Apple of Sodom (song)

A music video was directed by Joseph Cultice, although initially was not made public due to its low-budget nature and depiction of nudity.

At the suggestion of a mutual friend, David Lynch chose Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails to produce the soundtrack to his film Lost Highway (1997).

[1] Among the artists chosen were Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, David Bowie, Lou Reed, The Smashing Pumpkins and Rammstein.

[1] After meeting with Lynch, Manson contributed two songs to the soundtrack: "Apple of Sodom", which was written specifically for Lost Highway, and a cover of "I Put a Spell on You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins; the latter had previously been featured on the band's platinum-selling extended play Smells Like Children (1995).

[4] The track opens with a whispered, "barely audible" line of dialogue from Lost Highway, where one of the protagonists, Alice (Patricia Arquette), says "You will never have me.

[3] Manson elaborated that he was a "huge fan" of Apple's music, and that "If I was ever to be put in a circumstance where I could have sex with her, I would decline because her vagina is probably too precious to be dirtied by my filthy cock.

"[3] In a review of the Lost Highway soundtrack, The Daily Aztec praised "Apple of Sodom" and the band's version of "I Put a Spell on You", saying that they "both make listeners feel like they're entering something dangerous.

Manson's screaming and jungle drum beats give the songs a sarcastic, stereotypical horror film feeling, and at the same time the tunes are among the catchiest on the record.

"[10] James P. Wisdom of Pitchfork described "Apple of Sodom" and "I Put a Spell on You" as "reasonably good" and superior to the Angelo Badalamenti instrumentals on the Lost Highway album.

[1] Fact deemed it one of the greatest songs ever to appear in or be inspired by a Lynch project, alongside the Pixies' cover of "In Heaven" from Eraserhead (1977) and Julee Cruise's "Falling" from Twin Peaks.

[6] Alec Chillingworth of Metal Hammer put "Apple of Sodom" fourth on the magazine's list of Manson's ten most underrated songs.

"[9] Slant Magazine's Jeremiah Kipp felt that the inclusion of Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails songs in Lost Highway "places [the film] in the mid-1990s...sadly losing the timelessness of most of Lynch's work".

[16] Dan Epstein of Revolver said: "In retrospect, the video's grainy quality actually makes it powerfully effective, especially in the cinematic scene where the nude, alien-like female pulls a plug out of her torso and proceeds to bleed to death."