manson and Twiggy Ramirez
Jeordie White
Jeordie Osbourne White , better known by his pseudonym Twiggy Ramirez , is an American musician, who is best known for being the bassist and guitarist for Marilyn Manson. He was also the bassist for A Perfect Circle, and Nine Inch Nails...
, and produced by Trent Reznor
Trent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, and leader of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Reznor is also a member of How to Destroy Angels alongside his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and Atticus Ross. He was previously associated with bands Option 30,...
, Dave Ogilvie
Dave Ogilvie
Dave "Rave" Ogilvie is a Canadian record producer and musician. He is a producer of industrial music and has been associated with bands such as Skinny Puppy , Doughboys, The Birthday Massacre , Marilyn Manson, Jakalope , Killing Joke, Queensrÿche, Alexz Johnson, Fake Shark...
and Manson, its lyrics discuss two major themes: what Manson refers to as "the culture of beauty", and that culture's connection to Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
's theory of master-slave morality
Master-slave morality
Master-slave morality is a central theme of Friedrich Nietzsche's works, in particular the first essay of On the Genealogy of Morality. Nietzsche argued that there were two fundamental types of morality: 'Master morality' and 'slave morality'...
— the song's "weak ones", who are "always wrong", are oppressed by and exist solely to "justify the strong"; the kratocratic
Kratocracy
Kratocracy, , is according to Montague, government by those who are strong enough to seize power through force or cunning....
beautiful people whose power is, in a double entendre
Double entendre
A double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
of phallic and religious implications, "relative to the size of their steeple
Steeple (architecture)
A steeple, in architecture, is a tall tower on a building, often topped by a spire. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religious structure...
".
The single peaked at number 26 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and remains known as one of Marilyn Manson's most famous and most successful original songs; in a 2004 review, Richard Banks of the BBC called the track "still the most impressive" in the band's catalogue, and it was ranked in 2006 at number 28 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs.
The song is also available as DLC for Guitar Hero 5
Guitar Hero 5
Guitar Hero 5 is a music video game and the fifth main entry in the Guitar Hero series. The game was developed by Neversoft and published by RedOctane and Activision, and released internationally in September 2009 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, 3 and Wii consoles...
and is included in the Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3 is a music video game, developed by Harmonix Music Systems. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, with Mad Catz taking over both roles a year later. It is the third main game in the Rock Band series...
soundtrack.
Origins
"The Beautiful People" was written in 1994; the lyrics are by Marilyn Manson and the music by Twiggy Ramirez. The original four-trackMultitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
demo version was recorded, in a hotel room while on tour, by Manson, Ramirez, and drummer Ginger Fish
Ginger Fish
Kenneth Robert Wilson , better known by his stage name Ginger Fish, is an American drummer primarily known for playing drums for Marilyn Manson 1995-2011...
. Manson recalled to Kerrang! magazine in May 2005: "It was somewhere in the South, which is ironic. I remember playing the drum beat on the floor and then having my drummer duplicate that on the drum machine. It happened in one day pretty much".
The title of the song comes from Marilyn Bender's 1967 book The Beautiful People, which exposed the world of scandal within the "jet-set" lifestyle of the 1960s, and the culture of beauty as it pertained to fashion and politics. The phrase itself was popularized by Vogue magazine in the early 1960s and was particularly used to describe the Kennedy family
Kennedy family
In the United States, the phrase Kennedy family commonly refers to the family descending from the marriage of the Irish-Americans Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald that was prominent in American politics and government. Their political involvement has revolved around the...
, a frequent source of inspiration in Marilyn Manson's work.
Composition and lyrical content
The track begins, after a few seconds of backwards-guitarBackmasking
Backmasking is a recording technique in which a sound or message is recorded backward on to a track that is meant to be played forward...
feedback and electronic noise, with an extremely distorted spoken sample
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
; it is Tex Watson declaring "[We would] swoop down on the town. . . [and] kill everyone that wasn't beautiful". This is also said in the beginning of Manson's demo song, "Dune Buggy", except it is not distorted.
The song is written in drop D tuning
Drop D tuning
Drop D tuning, also known as DADGBE, is an alternate, or scordatura, form of guitar tuning — specifically, a dropped tuning — in which the lowest string is tuned down from the usual E of standard tuning by one whole step to D.- Uses of drop D tuning :In drop D the three bass strings...
