Only Women Bleed

"Only Women Bleed"
Single by Alice Cooper
from the album Welcome to My Nightmare
B-side"Cold Ethyl" (US)
"Devil's Food" (Europe)
ReleasedMarch 1975 (US)[1]
June 1975 (Europe)[2]
GenreSoft rock
Length5:50 (album version)[1]
3:31 (single version)
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Bob Ezrin
Alice Cooper singles chronology
"Muscle of Love"
(1974) 		"Only Women Bleed"
(1975) 		"Department of Youth"
(1975)

"Only Women Bleed" is a song by American rock singer Alice Cooper, released on his debut solo studio album Welcome to My Nightmare (1975). It was written by Cooper and Dick Wagner and was the second single from the album to be released.[3]

Background

It is a ballad about a woman in an abusive marriage. The song is often mistakenly presumed to be about menstruation, and that has limited its play on radio and in other public forums. As a single by Cooper, it was released as just "Only Women".

Prior to the release of Welcome to My Nightmare in the US, a shortened version of the song was released as a single and was alternatively titled "Only Women" by Atlantic Records due to protests by feminist groups.[4] The album version of the song features more orchestral movements than the single, and also runs longer than the 45 at 5:49.

According to co-writer Dick Wagner, the song's musical riff and vocal melody were developed several years earlier during his tenure with the late-1960s Michigan-based band the Frost, but Wagner had never liked his lyrics and the song was never recorded. He played the riff for Cooper, and the two developed new lyrics for the eventual Welcome to My Nightmare recording.[5]

Critical reception

Billboard staff responded warmly to this single. The lyric of it was described as "stunning".[6] Record World called it "a ballad with a surprisingly international flavor" and said that "Alice's new sound should prove a soft touch for reaching his widest audience yet!"[7] Beverley Legge of British weekly magazine Disc in his review of 5 July 1975 supposed that the listeners could be shocked by "subdued" sound of Cooper. As per him "the song is a fairly harmless lament about downtrodden maidens" and "quite unlike anything he's done before". Legge considered "change of style has worked" and named song "definitely one of the outstanding tracks" on the album. The B-side song of European release, "Devil's Food", was also taken from the album. It's sound was more similar to well-known style of Alice Cooper band, "packed with snarling vocals, angry guitar licks and plenty of phasing, making it a total contrast from the other track."[8]

Chart performance

It is one of Cooper's biggest hits, reaching number 1 on the Canadian RPM national singles chart[9] and number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1975. It is from his solo studio album Welcome to My Nightmare. It was the first of several ballad releases by Cooper that reached the top 20 of the Hot 100 singles chart.

Julie Covington version

Julie Covington's cover version of the song reached #12 on the UK Singles Chart when it was released as a single in 1977.[15] It was later included on the 2000 re-release of her eponymous 1978 studio album

Other cover versions

Other cover versions include Guns N' Roses, Glenn Hughes, and Ike & Tina Turner. A cover by the band Favorite Angel would peak at number 69 on the Hot 100 in September 1990.[16]

References

  1. ^ "Alice Cooper singles".
  2. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). Great Rock Discography. Canongate Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-86241-541-9.
  3. ^ "discogs.com". discogs.com. 1975. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  4. ^ Weber, Barry. "Only Women Bleed - Alice Cooper : Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
  5. ^ "Interview with Guitarist Dick Wagner 2010-10-17 : Outsight Radio Hours : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive". Internet Archive. 17 October 2010. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  6. ^ "Review: Alice Cooper — Only Women" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 87, no. 13. 29 March 1975. p. 50. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 16 May 2021 – via American Radio History.
  7. ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. April 5, 1975. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  8. ^ Legge, Beverley (5 July 1975). "Alice Cooper – "Only Women Bleed"" (PDF). Disc. Sutton: IPC Specialist and Professional Press Ltd. p. 8. ISSN 0308-1168. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 April 2023. Retrieved 24 April 2023 – via World Radio History.
  9. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2013-05-13.
  10. ^ "RPM - Library and Archives Canada | RPM - Bibliothèque et Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-08-01. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
  11. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 192.
  12. ^ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, June 28, 1975
  13. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  14. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  15. ^ "Only Women Bleed". Official Charts.
  16. ^ "Favorite Angel Songs ••• Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts".

Further reading