The Strangest Songs of Alice Cooper

Over Alice Cooper's 40+ year career, he's recorded in a range of different styles, from concept albums to even disco albums. He is a musical chameleon and I feel he's also a lyrical genius, which is exactly why I enjoy his albums. When you have snakes and guillotines on stage, a sense of humor is probably a necessity, which Alice has in spades. Here are a few examples of his most bizarre songs.

10. "You Look Good In Rags" (Special Forces)
It's been said that Alice Cooper doesn't recall recording any of his albums that were released in the first half of the 1980's. He was so far gone into his alcohol addiction that they're referred to as his 'blackout' albums. I could probably even make an entire list about those albums just because of how strange they are! Regardless of the circumstances, "You Look Good In Rags" is a definite rocker of a song, but the repeated use of "rags" earns this song a place on the list. The repetition of "rags" reminds me of the seagulls saying "mine" in Finding Nemo.

 

9. "Leather Boots" (Flush The Fashion)
Taken from the beginning of Alice's 'blackout' period, Flush the Fashion saw Alice adopt a "new wave" style. "Leather Boots" sounds as if The Cars decided to write a rock-a-billy song, with Cooper even sounding a bit like Cars' vocalist Ric Ocasek. With it's lyrics about police brutality, it sounds eerily timely.

8. "Unfinished Sweets" (Billion Dollar Babies)
This song could serve as a precursor to Alice's 1975 solo album, Welcome To My Nightmare, which was a theatrical concept album. "Unfinished Sweets" certainly has the theatrical side down with the music, while the lyrics are about nightmarish tooth decay.

7. "You Gotta Dance" (Alice Cooper Goes To Hell)
This 1976 concept album from Cooper is exactly what it sounds like, it's about a trip to Hell. I guess in Alice's version of Hell, you're doomed to disco dance for eternity. This song definitely rocks but tackling disco is kinda out there, even for Cooper.

6. "Disgraceland" (Dragontown)
The early 2000's saw Alice return to a hard rock style but this track is definitely an oddity. Alice has always been a musical chameleon, and this a perfect example as he's able to transform himself into Elvis Presley. The tongue-in-cheek song pokes fun at Elvis, mentioning how the "king" died on his "throne", and also that he ate his weight in country ham.

5. "The Saga Of Jesse Jane" (Dirty Diamonds)
On this song which is in the style of Johnny Cash, Alice sings about a cross-dresser who's locked in jail. It's amazing because Alice can easily morph into the style of a country ballad, yet add his own comedic lyrics, and it works. Here's just a sample of the chorus- "Jesse Jane, are you insane?
Or are you just a normal guy, who dresses like a butterfly, Jesse Jane."

4. "Millie And Billie" (From The Inside)
In 1978, Alice Cooper released an album called From The Inside, centered around his stay in a sanitarium. Each of the album's 10 songs take inspiration from people he met while there, with "Millie and Billie" being among the album's best songs. It is done as a duet with Alice Cooper as "Billie" and Marcy Levy as "Millie", which appears to be a love song, but then takes a grotesque turn. Millie and Billie fondly look back on the murders they've committed in the name of love.

3. "I'm Alive (That Was The Day My Dead Pet Returned To Save My Life)" (Zipper Catches Skin)
A bizarre song which is about exactly what it's title says- dead pets saving their owners. Each verse tells a different story, from a dog to a horse to rats, lots of rats. It's so bizarre that it could only come from the mind of Alice.

2. "I Love America" (Dada)
If you don't get a kick out of this song spoofing the American way, you probably don't have any marrow in your funny bone. This was the final 'blackout' album and also the last recorded for Warner Bros. before he was dropped from the label in 1983. He would later return clean and sober three years later with the album Constrictor and the following "Nightmare Returns" tour, which tapped into the popular heavy metal style of the 1980's.

1. "Cold Ethyl" (Welcome To My Nightmare)
Only Alice Cooper could write a song about necrophilia and make it such a blazing rocker. The song is excellently produced by Bob Ezrin, with the use of layered guitars and snappy percussion. I believe it could have even inspired many of Rob Zombie's songs (including the popular "Living Dead Girl"), due to it's use of a woman moaning, as Zombie's song always featured some form of horror movie sound effect.