Rock Is Dead

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"Rock Is Dead"
Single by Marilyn Manson
from the album The Matrix: Music from the Motion Picture & Mechanical Animals
Released	June 14, 1999
Format	CD single
Genre	Industrial metal
Length	3:09
Label	Nothing/Interscope
Marilyn Manson singles chronology
"I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)" (1998) "Rock Is Dead" (1999) "Coma White" (1999)

"Rock Is Dead" is a single from Marilyn Manson's third studio album, Mechanical Animals. It is also featured on The Matrix Soundtrack and Midnight Club 3.

Concept

The song's title itself seems to further allude to Manson's ongoing interest in the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, in this particular case, at least for the title, his concept of God is dead. It could also be referring to the incumbent Western culture that has been widely accepted, and therefore "Rock is dead" could be used in the same fashion that Nietzsche was using "God is dead": to break the accepted mainstream consciousness. However, the title may be perceived as a spin on the "Punk is dead" idea.

Music video

The video of the song features Manson in costume (as Omega) and his band (perhaps as the "Mechanical Animals" band) performing onstage. This is the only video to feature Marilyn Manson's back up singer, who sings on several other songs. She is most notably heard on the live version of "The Dope Show" on The Last Tour On Earth.They are later shown destroying their instruments, an allusion to Manson's destruction of the life-size statuettes of himself (as Omega) in The Dope Show video. Another version of the video contains the same performance footage edited with footage from The Matrix for which the song was featured as a promotional single.

Tracks

1. Rock Is Dead
2. I Don't Like Drugs (But Drugs Like Me)
3. I Can't See Why (Baxter)