, and is built primarily out of the notes of a diminished chord
Diminished chord
A diminished triad chord or diminished chord is a triad consisting of two minor thirds above the root — if built on C, a diminished chord would have a C, an E and a G. It resembles a minor triad with a lowered fifth....
, each made into a power chord
Power chord
In music, a power chord is a chord consisting of only the root note of the chord and the fifth interval, usually played on electric guitar, and typically through an amplification process that imparts distortion...
. It also incorporates extensive use of guitar distortion, and the use of palm muting creates a highly rhythmic, driving style which is amplified by a heavy percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
track. The song's characteristic element is its repetitive drum track, a five-beat common time
Common Time
"Common Time" is a science fiction short story written by James Blish. It first appeared in the August 1953 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and has been reprinted several times: in the 1959 short-story collection Galactic Cluster; in The Testament of Andros ; in The Penguin Science Fiction...
pattern played on floor tom
Floor tom
A floor tom is a double-headed tom-tom drum which usually stands on the floor on three legs. However, they can also be attached to a cymbal stand with a drum clamp....
s, in which swung notes create a triplet feel.
Hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
producer Sean Beavan
Sean Beavan
Sean Beavan is a musician, record producer, and audio engineer best known for his work with Guns N Roses, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, God Lives Underwater, and Slayer...
, a musician with a close connection to jazz guitar
Jazz guitar
The term jazz guitar may refer to either a type of guitar or to the variety of guitar playing styles used in the various genres which are commonly termed "jazz"...
, also appears on the track. Beavan, credited with "descending horn guitar", can be heard playing a repeated descending figure
Figure (music)
A musical figure is the shortest idea in music, a short succession of notes, often recurring. It may have melodic pitch, harmonic progression and rhythmic . The 1964 Grove's Dictionary defines the figure as "the exact counterpart of the German 'motiv' and the French 'motif'": it produces a "single...
using a guitar effect which produces a brass instrument
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
-like tone.
Lyrically, it is intertwined with the Antichrist Superstar album's overarching theme, a semi-narrative examination of the Nietzschean
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
Übermensch
Übermensch
The Übermensch is a concept in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche posited the Übermensch as a goal for humanity to set for itself in his 1883 book Thus Spoke Zarathustra ....
. Within this context, "The Beautiful People" deals explicitly with the destructive manifestation of the Will to Power: "There's no time to discriminate", sings Manson, "hate every motherfucker
Motherfucker
Motherfucker is a vulgarism which, in its most literal sense, refers to one who participates in sexual intercourse with a mother, either someone else's mother, or his own.- Variants :...
that's in your way". A strong anti-capitalism
Anti-capitalism
Anti-capitalism describes a wide variety of movements, ideas, and attitudes which oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists, in the strict sense of the word, are those who wish to completely replace capitalism with another system....
sentiment stems from exploration of Nietzsche's view of master-slave morality ("It's not your fault that you're always wrong / The weak ones are there to justify the strong") along with its connection to Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism is a term commonly used for theories of society that emerged in England and the United States in the 1870s, seeking to apply the principles of Darwinian evolution to sociology and politics...
.
Notable performances
"The Beautiful People" was performed sporadically during the 1995–1996 Smells Like Children tour, frequently in abbreviated form as part of the Portrait of an American FamilyPortrait of an American Family
Portrait of an American Family is the debut full-length studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on July 19, 1994 in the US through Nothing and Interscope Records. It was produced by the band's frontman and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails...
song "My Monkey". It was "officially" premiered on October 3, 1996, at the State Theatre in Kalamazoo — the second show of the band's Dead to the World
Dead to the World (tour)
The Dead to the World Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the American rock band Marilyn Manson. Launched in support of the group's 1996 album Antichrist Superstar, the band visited arenas and stadiums from 1996 through 1997...
Tour.
On September 4, 1997, Marilyn Manson performed the song as the grand finale of the MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
. Preceded by a marching band playing "Hail to the Chief
Hail to the Chief
"Hail to the Chief" is a march primarily associated with the President of the United States. Its playing accompanies the appearance of the President at many public appearances. For major official occasions, the United States Marine Band and other military ensembles generally are the performers, so...
