“Manson twisted the lyrics in the Beatles songs to fit his own warped view of what he wanted to happen.” The Beatles as 'Spokesmen' “When the uprising didn't come fast enough for Manson, he had to move it along and ‘do something witchy,’ which is what he told Tex Watson and the ‘girls’ to do those infamous August nights of 1969,” she says. Wiehl says Bugliosi effectively argued that Manson had taught his followers that the music was filled with subliminal messages and symbols, and that they all pointed to one goal: the uprising and Helter Skelter. “And when Manson took the stand in his defense he said ‘the children’ were listening to the music and it told them what to do.” “He had to prove conspiracy to murder, even though Manson had never even held a weapon in the murders, let along plunged a knife in to any of the victims' throats,” she says. Manson Family Trial's Bizarre TestimonyĨ Fascinating Facts About Ancient Roman Medicineĭuring the Manson Family trial, prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi had a difficult task, according to Wiehl. “While he previously was most interested in his own music career-and engaging in group sex with his ‘Family’ members-his attention now turned to the lyrics of Beatles’ songs to guide his Family and the purpose for their future,” she says. Specifically, Fox notes, the written and (in his mind) unwritten lyrics of “Helter Skelter.” after the 'Blacks' had 'risen up'-Helter Skelter-and all would be nirvana.”īryanna Fox, assistant criminology professor at the University of South Florida and associate editor of the Journal of Criminal Psychology, says Manson quickly became fascinated with the “White Album” following its late-1968 release. in shambles and only he, Charles Manson, and his followers, who would be waiting in the desert for the exact right time to appear, would come in and save the city,” she says. The 'White Album' Inspires Manson's Dark Fantasyīut, Wiehl adds, as his musical aspirations continued to be dashed in Hollywood, Manson’s anger grew and he turned to the lyrics in the “White Album” to bolster “the scheme that was forming inside his warped mind, a scheme that would involve the entire L.A.