the NachtKabarett

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In 2007 Eat Me, Drink Me brought with it, for the first time in nearly over ten years, a symbol Manson adopted to represent himself with that did not have an immediate and apparent deeper connotation to the occult, mock-fascism or an artistic movement. This logo, later dubbed the 'heart shaped spiral' in official online store item descriptions, was minimalistically a roughly drawn heart which spiraled at its center. Manson revealed that it was an homage to Evan Rachel Wood for inspiring him with love and creative drive which was the impetus needed to create the album. He elaborated that as it was tattooed on his left inner wrist, if he ever was driven again to the depths of suicide, he was nearly in the throes of prior to this, it would be an omnipresent reminder that he would have to "break a heart" in order to fatally sever an artery.

Aside from the raw nature and purpose it symbolically serves, several similar visual representations exist which range from the logo of an ice cream company to the symbol of a paedophilic organization in support of relationships between a man and young girl (which can, in part, be seen as a joke even if coincidental given Manson's half-facetious Lolita references toward he and Evan's obvious age difference). Probably the most likely and closest connotation which fits the heart logo as used by Manson is that which illustrates the cover of the 1935 film, Mad Love.

As is seen via the cover art (which is the only appearance of the heart, not in the film itself) a very similar representation of the heart logo, and not only the heart itself but also the placement atop the eye a la the artwork to Eat Me, Drink Me of Manson with heart shaped pupils and of course the song 'Heart Shaped Glasses'. The leading role in the film is that of Peter Lorre, who plays a mad scientist who can create life itself but cannot create love without the woman he so desires. This of course can be seen as a microcosm for Manson, as the artist, who also brings to life his creations but cannot create love without another complimental half to hold.

 

Left : Manson performing in Romania (Vlad Dracula's country of birth which he ruled by blood and terror), July 1, 2007. In full view is his twisted heart logo tattoo. Right : Page 2 of the 'Eat Me, Drink Me' album booklet where Manson unveiled his new tattoo for the first time publicly, in full view.

 

Also related to the Manson mythology which also fits this paradigm is that the starring role of the loveless scientist, played by Peter Lorre, is the same actor who played the child murderer in the film 'M' which Manson referenced various aspects of in his artwork and imagery in early 2006. See the Celebritarian Corporation Emblem section on The NACHTKABARETT for Manson's first evocations of the film 'M' and Peter Lorre, via the movie poster art of the film which illustrated the main visage of MarilynManson.com as well as an early watercolor of Manson's inspired by the child-shaped balloons sold by child killer Peter Lorre to lure his young victims.

At the climax of the film, it was Lorre's own creation which ultimately destroyed him; a set of hands transplanted onto the broken appendages of the husband of the woman whom he loves. They were the hands of a recently executed murderer which killed Lorre by flawlessly throwing a knife into his back as he was pursuing the one woman he loved, the same manner in which the murderer had used those very hands to slay his own victims.

Unrelated to Manson, it was also the final words of Peter Lorre in the film before his death which were sampled by the goth band London After Midnight for the introduction to their lovelorn song 'Your Best Nightmare' about a seductress who dies during orgasm. L.A.M. were themselves named after a 1927 classic horror film starring Lon Chaney.

Thank you to avid site reader JD Sword for submitting the cover art of 'Mad Love' to The NACHTKABARETT

 

Another visual parallel exists within the 'Eat Me, Drink Me' era's visuals, which was inspired by the Mad Love iconography. As can be seen within both the album artwork and repeated on the CD single for 'Putting Holes in Happiness', we see a closeup of Manson's eye with a heart as the pupil signifying a romantic and newly inspired Manson with literal 'hearts in his eyes'. In very close relation to the film and artwork of Mad Love, which portrayed an insane and malformed monster of a man who is driven to create his mad abominations by the love of a woman, Manson's eyes can be seen to signify this theme likewise in reflecting how Evan inspired his resurgence of creativity needed to compose the album .

Left ; CD single artwork for 'Putting Holes in Happiness'. Right ; Manson's animated eyes in a projection during the Rape of the World Tour.

Yet another visual relative can be seen by viewing the Mad Love artwork as a 'Heart Shaped Monocle', being one half a pair of 'Heart Shaped Glasses.

'Heart Shaped Glasses' single, reverse cover artwork with Manson wearing a masculine version the song-named glasses with a digitally superimposed Mad Love heart atop his left eye in emulation of the movie poster art. See also the LOLITA - EVAN RACHEL WOOD & HEART SHAPED GLASSES section of The NACHTKABARETT.

Left ; Heart Shaped Spiral logo on Ginger Fish's drums during the Rape of the World Tour, acting as a literal illustration of the heartbeat tempo that can be heard in the song Heart Shaped Glasses. Right ; the same logo projected on black curtains during the Rape of the World Tour. Thanks to Norsefire of Celebritarian.co.uk for the photo of Manson's passionate and heart-filled decapitation of Evan.

 

Left ; Festival of coiling hearts evocative of the Queen of Heart's roses garden, appearing and disappearing à la Cheshire Cat. An illustration of pure (love) madness closing Manson's performance on Heart Shaped Glasses during the Rape of the World tour. Right ; The Cheshire Cat fading to smile in a sequence from Disney's Alice in Wonderland, disappearing under the form of a twirling pink spiral while humming the Jabberwocky's melody, right after revealing a sad truth to Alice : "Most everyone's mad here"...

 

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