", Manson entered the stage flanked by mock United States Secret Service agents and, from a microphone-covered podium, delivered a speech to the audience:
Manson then threw off his costume, revealing "a leather corset, leather G-string and fishnet stockings", and the band delivered a performance of "The Beautiful People" that Rolling Stone called "riveting", in spite of the magazine's extremely negative review of the program as a whole. As the show closed, host Chris Rock
Chris Rock
Christopher Julius "Chris" Rock III is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer and director. He was voted in the US as the 5th greatest stand-up comedian of all time by Comedy Central...
teasingly yelled for the audience to "Run to church right now! Get your asses to church, or you're going to Hell!".
Marilyn Manson and Twiggy Ramirez joined The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...
at Mountain View, California's Shoreline Amphitheatre
Shoreline Amphitheatre
Shoreline Amphitheatre is an outdoor amphitheater, in Mountain View, California, USA, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Inside the venue it has a capacity of 22,500, with 6,500 reserved seats and 16,000 general admission on the lawn...
for an acoustic performance of "The Beautiful People" during the venue's annual Bridge School Benefit
Bridge School Benefit
The Bridge School Benefit is an annual non-profit charity concert held in Mountain View, California, every October at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. The concerts are all organized by musician Neil Young and his wife, Pegi....
on October 18, 1997. Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
also performed "The Beautiful People", with frontman Trent Reznor
Trent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, and leader of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Reznor is also a member of How to Destroy Angels alongside his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and Atticus Ross. He was previously associated with bands Option 30,...
on bass guitar and Marilyn Manson on lead vocals, on May 9, 2000 at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
. Manson had been a surprise guest at the concert, appearing unannounced on stage during Nine Inch Nails' "Starfuckers, Inc.
Starfuckers, Inc.
"Starfuckers, Inc." is a song by Nine Inch Nails.The song is released as the fourth single from the double album, The Fragile...
" Recording of this performance can be found on Nine Inch Nails' live DVD And All That Could Have Been
And All that Could Have Been
And All That Could Have Been is a double album released by Nine Inch Nails in 2002. The live album contains music recorded during the Fragility v2.0 US tour in 2000; Disc 1 is a live album of their normal set list of the time, while disc B contains a studio album titled Still containing...
released in 2002.
In live performance, Manson frequently introduces the song with the lyric "How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?" (originally from The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "Baby, You're a Rich Man") over its instrumental break. It is also the former theme of WWE SmackDown! and was used for WWF Raw is War in 1997, making it the only song to have been used as a theme for both of the WWE's flagship television shows.
Versions and releases
In addition to the version on the Antichrist Superstar album and the version on the single (which differ only in the length of the introductory noise) a radio edit also exists, which removes the profanity. The phrase "hate every motherfucker" has been replaced by the alternate lyric "hate every other hater", and the word "shit" has been excised. This radio edit is the version used in the music video for "The Beautiful People".Three official remixes of "The Beautiful People" have been released. The first, "The Horrible People", was created by Danny Saber
Danny Saber
Danny Saber is a Los Angeles, California musician, audio engineer, record producer, and remixer. A former member of Black Grape and Agent Provocateur, Saber plays guitar, bass, organ, and keyboards, and is also a prominent Los Angeles DJ....
and appears on the 1997 Remix & Repent EP; the remix features a fast-tempo drum n bass backing track, and accents the original song's swing jazz
Swing (genre)
Swing music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and became a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States...
-inflected rhythm with brass and piano samples. J. G. Thirlwell
J. G. Thirlwell
James George Thirlwell , aka Clint Ruin, aka Frank Want, aka Foetus, is an Australian vocalist, composer and record producer...
's "The Not-So-Beautiful People" is a straight industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
reworking of the track, with rhythmic vocal samples and churning, filtered
Audio filter
An audio filter is a frequency dependent amplifier circuit, working in the audio frequency range, 0 Hz to beyond 20 kHz. Many types of filters exist for applications including graphic equalizers, synthesizers, sound effects, CD players and virtual reality systems.Being a frequency dependent...
synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s. A different remix of the track was used as the opening theme for WWE SmackDown! from 2001 to 2003 and is available on WWF Forceable Entry
WWF Forceable Entry
WWF Forceable Entry is a compilation album released by the World Wrestling Federation in 2002. This was the last album sold under the WWF name . It features mostly rock bands performing versions of each wrestlers entrance music. The album had a sequel released in May 2006...
as well as a 10-inch picture disc single of the song.
