SONG OF THE WEEK: Poison by Alice Cooper

SONG OF THE WEEK: Poison by Alice Cooper

What’s up guys? Shiningbind back here with another episode here on Shiningbind Band talk. This week, we are going to dive in with the song of the week, and that song is Poison by the godfather of shock rock himself, Alice Cooper. Anyways, before we actually go into the song, let’s talk briefly more on who Alice Cooper is for those who don’t know.

Alice Cooper is known for his raspy voice and unique stage shows with multiple props such as pyrotechnics, electric chairs, fake blood, guillotines, etc. which give that theatrical like vibe inspired by horror films, vaudeville, and garage rock to shock the crowd thus why he was given the name “The Godfather of Shock Rock”. If you have not been to a live Alice Cooper show, you are definitely missing out. However asides from being a well-known musician, Cooper is also an actor, a celebrity golfer, a restaurateur, and finally, a radio DJ. If you’re into that spooky vibe, I do recommend checking out his radio show, Nights with Alice Cooper. Now let’s dive into the song.

The song Poison was released as a single around late ‘89 from Cooper’s eighteenth album release, Trash. It did well on the UK charts, making it at number 2 whereas in the US it was number 7 on the Billboard 100. The lyrics do have a deep meaning about a girl who is toxic for Cooper, but he couldn't get over her resisting charms. Basically, the whole relationship is toxic, especially when the girl kept hurting him multiple times. Personally, I am sure a lot of us can relate to this song lyric wise myself included. Anyways, the song did appear in two video games, Rock Band and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, both great games by the way. The song melody alone does indeed have that interesting pop-metal feel at times, but it does break away from the earlier stuff that Cooper had put out. It’s like he turned it up a notch. The melody is quite simple, yet rewarding when the lyrics can have a powerful meaning along with some dark humor.

Fun fact, there are three versions of the videos Cooper had put out for the song, Poison. One of Cooper being chained to some strange mechanism while a ghostly woman hovers around him as he is singing. Frankly, the original version had a topless model, but got censored because of that. The final cut which mainly airs nowadays on MTV and such is where it’s alternate takes of Cooper near the end.

Overall, I give this song a 9 out of 10 because the lyrics are very powerful where a lot of us can relate to it. It has more of a unique sound which is different from Cooper’s earlier releases. In the end, I do recommend it to friends and family.