10 Most Controversial Music Videos Of All Time

This dark and miserable track was intended as the third single from Manson’s 5th album, The Golden Age of Grotesque. The lyrics centre on Manson’s anguish over someone who he feels used him simply for his fame before leaving him. It has often been suggested that the lyrical tirade was aimed at ex-girlfriend Rose McGowan who he had recently split from at the time.

Directed by Asia Argento, it features several risqué video nasties. Scenes of self-harm, sexual acts and cocaine being snorted straight off a Bible were among the many reasons parent label Interscope Records banned releasing it in the United States. Financed by Manson himself, the video was screened in Japan and Germany where the nudity and sexual scenes were censored.

Discussing the video in an interview with the Edmonton Sun, Manson explained, “And I wasn't trying to be graphic or shocking. But the song (s)Aint was I wanted to do something that someone had never seen from me. Just me at my worst. No makeup — not shaven. Just almost like Leaving Las Vegas. Just the deepest, deepest depression — it's where I was. I was trying to recreate how I felt, prior to me just relaxing and taking it easy and not stressing about work so much. And just winding down off of being on tour for eight months. You become oversaturated with energy and drugs and alcohol, everything possible.”

Criticised heavily for its extreme content, the track came at a time when Manson was under scrutiny due to purportedly inspiring copycat crime. The murder of teenager Jodi Jones was considered eerily similar to depictions of the Black Dahlia in Doppelherz, a short film Manson made to accompany the album. Manson has frequently denied the claim, suggesting the media like to blame celebrities instead of analysing the lives of the people actually involved.