Marilyn Manson's 2004 greatest hits compilation, Lest We Forget, contains a slightly reworked version of the track. The longer introduction from the single version has been restored, and certain musical elements (most notably, an organ-like sound not noticeable in the previously-released versions) have been made more pronounced.
In 1997, MTV News
MTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
reported that Manson had expressed interest in collaborating with Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
to produce a rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
version of "The Beautiful People". It is unknown if the collaboration ever actually occurred, although in his September 4, 1997 keynote address at the CMJ
College Music Journal
College Music Journal, commonly known as CMJ, is a music events/publishing company which hosts an annual festival in New York City, the CMJ Music Marathon, as well as a weekly magazine of and for the music industry and college radio stations in the United States and Canada. It publishes top 30...
Music Marathon, the singer referred to the project as "something I would still love to do" and blamed the hectic touring schedules of both his own band and the rapper for the delay.
Music video
Floria Sigismondi
Floria Sigismondi is an Italian, naturalised Canadian, photographer and director.Apart from her art exhibitions, she is best known for writing and directing The Runaways, starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning...
directed what has been described as "the creepiest of creepy videos" for "The Beautiful People". The clip, filmed in the abandoned Goodenham and Worts distillery in Toronto, Canada, depicts the band performing the song in a classroom-like area decorated with medical prostheses
Prosthesis
In medicine, a prosthesis, prosthetic, or prosthetic limb is an artificial device extension that replaces a missing body part. It is part of the field of biomechatronics, the science of using mechanical devices with human muscle, skeleton, and nervous systems to assist or enhance motor control...
and laboratory equipment. Intercut with these performance clips are scenes of lead singer Marilyn Manson in a long gown-like costume and aviator goggles, wearing stilts and prosthetic makeup which make him appear bald and grotesquely tall; after being placed in this costume by similarly-attired attendants, he appears to a cheering crowd through a window in a scene reminiscent of a fascist rally, and later stands in the center of a circle while people crowd around him riot. Other fast cut
Fast cutting
Fast cutting is a film editing technique which refers to several consecutive shots of a brief duration . It can be used to convey a lot of information very quickly, or to imply either energy or chaos...
scenes include extreme close-ups of crawling earthworms, mannequin heads and hands, and the boots of people marching; and shots of the individual band members bizarrely costumed, including Manson in black and neck braces and an apparent dental device which pulls the flesh of his mouth with hooks, exposing metallic teeth.
The video premiered on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
on September 22, 1996 and was nominated for two 1997 MTV Video Music Awards
1997 MTV Video Music Awards
The 1997 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 4, 1997, honoring the best music videos from June 17, 1996, to June 16, 1997. The show was hosted by Chris Rock at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.-Video of the Year:* Beck — "The New Pollution"...
: Best Rock Video and Best Special Effects.
Critical response
The single was generally praised on its release. "With its mock menace and pummeling metal triplets", wrote Stephen Thomas ErlewineStephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
of Allmusic, "it was the first Manson song with an oversized hook — the kind of song that even the group's detractors couldn't get out of their heads".
In its 1996 review of Antichrist Superstar, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine described "The Beautiful People" as "suspense-filled", with "a zombielike, repetitive quality [and] ghostly electronic sounds. . .", adding that in his vocal delivery, "Manson hisses his lines, punctuating certain words with a shrill, insane pitch, others with a retching scream".
In the United States, the single managed to reach number 29 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...
chart and number 26 on the Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
chart. In the UK, it reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, peaking on June 7, 1997. The song is also used as plate appearance music for Jim Thome
Jim Thome
James Howard "Jim" Thome is a Major League Baseball player for the Philadelphia Phillies. He is the eighth player to hit 600 home runs in the major leagues. He is widely considered a future Hall of Famer.-Cleveland Indians :...
of the Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
. A portion of the song is used as the Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
skate onto the ice at the beginning of a home game. The Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
and the Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
similarly sample the song's opening portion. The song was named the 86th "best hard rock song of all time" by VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
.
