| "Look at Your Game, Girl" | |
|---|---|
| Song byCharles Manson | |
| from the albumLie: The Love and Terror Cult | |
| Released | 1970 |
| Recorded | 1968 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 2:00 |
| Label | ESP-Disk |
| Songwriter | Charles Manson |
| Producer | Phil Kaufman |
"Look at Your Game, Girl" is a song written byCharles Manson from his albumLie: The Love and Terror Cult (1970). Afolk rock andpsychedelic folk ballad about a confused young woman, the song was included on a tape that Manson sent to record companies. His version of the song received mostly positive reviews from critics, who felt that the track had musical merit and drew connections between its lyrics and the ways in which Manson manipulatedhis followers.
AfterAxl Rose was introduced toLie: The Love and Terror Cult,Guns N' Roses released a cover of "Look at Your Game, Girl" on their album"The Spaghetti Incident?" (1993). The Guns N' Roses version of the song is alounge music ballad with acousticguitar andcongas in its instrumentation that features elements ofBrazilian andCaribbean music. The band's cover of the track was negatively reviewed by critics, who felt it was in poor taste. Guns N' Roses' decision to cover the song sparked considerable controversy, as some worried that Manson could profit off the song. Ultimately, Manson's royalties from the cover were assigned to Bartek Frykowski, the son of Manson victim Voytek Frykowski, and the controversy did not hurt sales of"The Spaghetti Incident?".
"Look at Your Game, Girl" was written in 1968 in the hopes that it would help Manson to get a record contract.[1] The song is afolk rock[2] andpsychedelic folk song[3] with a length of two minutes.[4] It is a mid-tempo ballad,[5] and, like all of the songs onLie: The Love and Terror Cult, ademo.[6] Manson sings: "Think you're loving baby, but all you're doing is crying... Are those feelings real?";[3] the track is about an insane woman who is playing a "mad game"[7] and, in searching for love, has only found sadness.[6]
According to Alex Henderson ofAllMusic, "Look at Your Game, Girl" "embodies Manson's fundamental approach to influencing young women by targeting their socially imposed hang-ups and implying that his way is better and more liberating. This is problematic considering his remarkable knack for mind control." Manson generally took influence from figures such asThe Beatles,Robert A. Heinlein, andL. Ron Hubbard.[4] Discussing Manson's music, Mark Savage ofBBC News deemed his guitar playing "basic" and his lyrics "disorganized".[3]
Manson recorded a still-unreleased runthrough of "Look at Your Game, Girl" on the same eight-track tape thatThe Beach Boys used for the20/20 outtake "Well You Know I Knew".[8] A different recording of the song was included on a tape that Manson sent to record companies, after he was jailed for committing theTate murders in 1969, that tape was commercially released asLie in 1970 by Manson's former roommatePhil Kaufman, and copyrighted by Awareness Records.[5][9]
Alexis Petridis ofThe Guardian wrote that "If you could make a vague and far from watertight claim for a couple of the songs Manson recorded prior to the murders having some musical value – not least Look at Your Game, Girl – there is absolutely nothing worth hearing in [Manson's] subsequent recordings."[10]All About Jazz's Raul D'Gama Rose deemed "Look at Your Game, Girl" an "iconic" song which has "stood up to the test of time."[11] Chris Yates ofNoisey said that "The song is a semi-interesting folk rock anomaly, although obviously one that would have disappeared into oblivion if not for its author." Yates found it superior to the music made by cult leadersDavid Koresh andJim Jones.[2] Writing forGQ, Jeff Vrabel called the track a "Manson-penned banger"[12] whileTeamRock's Howard Johnson viewed the song as "surprisingly tender".[13] Mark Savage of BBC News said that Manson's music is "not very good" but that the lyrics of "Look at Your Game, Girl" "[paint] an eerily accurate picture of the methods he used to manipulate the members of his cult."[3] Eduardo Rivadavia ofUltimate Classic Rock viewed the song as a "psychedelic relic".[14]
There are conflicting accounts of howAxl Rose was first exposed to "Look at Your Game, Girl". Rose himself claimed that he was introduced to the track by his brother during a game of musical trivia.[7]Marilyn Manson discussed meeting Rose in his autobiography,The Long Hard Road Out of Hell (1998). According to the autobiography,Trent Reznor ofNine Inch Nails took Manson to aU2 concert where he met Rose backstage; there, Manson mentioned his song "My Monkey", which incorporates lyrics fromLie: The Love and Terror Cult. Rose commented that he had never heard ofLie, and Manson encouraged him to listen to it. Six months later, Rose's bandGuns N' Roses released a cover of "Look at Your Game, Girl" on"The Spaghetti Incident?" (1993),[15] a cover album ofpunk rock songs.[2] Marilyn Manson later expressed anger that it had become "trendy" for musicians to reference Charles Manson in their music.[16] Around the same time that Guns N' Roses covered "Look at Your Game, Girl", Rose wore a shirt depicting Charles Manson alongside the words "Charlie don't surf".[12]
