A song on
Alice Cooper's 1973
Billion Dollar Babies album.
While friends and lovers mourn your silly grace,
I have other uses for you, darling.
The song is very theatrical, tapping into the same musical traditions that Queen was exploring, but in a much lighter, ironic way. Echoing chords from a concert piano, atmospheric drumming and an elastic bass provide a wonderful background for the swirling lines of the solo guitar and the vocal part.
Even if you don't like the results, you'll appreciate the tremendous care and craftsmanship put into Alice Cooper's music. Originally a straight rock and roll band (think Aerosmith), they tried to grow out of that, and put serious effort and professional skill into all aspects of their music.
In doing this they followed a dominant trend in rock music, originally set by the Beatles. It is often said that The Monkees were America's answer to the Beatles, but they only responded to Beatlemania. From a musical point of view, Alice Cooper is America's answer to Sgt. Pepper, and I love the dead is Alice Cooper's A day in the life.