Accolades
According to Acclaimedmusic.net "The Beautiful People" is the 38th best song of 1996, the 471st greatest song released during the 1990s and the 2853rd greatest of all-time. In 2002, Kerrang!Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
ranked "The Beautiful People" 5th in their 100 Greatest Singles of All Time. In 2003, Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
ranked "The Beautiful People" 192nd in their The 1001 Best Songs Ever. Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
also included "The Beautiful People" under the Metal Tracks category of their Ultimate Music Collection in 2005. The music video for the single would be nominated in three categories at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards
1997 MTV Video Music Awards
The 1997 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 4, 1997, honoring the best music videos from June 17, 1996, to June 16, 1997. The show was hosted by Chris Rock at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.-Video of the Year:* Beck — "The New Pollution"...
namely, Best Rock Video, Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects
Cover versions
The song has been covered by various artists, including the jazz trumpeter Lester BowieLester Bowie
Lester Bowie was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the AACM, and cofounded the Art Ensemble of Chicago.-Biography:...
, on his Brass Fantasy's 1999 Odyssey of Funk & Popular Music, Volume 1
The Odyssey Of Funk & Popular Music
The Odyssey Of Funk & Popular Music is an album by Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy recorded for the Atlantic label in 1997...
; metalcore
Metalcore
Metalcore is a subgenre of heavy metal combining various elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. The name is a portmanteau of the names of the two genres. The term took on its current meaning in the mid-1990s, describing bands such as Earth Crisis, Deadguy and Integrity...
band Eighteen Visions
Eighteen Visions
Eighteen Visions was an American metalcore band from Orange County, California, United States. Formed in October of 1995, the group was one of the first practitioners involved in the metalcore genre...
, on the 2006 compilation Punk Goes 90s, the Scala & Kolacny Brothers
Scala & Kolacny Brothers
Scala & Kolacny Brothers is a Belgian women's choir, conducted by Stijn Kolacny and arranged and accompanied by Steven Kolacny on the piano. Formed in 1996 and winning the Belgian 'Choir of the Year'-contest in 2000, they have made five studio albums, starting with On The Rocks in 2002.Most songs...
girls' choir on their 2007 album One Winged Angel, and heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Soulfly
Soulfly
Soulfly is a heavy metal band formed in 1997 based in Phoenix, Arizona. The original lyrical content revolved around spirituality and religious themes, with later albums encompassing other themes including war, violence, aggression, hatred and anger. Soulfly is led by former Sepultura frontman Max...
on a compilation for Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
magazine—later the song was included in the special edition of the band's sixth studio album Conquer
Conquer (album)
-Bonus DVD listing:Live in Warsaw, Poland#"Prophecy"#"Downstroy"#"Seek 'n' Strike"#"No Hope = No Fear"#"Jumpdafuckup / Bring It"#"Living Sacrifice"#"Mars"#"Brasil"#"No"#"L.O.T.M."#"Porrada"#"Drums"#"Moses"#"Frontlines"#"Back to the Primitive"...
.
Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
sang her version (with total change of lyrics and background, including piano and other elements) of the song for the Burlesque
Burlesque (film)
Burlesque is a 2010 musical film directed and written by Steven Antin and starring Christina Aguilera and Cher. The film was released on November 24, 2010 in North America....
soundtrack
Burlesque (soundtrack)
Burlesque: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is a soundtrack album by Christina Aguilera and Cher from the film of the same name. It was released on November 22, 2010 by RCA Records. The first buzz single from the soundtrack "Express" was released on November 19, 2010. The other two singles from...
. Apathy
Apathy (rapper)
Chad Bromley , better known as Apathy is an underground rapper and producer from Willimantic, Connecticut. He attended high school at various schools in Connecticut. He is a re-founding member and unofficial leader of the Demigodz crew...
sampled the song and rapped over it in a song by the same name.
Although not technically a cover, a variation of "The Beautiful People" became the entrance theme of WCW
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
professional wrestler Saturn in the late 1990s. This corresponded with his gimmick of strange goth
Goth subculture
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
and transvestite
Transvestism
Transvestism is the practice of cross-dressing, which is wearing clothing traditionally associated with the opposite sex. Transvestite refers to a person who cross-dresses; however, the word often has additional connotations. -History:Although the word transvestism was coined as late as the 1910s,...
characteristics similar to Marilyn Manson.