Rose said that upon hearing "Look at Your Game, Girl" "I liked the lyrics and the melody. Hearing it shocked me, and I thought there might be other people who would like to hear it."[5] Rose also "felt that it was ironic that such a song [about insanity] was recorded by Charles Manson, someone who should know the inner intricacies of madness."[6] The song was released upon Rose's demand, despite protest from his bandmates. Rose along withDizzy Reed (on percussion) are the only members of Guns N' Roses to perform on the track, with the acoustic guitar played by Carlos Booy.[7] Guns N' Roses' cover is alounge music ballad[17][18] with elements ofBrazilian music[18] andCaribbean music,[19] as well ascongas in its instrumentation.[17]Geoffrey Himes ofPaste deemed the song "breezy"[18] while Bryan Rolli ofBillboard called it "sprightly".[9]
Rose's vocals on the track are nasal.[19] According to Himes ofPaste, Guns N' Roses' version does not substantially alter Charles Manson's original.[18] The cover ends with Rose saying "Thanks, Chas".[20] The song was released as ahidden track on the album[21] and Manson is never mentioned on the album's packaging.[6] On the album, "Look at Your Game, Girl" begins after twelve seconds of silence following the preceding track, "I Don't Care About You".[6] The band's publicist Bryn Bridenthal claimed that the band's decision to cover a Manson track was not meant to be apublicity stunt,[7] whileSlash said the cover was done in a spirit of "naive and innocent black humour".[10] Nick Kent ofThe Guardian reported that the track was intended as a message to Rose's ex-girlfriendStephanie Seymour.[22]
Rolling Stone's Elisabeth Garber-Paul wrote that the "straightforward cover" is "a rather unimpressive track on first listen", adding that it sounds like "a half-assed attempt at seducing a woman...until you realize that the guy who wrote it led a female-heavy cult."[19] In his review of"The Spaghetti Incident?",Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said that "the tacked-on Charles Manson song leaves a bad aftertaste, but not because of the song itself; the inclusion of the song seems like a publicity-seeking stunt, a way to increase their sales while trying to regain their street credibility. And asThe Spaghetti Incident? proves, they didn't need to stoop so low."[23]
Alexis Petridis ofThe Guardian wrote that Guns N' Roses' cover and other references to Manson by musicians are "an exercise in button-pushing, an increasingly hackneyed, cliched shortcut to suggest the artist involved is dangerous and unbiddable, an outlaw who defies conventional mores" and "frequently seem to be done without any real thought as to what exactly the artist is aligning themselves with".[10] Eduardo Rivadavia of Ultimate Classic Rock deemed the cover the single worst song of the band's career, dismissing it as "a forced attempt to underscore their 'most dangerous band in the world' reputation."[14] Conversely, the staff ofSpin called the song "Legitimately Kind of Good" and superior to "Paradise City" (1987), though they were sickened by the track's origins.[17]
According to Christopher R. Weingarten ofRolling Stone, "Covering a notorious murder-conspirator would be one of the last big controversies in the band's original run."[21]J. D. Considine wrote inThe Baltimore Sun that "the album had barely been in record stores a week before law-enforcement and victims-rights groups began expressing outrage."[6] Patti Tate, daughter ofDoris Tate and sister ofSharon Tate, responded to the cover by saying "Doesn't Axl Rose realize what this man did to my family? It really hurts and angers me that Guns N' Roses would exploit the murders of my sister and others for capital gain."[24] Jesse McKinley ofThe New York Times reported that Manson could earn up to $60,000 for every million copies of"The Spaghetti Incident?" that were sold,[5] while theCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said the figure was $62,000 for every million copies of the album sold.[6]David Geffen, the head ofGeffen Records, the label which released"The Spaghetti Incident?", commented: "The fact that Charles Manson would be earning money from the fame he derived committing one of the most horrific crimes of the 20th century is unthinkable to me";[5] Geffen had been acquainted with two of theManson Family's victims.[6]
To counter claims that he was glorifying Manson, Rose said that "I'm by no means a Manson expert or anything, but the things he's done are something I don't believe in. He's a sick individual."[5] Rose also claimed that he initially believed thatDennis Wilson, aBeach Boy and former acquaintance of Manson's, authored the song.[6] McKinley ofThe New York Times found Roses' claim dubious, as Rose thanks "Chas" on the cover. The band considered removing the track from subsequent copies of"The Spaghetti Incident?".[5] Manson's share of theroyalties was assigned to Bartek Frykowski, the son of Manson victim Voytek Frykowski.[7] Bartek Frykowski, whose children were fans of the band, commented that "Even though this new situation cannot change the past, my hope is that something positive will emerge for the future." He viewed the band's decision to cover a Manson track and the fallout from it as "a bizarre chain of events".[7] J. D. Considine ofThe Baltimore Sun noted that the controversy did not hinder the sales of"The Spaghetti Incident?".[6] The controversy led representatives ofNothing Records to tell Marilyn Manson that the label would not release "My Monkey",[15] though they later changed their minds and released the song.[25]
