The record contains a wide array of cultural references, beginning with the first track: the poem recited in "Prelude (The Family Trip)" is an adaption of a poem originally from the 1964 novel "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", which later appeared during the tunnel boat ride scene from "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory". In his autobiography, "The Long Hard Road Out of Hell", Manson explained that the lyrics to the second song on the album, "Cake and Sodomy", were inspired by a trip to New York City in 1990. He said that he wrote its lyrics in a hotel room after spending several hours viewing public-access cable television and "watching Pat Robertson preach about society's evils and then ask people to call him with their credit card number. On the adjacent channel, a guy was greasing up his cock with Vaseline and asking people to call and give him their credit card number." The song's intro contains several samples, including Marlon Brando in the 1972 film "Last Tango in Paris" saying "Go on and smile, you cunt!", and Mink Stole's character from John Waters' 1977 film "Desperate Living" repeatedly screaming "White trash!".