At the time the Family began to form, Manson was an unemployed ex-convict who had spent half of his life in correctional institutions for a variety of offenses. Before the murders, he was a singer-songwriter on the fringe of the Los Angeles music industry, chiefly through a chance association with Dennis Wilson, drummer and founding member of The Beach Boys. Manson believed in what he called "Helter Skelter", a term he took from the Beatles' song of the same name to describe an impending apocalyptic race war. He believed the murders would help precipitate that war. From the beginning of his notoriety, a pop culture arose around him in which he ultimately became an emblem of insanity, violence and the macabre. After Manson was charged with the crimes of which he was later convicted, recordings of songs written and performed by him were released commercially, starting with Lie: The Love and Terror Cult (1970). Various musicians have covered some of his songs.
Manson was originally sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted to life with the possibility of parole after California invalidated the state's death penalty statute in 1972. He served out his life sentence at California State Prison in Corcoran and died at age 83 in 2017.
On March 6, 1970 (the day the court vacated Manson's status as his own attorney),:258–269 LIE, an album of Manson music, was released. This included "Cease to Exist", a Manson composition the Beach Boys had recorded with modified lyrics and the title "Never Learn Not to Love". Over the next couple of months, only about 300 of the album's 2,000 copies sold.
Since that time, there have been several releases of Manson recordings – both musical and spoken.[69] One of these, The Family Jams, includes two compact discs of Manson's songs recorded by the Family in 1970, after Manson and the others had been arrested. Guitar and lead vocals are supplied by Steve Grogan:125–127 additional vocals are supplied by Lynette Fromme, Sandra Good, Catherine Share, and others. One Mind, an album of music, poetry, and spoken word, new at the time of its release, in April 2005, was put out under a Creative Commons license.
According to a popular urban legend, Manson unsuccessfully auditioned for the Monkees in late 1965; this is refuted by the fact that Manson was still incarcerated at McNeil Island at that time.
In 2010, Manson recorded an album of acoustic pop songs with additional production by Henry Rollins, titled Completion. Only five copies were pressed; two belong to Rollins, while the other three are presumed to have been with Manson. The album remains unreleased.
Big Iron Door
Charles Manson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Went the big iron door
They put me in a cell
With a concrete floor
Nine other men in that cell with me
Moanin' their fate with destiny
Clang bang clang
Early in the mornin'
At the crack of dawn
They wake us to the tune of a bong bong bong
Line up for chow
Munchin' hard bread
Drinkin' black coffee with that noise in my head
Clang bang clang
Clang bang clang bang clang
The judge said to me, now boy
You had it
coming to ya
And with the flick of a pen
Sentenced me to ten
Now I'm doin' time in a prison cell
The walls are gray and the food is stale
The lyrics of Charles Manson's song "Big Iron Door" details the woes of prison life. The repeated phrase "clang bang clang" underscores the sound of the big iron doors shutting, isolating the persona from the outside world. The latter is then condemned to a life within a cell with nothing but concrete floors to stand on. The persona then joins nine other men, who are resigned to their destined fate. Manson uses the stark imagery of chow time to describe the monotony of prison life, which is further highlighted by the noise generated by the black coffee and hard bread. Manson describes the judge as giving him what he deserved, sentencing him to ten years, and ultimately miring him into this dreary world of gray walls and stale food.
Line by Line Meaning
Clang bang clang
The sound of the big iron door slamming shut
Went the big iron door
The door was closed and locked, trapping the singer inside the cell
They put me in a cell
The singer was imprisoned and confined to a small space
With a concrete floor
The cell was bare and uncomfortable, with nothing but a hard, cold floor to sleep on
Nine other men in that cell with me
The singer was not alone in his imprisonment – there were other inmates in the same cell
Moanin' their fate with destiny
The other inmates were resigned to their fate and seemed to have given up hope of ever being free
Early in the mornin'
The day started early, with the inmates being woken up at dawn
At the crack of dawn
The sun had just risen, signaling the start of a new day
They wake us to the tune of a bong bong bong
The inmates were roused from their sleep by the sound of a bell or alarm
Line up for chow
The inmates had to form a line to get food
Munchin' hard bread
The inmates were given stale or hard bread to eat
Drinkin' black coffee with that noise in my head
The inmates had to drink caffeine to wake up and start their day, but this only added to the noise in their heads
The judge said to me, now boy
The singer was addressed by the judge during his trial
You had it coming
The judge believed the singer deserved to be punished for his crimes
We're sending you down
The judge was sentencing the singer to a term in prison
To the Big Iron Doors awaiting
The singer would be entering a prison with large, imposing doors
Behind those doors you'll pay
The singer's punishment would be served behind the doors of the prison
For the wrongs you've been creating
The singer had committed crimes and would be held accountable for them
I sit and wonder every day
The singer spends much of his time reflecting on his situation
How I ended up this way
The singer is regretful and uncertain about how he came to be in prison
Behind the bars that keep me in
The singer is physically trapped by the prison bars
With only my thoughts to dwell within
The singer has little outside stimulation and must rely on his own thoughts to keep himself occupied
The Big Iron Doors will open soon
The singer is anticipating the end of his imprisonment and a chance for freedom
And I'll be a free man once again
The singer longs to be released from prison and regain his freedom
Until then I'll just endure
The singer resigns himself to his current situation and must wait until he is released
The clang bang clang of my prison's lure
The sound of the prison doors is a constant reminder of the singer's confinement and the lure of the prison's confines
Contributed by Austin A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Corey
on I'm Free Now
"I'm Free Now" Charles Manson - The Commemoration
There is a song,
I've been searchin for; ill find it
it's here, it's the song i wanted to
write down for you
but i just cant seem to think about anything to do
an old forgotten thing i should've remembered
i even, have trouble, remembering you
so if i see your mark on the road
if i see a smile on your face
you know in my soul know i know
it's just another world another place
keeps on; don't hold on; free
be your friend; your what you got
and you can let the peace pour in
no soul is forever now free now
free now free now free now free now
TO PROVE IM FREE i must act like a fool get a gun and bust someone in the He-he-head
walk along, saying better leave me alone or .... ima let ya play dead
I wanna be free to be, the one I see
just walking along in the sunshine
Live my life and be mine, Lead someone that's blind
Oh, if I could help an old bug off a bush or a tree
Keep on saving, the one im saving me,
ya know i've been here forever now
if im here right now
its cuz you couldn't get me killed
you sorry motherfukin dogs
witches on bitch that run on logs
but ya keep on frying my blood
keep on raising my bird from the mud
keep on stompin me to the the ground
keep on hitting me in the eye
find out where your going
"just watch it there"
see where it's goin; you know it's there
you keep on trusting something that's not even you
in case something happens you think you'll know what to do
NOw you wanna keep on playing on the fake side
They keep on playin on the night side , hide light
Yellow movin on, i see my yellow movin on,
I see my yellow and my yellow and my yellow and my yellow moving on
China man talkin on takin on bills on bills on bills
on someones desk, card check the credit pit
Got a french poodle baby, i pet the french poodle baby,
or, talk about, making it into a hamburger
*Whistles***
"Right about now, ladies and gentleman i'm supposed to give you something you can identify with. Something that would be in that world you call the past. But if i did, i wouldn't be the first and I would't be the last."
Lyrics by: Corey Amond