Formats and track listings
Australian and European CD single- "The Beautiful People" (album version)
- "Cryptorchid"
- "Snake Eyes and Sissies"
UK CD single 1
- "The Beautiful People" (single version)
- "The Horrible People"
- "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)-Personnel:*Annie Lennox – vocals, keyboards, synthesisers, flute*David A. Stewart – guitar, keyboards, synthesisers, programming, backing vocals-Additional personnel:*Robert Crash - Guitar/ E-Drums/ Synth/ Robotic vocals...
" - "Cryptorchid"
UK CD single 2
- "The Beautiful People" (album version)
- "The Not-So-Beautiful People"
- "Snake Eyes and Sissies"
- "Deformography"
European Enhanced CD
Enhanced CD
Enhanced CD, also known as CD Extra and CD Plus, is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both Compact Disc and CD-ROM players....
single
- "The Beautiful People" (single version)
- "The Horrible People"
- "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"
- "Cryptorchid"
- "The Beautiful People" (video)
- "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (video)
10" vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
single (remixes)
- "The Horrible People"
- "The Not-So-Beautiful People"
Japanese CD single
- "The Beautiful People" (single version)
- "The Horrible People"
- "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (LP version)
- "Cryptorchid"
- "The Not-So-Beautiful People"
U.S. promotional CD single
- "The Beautiful People" (clean version)
- "The Beautiful People" (LP version)
Production credits
MusicianMusician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s:
- Marilyn MansonMarilyn MansonMarilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
— vocals, lyricsLyricsLyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of... - Twiggy RamirezJeordie WhiteJeordie Osbourne White , better known by his pseudonym Twiggy Ramirez , is an American musician, who is best known for being the bassist and guitarist for Marilyn Manson. He was also the bassist for A Perfect Circle, and Nine Inch Nails...
— guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, music - Sean BeavanSean BeavanSean Beavan is a musician, record producer, and audio engineer best known for his work with Guns N Roses, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, God Lives Underwater, and Slayer...
— descending horn guitar - Ginger FishGinger FishKenneth Robert Wilson , better known by his stage name Ginger Fish, is an American drummer primarily known for playing drums for Marilyn Manson 1995-2011...
— drums
Production
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
:
- Trent ReznorTrent ReznorMichael Trent Reznor is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, and leader of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Reznor is also a member of How to Destroy Angels alongside his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and Atticus Ross. He was previously associated with bands Option 30,...
— producer - Dave "Rave" OgilvieDave OgilvieDave "Rave" Ogilvie is a Canadian record producer and musician. He is a producer of industrial music and has been associated with bands such as Skinny Puppy , Doughboys, The Birthday Massacre , Marilyn Manson, Jakalope , Killing Joke, Queensrÿche, Alexz Johnson, Fake Shark...
— producer - Marilyn Manson — co-producer
- Sean Beavan — mixing
- Chris Vrenna — editing and programming
- Charlie ClouserCharlie ClouserCharles Alexander "Charlie" Clouser is an American musician whose activities include playing keyboard, synth, theremin, and drums. He is known for his abilities in music programming, engineering, mixing, and remixing. He was a member of the band Nine Inch Nails 1994–2000. Before he was in Nine...
— editing and programming
"The Horrible People"
As original version, with- Damian Savage — additional bass
- John X — "sonic rape and pillage"
- Danny Saber — remixRemixA remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
- Gabe and Jim — engineersAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
Trivia
- The song can be heard at HSBC Arena every time the NLLNational Lacrosse LeagueThe National Lacrosse League is a men's professional indoor lacrosse league in North America. It currently has nine teams; three in Canada and six in the United States. Unlike other lacrosse leagues which play in the summer, the NLL plays its games in the winter and spring. Each year, the playoff...
's Buffalo BanditsBuffalo BanditsThe Buffalo Bandits are a team in the National Lacrosse League . They play at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1992 to 1997, until the MILL turned into the NLL in 1998....
get a power play opportunity. - The song (along with a cover by Scala & Kolacny Brothers) is used as the background music for the 7 Scarezone at Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights.