*** Welcome to piglix ***

The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles

"The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles"
Marilyn Manson The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles.jpg
Single by Marilyn Manson
from the album The Pale Emperor
Released May 11, 2015
Format Promo single
Recorded 2014
Los Angeles, California
(Abattoir Studios; Igloo Studios)
Genre
Length 4:57 (album version)
3:13 (radio edit)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Manson
  • Bates
Marilyn Manson singles chronology
"Cupid Carries a Gun"
(2015)
"The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles"
(2015)
"The Devil Beneath My Feet"
(2015)
"Cupid Carries a Gun"
(2015)
"The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles"
(2015)
"The Devil Beneath My Feet"
(2015)

"The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles" is a song by American rock band Marilyn Manson, released as a promotional single from the band's ninth studio album, The Pale Emperor (2015).

"The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles" is a midtempoblues-inspiredrock song, which runs for a duration of four minutes and 57 seconds. 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. "The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles" was the original title track of The Pale Emperor and, according to Manson, "the album's heart". According to Ultimate Guitar, the song is written in common time with a moderately fast tempo of 125 beats per minute. The track follows a basic chord sequence of Am–Cmaj7–F–C–G–Em7–Am–Cm in the verse, while each chorus is composed of four repetitions of an Am–Cmaj7–F–G sequence.

Directed by Francesco Carrozzini and featuring a cameo from The Wire and Boardwalk Empire actor Michael K. Williams – who began uploading images from the video shoot to their social media accounts in late March – the official music video for the song was released on May 11, 2015 on the band's official YouTube channel.

The black-and-white video begins with Michael K. Williams emerging from a shadowy alleyway. Acting as a Faustian narrator, he presses his head between two steel bars and says "The first time I met him, I could feel the hounds of hell on my trail". Williams is dressed in attire similar to the kind worn by 1930s blues musician Robert Johnson – who, according to legend, entered into a Faustian pact with the Devil in exchange for his musical prowess. Williams' soliloquy goes on to describe his first encounter with Mephistopheles, the character played by Manson, before a title sequence appears.


...
Wikipedia

...