Talk:Dope Hat (song)
Personal commentary[edit]
Review by J7
- This section is only for archive purposes and has not been confirmed by any authority, and is only J7's interpretation written for your pleasure.
The third and final single from Portrait of an American Family, Dope Hat is probably the most unmistakeable track off the album. Many people assume from the lyrics that the song is superfluous; about Manson’s drug addiction. But the main point Brian was trying to illustrate, using his fascination with the 1971 film Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, was how he saw Willy Wonka in the role of the Satanic archetype. In other words, a higher power that leads people to their destruction through temptation. The line, “We all know the hat is wearing me” implys that Wonka was controlled by some extant force, or the determination to see who would take over his company, at any cost. Manson alludes to men and women who allow themselves to be turned away from actual work with constant distractions set up by the rich and powerful, hinting at the this behavior in the line “I let my mind give in, yeah yeah.” The song is one of the most loaded on the album, accompanied by audio samples from various old television shows aimed at children. This integration of sampling with industrial rock can be a bit jarring at first, but in the right mood, in blends in together with sinister perfection. Whether you see it as a song about dope or a comment on the deception of the powerful, Dope Hat is a playful menage of the darkness and the fanciful