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Music

Marilyn Manson Wants You to Know He Got Crabs When He Lost His Virginity

He also talks Trump, Bowie, and Beethoven in a new interview.
Lauren O'Neill
London, GB

Marilyn Manson will release his tenth album Heaven Upside Down tomorrow (October 6). To mark the occasion, he's done a new interview with Rolling Stone. It sees him cover such topics as his musical influences and preferences (David Bowie, Beethoven, fyi), Trump, and the advice he once imparted to Josh Homme and Slayer's Dave Lombardo—"Don't make beats that confuse strippers." Make of that what you will.

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Discussing his early love of Bowie, who provided a mind-blowing alternative to his mother's favorites, the Bee Gees, Billy Joel, and The Beatles, he said:

With "Ashes to Ashes" he'd created a radio pop hit that was so unnatural, so different, so full of unease and tension. And yet, it had some sexiness to it. He didn't seem to look like he was was dressing in drag, or even trying to be funny dressed as a French clown walking down the beach. It was like I was watching a movie or reading a book. Now, when I make a record, I want it to be like a movie. When you see or hear this song, it's like a scene in a movie, and if you accomplish that scene well, you're going to want to see the next scene, see what happens next. I think I got that from seeing Bowie early on.

On the topic of musical icons, Manson also had some kind words about the work of one Ludwig van Beethoven. "My favorite song of all time is "Moonlight Sonata," by Beethoven," he said. "Every time I hear it, it soothes me and also gives me dark thoughts, too. "Moonlight Sonata" speaks so much without saying anything." Which, you know, is great and profound, but it wouldn't be a real Manson interview without some dirt, too. That's where the crabs come in.

When asked by interviewer Andy Greene about his hometown of Canton, Ohio, he had probably the best anecdote about Canton, Ohio that anyone has ever shared:

I lost my virginity there, and got crabs at the same time. That is the terrible thing that is disqualified now by the fact that women tend to use laser hair removal or waxing, so it eliminates the risk of crabs. Who in 10th grade has crabs?

Just going to leave that there.

Finally, he commented on Trump, as we'd expect, stating that "the one good thing" Trump has done was to build the Trump Tower he sought refuge in after threatening to kill an editor of Spin magazine. So yeah, all in a day's work really.

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