Tattooed in Reverse

Maybe the line "Tattooed in Reverse" is meant differently. Usually when you get a tattoo you get your skin "turned black". The phrase Tattooed in Reverse could both mean that the skin is turned white, but also that you were born white not black, or black not white.

If you say that Marilyn Manson is dark (thought wise, music wise, soul wise, etc.) you could also say that he is dark inside, while white outside.

One could also see it as being the outsider, despite being white.

I think most of the lyrics other than the phrase as well as the video make sense with that interpretation.

I think it's too easy to say it's about "not regretting", isn't it?

Maybe "Someone else will pay for your sins" stands for this egoistic world.

I think manson means by tattooed and reverse then is being branded because he mentions about not being a show horse & not being bridled.

the song is about opposites or contradictions of ingrained beliefs. constantly throughout the video and song it is a battle of opposites, good/evil, black/white, girl/boy. more specifically in my opinion, its about sex scandals in religion turning the pure (church clergy) bad, and the singer becoming pure from bad in turn, as he really hasn't done anything wrong.

the lyrics above are full of errors, so look the lyrics up elsewhere. first stanza is sung from the point of view of manson, he's saying screw you to religion, (f your bible and your babel - babel is to talk in tongues - a hint to church lying to cover up sex scandals?) psalm into a dirty bomb, so dance mf dance - this song exposes the apparent clean religion for being dirty, so they better "dance mf dance" - take action and make haste to cover up the scandal.

next stanza - (im unstabled) manson isnt stabled as in he isnt any paticular form of religion. hes definitley not a show horse either. he cant be bridled as in he cant be 'saved' and converted to a religion. unscabbed and unregretted - the church has been in plenty of fights lately about sexual abuse, metaphorical scabbing is the after effect of a fight, no one feels sorry for him although the faithful feel sorry for the church when another allegation is made. tattooed in reverse, back in the day someone with tattoos was seen as someone not to be messed with, yet now a tattooed manson is exposing the truth, while the clean skin church is the outcast being shunned.

you cant play this game you lost all the pieces - church attendance rates around the world are declining. hold your breath and just wait, some one else will pay for your sins - if the church can stay silent for long enough and hold on, then some one else will pay for their sins of sexual abuse. the one paying will be the victims as it affects them later in life, or as it leads to suicide, making it unable for the victim to speak up abut the past incidents. not convinced by the costume - people in the church wear all sorts of outfits that are meant to mark them as a helper/guide/mentor, yet in mansons eyes the outfits are just costumes worn to attract the vulnerable. not my goddam cup of tears - in roman times containers of tears from people at a funeral were buried with the body as a sign of love and respect, here manson is saying he has no love or respect for the church.

repeat chorus. next stanza - your confession means nothing - any form of acknowledgment of abuse by the church means little to the victims, by the time the confession comes its a long time past, and the perpetrator has been moved on to offend elsewhere. so f your attrition - manson doesnt care about church declining numbers, as this may be related to the lack of ownership and responsibility of the abuse rather than people losing their moral compass. their aint nothing in my hour glass except sands from a dead sea and I made it my weapon - has time run out for the church (nothing in my hourglass), are they so stuck in the ways of the past (sand from a dead sea (dead sea scrolls?)) they haven't moved with the times?