"The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles" is a promo single and the fourth track on Marilyn Manson's 2015 studio album The Pale Emperor.
Writer: Marilyn Manson
Composer: Tyler Bates
Summary[]
Lyrically, the song finds Manson comparing himself with Mephistopheles, a Germanic mythical demon who collects the souls of the damned. The figure gained wider popularity as a character in the Faust legend.
As the song begins, it is interrupted by loud chants of "Hallelujah", and Mephistopheles is seen in a large open space surrounded by a group of followers made up of gang members and prostitutes. Mephistopheles begins reading and blessing his followers in an exaggerated fashion, reminiscent of the style employed by a televangelist. As several members of the group begin bowing and kissing Mephistopheles' hand, one of them begins screaming and contorts his body, symbolizing demonic possession. All members of the gang then embrace Mephistopheles, and follow him out of the open space.
In a subsequent scene, Mephistopheles is seen wandering down an alleyway, where he enters a room with a trinity of similar looking women. He eventually chooses one of the women by blessing them, and he begins baptizing her in a bathtub full of muddy water. When she loses consciousness, Mephistopheles revives her with the kiss of life, only to forcibly hold her under the water once again. After a prolonged, sinister gaze directly in to the camera, Mephistopheles holds the now-thrashing woman underwater until she appears lifeless. The video ends with Mephistopheles holding her drowned body in the air. [1]
The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles[]
Marilyn Manson - The Mephistopheles Of Los Angeles (Official Music Video)
Lyrics[]
I don't know if I can open up
I've been opened enough
I don't know if I can open up
I'm not a birthday present
I'm aggressive regressive
The past is over
And passive scenes so pathetic
Are we fated, faithful, or fatal?
Are we fated, faithful, or fatal?
I'm feeling stoned and alone like a heretic
And I'm ready to meet my maker
I'm feeling stoned and alone like a heretic
I'm ready to meet my maker
Lazarus has got no dirt on me
Lazarus has got no dirt on me
And I'll rise to every occasion
I'm the Mephistopheles of Los Angeles
Of Los Angeles
Don't know if I can open up
I been opened too much
Double-crossed glossed over in my pathos
Are we fated, faithful, or fatal?
Are we fated, faithful, or fatal?
I'm feeling stoned and alone like a heretic
And I'm ready to meet my maker
I feel stoned and alone like a heretic
I'm ready to meet my maker
Lazarus has got no dirt on me
Lazarus has got no dirt on me
And I'll rise to every occasion
I'm the Mephistopheles of Los Angeles
Of Los Angeles
Are we fated, faithful, or fatal?
Are we fated, faithful, or fatal?
I'm feeling stoned and alone like a heretic
And I'm ready to meet my maker
I'm feeling stoned and alone like a heretic
I'm ready to meet my maker
I'm feeling stoned and alone like a heretic
And I'm ready to meet my maker
I'm feeling stoned and alone like a heretic
I'm ready to meet my maker
Lazarus has got no dirt on me
Lazarus has got no dirt on me
And I'll rise to every occasion
I'm the Mephistopheles of Los Angeles
Of Los Angeles
I'm the Mephistopheles of Los Angeles