Fences x Marilyn Manson – Drugs Like You
It’s good to remember that most people don’t just get out of their house and start doing things because they want things to improve. Many people, actually, want them to get worse. In fact, I’d argue that a good chunk of people, and the vast majority of them, I presume, are rock music listeners, would like to know just how bad things can get.
It’s not nihilism, really, that drives them. It’s something worse – hope. This all must come from having watched or read too many near tragedies that, somehow, when things are at their worst, magically improve for the hero who has got their head on the chopping block. Fences, with the help of perennial “you shouldn’t do this at home” villain, Marilyn Manson and with production by Jonah Marc Levine, can speak with authority on the subject.
“Drugs Like You” is a pop song about addiction. But, if you listen carefully, you’ll notice that it’s also a song about self-abuse, shame, and debasement. It’s an old-fashioned kind of pop vision, the one that speaks to people who are too ashamed to tell you that they haven’t hit rock bottom yet, and are eager to do it as quickly as possible.
Little Falls Trophy – Thursday’s Friday
Decide to be a cop, or get in the military! There’s nothing moral about it, and certainly, nothing very glamorous about this kind of profession. But if you’re careful not to get shot, you’ll retire early and with a good pension.
And, while on the job, people are going to step out of your way each time that you get out of the car to buy oranges; there won’t be anyone bragging that they know you. There are no cops or war heroes worth celebrating, sad to say.
On the other hand, master the art of telling the world’s stories through melodies and the right chord progression, and while financial issues are nearly guaranteed, you’re bound to be drinking and eating for free all across your home town.
Little Falls Trophy sounds like the work of a man destined to become a cult hero. “Thursday’s Friday” is a song that, above everything else, masterfully turns the blues into power-pop and makes these vocal melodies sound like the thing that is going to give you the answer to whatever kind of issue that’s been left spinning inside your mind. Somebody’s going to fall in love with this. Try getting someone to say the same thing about a cop.
