"Look at Your Game, Girl" is a song written by

Charles Manson Charles Milles Manson (; November 12, 1934November 19, 2017) was an American criminal and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California, in the late 1960s. Some of the members committed a series of nine murders at four loca ...

from his album '' Lie: The Love and Terror Cult'' (1970). A

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...

and

psychedelic folk Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelia that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of folk, but adds musical elements common to psychedelic music. Chara ...

ballad about an insane 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 manipulated his followers. After

Axl Rose W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose Jr.; born February 6, 1962) is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its incep ...

was introduced to ''Lie: The Love and Terror Cult'',

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

released a cover of "Look at Your Game, Girl" on their album ''

"The Spaghetti Incident?" ''"The Spaghetti Incident?"'' is the fifth studio album by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. The album is composed of covers of older punk rock, hard rock, and other songs. ''"The Spaghetti Incident?"'' is the only studio album to ...

'' (1993). The Guns N' Roses version of the song is a

lounge music Lounge music is a type of easy listening music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It may be meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place, usually with a tranquil theme, such as a jungle, an island paradise or outer space. The rang ...

ballad with acoustic

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

s in its instrumentation that features elements of Brazilian and

Caribbean music Caribbean music genres are very diverse. They are each synthesis of African, European, Arab, Asian, and Indigenous influences, largely created by descendants of African slaves (see Afro-Caribbean music), along with contributions from other commun ...

. 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 of 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?"''.

Background and composition

"Look at Your Game, Girl" was written in 1968 in the hopes that it would help Manson to get a record contract. The song is a

and

song with a length of two minutes. It is a mid-tempo ballad, and, like all of the songs on ''Lie: The Love and Terror Cult'', a

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

. Manson sings: "Think you're loving baby, but all you're doing is crying... Are those feelings real?"; the track is about an insane woman who is playing a "mad game" and, in searching for love, has only found sadness. According to Alex Henderson of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, "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 as

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

, and

L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy stories, who is best known for having founded the Church of Scientology. In 1950, Hubbard authored '' Dianetic ...

. Discussing Manson's music, Mark Savage of

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

deemed his guitar playing "basic" and his lyrics "disorganized". Manson recorded a still-unreleased runthrough of "Look at Your Game, Girl" on the same eight-track tape that

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

used for the ''

20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...

'' outtake "Well You Know I Knew". A different recording of the song was included on a tape that Manson sent to record companies, after he was jailed for committing the

Tate murders Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

in 1969, that tape was commercially released as ''Lie'' in 1970 by Manson's former roommate Phil Kaufman, and copyrighted by Awareness Records.

Critical reception

Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis ( el, Αλέξης Πετρίδης; born 13 September 1971) is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for the UK newspaper ''The Guardian'', as well as a regular contributor to the magazine '' GQ''. In addition to his mus ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' 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 anson'ssubsequent recordings." ''

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

'' Raul D'Gama Rose deemed "Look at Your Game, Girl" an "iconic" song which has "stood up to the test of time." Chris Yates of ''

Noisey ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, the founders later launched the youth media company Vice Media, ...

'' 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 leaders

David Koresh David Koresh (; born Vernon Wayne Howell; August 17, 1959 – April 19, 1993) was an American cult leader who played a central role in the Waco siege of 1993. As the head of the Branch Davidians, a religious sect and offshoot of the Davidian Sev ...

and

Jim Jones James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American preacher, political activist and mass murderer. He led the Peoples Temple, a new religious movement, between 1955 and 1978. In what he called "revolutionary suicide", ...

. Writing for '' GQ'', Jeff Vrabel called the track a "Manson-penned banger" while

TeamRock ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form a ...

's Howard Johnson viewed the song as "surprisingly tender". Mark Savage of BBC News said that Manson's music is "not very good" but that the lyrics of "Look at Your Game, Girl" "

aint The word "ain't" is a contraction for ''am not'', ''is not'', ''are not'', ''has not'', ''have not'' in the common English language vernacular. In some dialects ''ain't'' is also used as a contraction of ''do not'', ''does not'' and ''did not''. ...

an eerily accurate picture of the methods he used to manipulate the members of his cult." Eduardo Rivadavia of

Ultimate Classic Rock Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

viewed the song as a "psychedelic relic".

Guns N' Roses version

Background and composition

There are conflicting accounts of how

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.

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

discussed meeting Rose in his autobiography, ''

The Long Hard Road Out of Hell ''The Long Hard Road Out of Hell'' is the autobiography of Marilyn Manson, leader of the American rock band of the same name. The book was released on February 14, 1998 and co-authored by Neil Strauss. Summary The book follows Manson's lif ...

'' (1998). According to the autobiography,

Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...