The Beautiful People

"The Beautiful People" is the first single off of Marilyn Manson's controversial album "Antichrist Superstar", released in 1996. It was the second track, after "Irresponsible Hate Anthem". 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.

[Intro] We would swoop down on the town Kill everyone that wasn't beautiful [Verse 1] And I don't want you and I don't need you Don't bother to resist, or I'll beat you It's not your fault that you're always wrong The weak ones are there to justify the strong The beautiful people, the beautiful people It's all relative to the size of your steeple You can't see the forest for the trees And you can't smell your own shit on your knees [Pre-Chorus] There's no time to discriminate Hate every motherfucker that's in your way [Chorus] Hey, you, what do you see? Something beautiful or something free? Hey, you, are you trying to be mean? If you live with apes, man, it's hard to be clean (Ah, ah) [Verse 2] The worms will live in every host It's hard to pick which one they hate the most The horrible people, the horrible people It's all anatomic as the size of your steeple Capitalism has made it this way Old-fashioned fascism will take it away [Chorus] Hey, you, what do you see? Something beautiful or something free? Hey, you, are you trying to be mean? If you live with apes, man, it's hard to be clean [Pre-Chorus] There's no time to discriminate Hate every motherfucker that's in your way [Bridge] The beautiful people, the beautiful people (Ah) The beautiful people, the beautiful people (Ah) The beautiful people, the beautiful people (Ah) The beautiful people, the beautiful people (Ah) [Chorus] Hey, you, what do you see? Something beautiful or something free? Hey, you, are you trying to be mean? If you live with apes, man, it's hard to be clean Hey, you, what do you see? Something beautiful or something free? Hey, you, are you trying to be mean? If you live with apes, man, it's hard to be clean [Outro] The beautiful people, the beautiful people The beautiful people, the beautiful people The beautiful people, the beautiful people The beautiful people, the beautiful people