Alice Cooper – Master Lyricist

Alice Cooper – Master Lyricist

Ray Davies of the Kinks is often noted as the greatest rock and roll songwriter ever. Alice Cooper is often noted as the prince of macabre rock and roll theater. 

But has Alice received the recognition deserved for his creative and clever lyrics? Maybe for some of his big hits in the 70’s but he has continued to put out great music well into this century. Much of it under the radar.

Take, for example, his 2003 album “The Eyes Of Alice Cooper”.  This is no rock star taking a vacation.  The 2010 Behind the Music Remastered described, “Between High School & Old School” as “a modern Alice Cooper classic”. The songs “What Do You Want From Me?” and “Man Of The Year” are two other gems on this underappreciated effort.

But what strikes us most is “The Song That Didn’t Rhyme”. Not a hard rocker by any means, but a lyrical tour de force. Starting with “Wrote a song, it was wrong from its very first conception” you know you have something special. And then the chorus:

“The melody blows in a key that no one can find
The lyrics don’t flow but I can’t get it out of my mind
A three minute waste of your time
On a song that didn’t rhyme”

So many more good lines that we’ll encourage you to listen at the link below. You may even say he’s a better songwriter than Ray Davies.