So apparently this is the single version of the song. Sorry about that, it was the one listed on the album for Spotify so I had no idea😬 Still good either way though lol! Enjoy your day!🎃
JustJP Tina Turner,'s cover of " Only Women Bleed" is heartwrencing as she performs with her abuser( Ike Turner) ! Perhaps the best cover ever. Forgive the link,but use this one! This is a must react!! ua-cam.com/video/Ie_u53Se_3g/v-deo.html
I am glad you are enjoying this album. You have no idea how controversial this was in 1975. It split the fanbase, but brought in a horde of new fans. Many older fans objected to the instrumentation, production, and overall slickness of the product. On the other hand, it was accessible to a brand new audience. This song was a real wedge between the older fans and newer audience. Alice Cooper playing a feminist power ballad was his most shocking move yet, even more so than cross-dressing, on-stage beheadings, and performing with snakes.
Back in the "70's domestic violence just wasn't talked about. What happened in the house stayed in the house. We all knew it was happening but society, and law enforcement looked the other way. That's why it was altered and censored for AM radio. This song was a real risky subject for any artist to bring up. "You And Me" was the complete opposite. A truly beautiful song about the love between a man and a woman....as it should be.
Several notes about this song. First of all this is the single version. The album version is a little more of an opus. I reccommend a mulligan on this one. The title was changed on the single to Only Women. Only Women Bleed was in fact too controversial for radio play back in the day. Radio programmers lost their shit when they saw the title and just knew that Alice was about to release some way-out-there song about periods. Good call there. This is Alice's most covered song. Tina Turner, Etta James, Guns and Roses and Tori Amos among others. OWB was the highest charting single from the album. I hate to be the spoiler, but the song will make more sense to the concept of the entire album once you hear Years Ago/Steven/The Awakening. You'll see that this song is the central point of the nightmare/delusion of Steven. OWB was probably the first song that directly addressed the issue of spousal abuse. In 1975 slapping your wife around was still considered a comedy staple by most people Except of course, those on the receiving end of the abuse. Who would of thought that Alice Cooper, the scourge of decent people everywhere would be one of the first to bring this topic into the forefront of conversation. OWB was the first in a string of ballads that charted for Alice in the late 70's. When it was first played for a group of label and radio execs no one guessed it was Alice Cooper. They all thought it was James Taylor.
Alice waa a big Burt Bacharach fan. You can definitely here it in his ballads. Artists back then had a much wider range of influences Alice no exception.
Have you heard Tina Turner's cover? "Only Women Bleed" (75 the year it was rejeased) you need to! Absolutely heartwrenching (and performed with her abuser) perhaps the best cover ever! Forgive the link but use this one! ua-cam.com/video/Ie_u53Se_3g/v-deo.html
I'd certainly call it a ballad and a significant song. It's a moment of truth amongst the shock-rock fantasy songs. I think it encourages awareness and sympathy of the issues you pointed out. Alice's '70s ballads did well in the singles charts, this went to #1 in Canada and #12 in the US. Other ballads released as singles: I Never Cry, You and Me, How You Gonna See Me Now.
Always loved this song and thought to myself "I don't remember it being that short". Then I saw the comments and realized I wasn't imagining it. We forgive you for playing the shorter version. If you ever get the opportunity, you should listen to the longer one on your own. Love your analysis, love your reaction. I'm having a lot of fun with you playing this album, brings back a lot of memories of my youth.
Always liked the song, hadn’t heard it for a long time. Listening, I can hear the Ezrin touches, clean guitars, children vocals, swooping strings, etc. The Wall comes to mind. Still like it.
Oh, Justin, my friend, the single version of this song does it no justice at all. The album version takes you through the emotional feel of the lyrics, with both the use of the strings, backing vocals and a beautiful solo by Dick Wagner, which is criminally left out of this version, and he wrote the music!!. Suffice to say, the album version is the only one worth hearing. Still liked your reaction though and your balanced view of the male and female 'roles' in life. Yes, us women do a lot, but you men have got it all to do as well. It's all relative. Cheers!.😊Wanted to add here that Alice has written another similar song, off the album, "Brutal Planet", called, "Take It Like A Woman", which deals with DA issues in such an emotional and poignant way and gets me every time I hear it.
On the Halloween theme you should try "What's he Building in There? In which Tom Waits tries to figure out what his creepy neighbour is up to in his shed.
I used to sing this to my infant niece to help put her to sleep and it worked every time. While somewhat of an outlier song from Alice Cooper style-wise, I consider it his tour de' force.
My fav Alice Cooper halloween-ish songs are "He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask)" 80s synthpop style with Friday the 13th vibes, "Millie and Billie" hidden gem on the "From The Inside" album and "Dangerous Tonight" an amazing combination of hard rock, glam metal and AOR
Very insightful reaction. Everyone has mentioned that something epic is lost in the short version, but I still think you are right about the lyrics being the power of the song. To answer your question of why it would be censored IF it was about menstruation.. anything relating to the biology of women was taboo in the early 70's. Definitely not mentioned in public or social settings, and oftentimes not spoken about in the home. Hence the many nicknames you hear referring to periods, pregnancy and menopause. (Aunt Flo, Bun in the oven, The Change) And these were normally spoken apologetically. My own family called the monthly periods "Herman" and I have no idea why or where that came from but I think it's pretty hilarious. Things are so different now. It seems so silly to be so uptight about it, but that's the way it was and my guess is that it's because of our country's puritanical origins. Remember, early sitcoms had married couples sleeping in separate beds, and when the Bradys appeared in bed together, it was scandalous. Getting your period and being in school was humiliating and shameful, as if it's something anyone can control. I'm so glad we've progressed, and hope we don't slip backwards. The fact that you ask why it's a big deal is wonderful because it affirms that those ways of thinking and acting are in the past and hard for today's generations to understand. Sorry I'm so long winded! Real quick, I just want to back up the statements about domestic violence being a taboo subject as well. This song was ground breaking. But right around this time, other artists started to approach these subjects and these same subjects started to appear on prime time television shows. Serious props to Alice Cooper for exploring it in such an insightful and profound way, and props to you for getting it. I know I'm a year late with this comment! If you get a chance, please check out Alice Cooper Goes to Hell which is another concept album and includes another of my favorite Alice Cooper ballads "I never cry"
This was the single version. For example, it's missing a certain beautiful theme, which repeats later on another song with some variations. It's one of my favorite parts and also adds to the wholeness of the album. You're probably listening to this album on Spotify. I just checked and the version on Spotify has the album version replaced by this single version. Not only that... the full length album version can't be found anywhere on Spotify. I faintly remembered that I noticed something similar on Spotify before. That's why I suspected that this was the case. It's a good thing that I checked that but It's very unfortunate and wrong in many ways that Spotify and/or the record companies can haphazardly or on purpose replace the contents of an album. Maybe they just don't care. It might've also been a simple human error and that shorter single version was supposed to be a bonus track on the album. Who knows? I think it must be a problem only on Spotify. I've seen them making a few similar mistakes before. It would be incomprehensible if the same mistake would actually be on the new remastered version of the album. There are so many remastered versions and many of them are pointless. I've used Spotify for a long time and they keep replacing previous versions of the albums with new remastered versions all the time, forcing me to fix many of my old playlists. I've also noticed that some remastered albums are sounding much worse. Is there a way you could still listen to the proper version somewhere? Well, at least I can give you a link. Adding links here could be problematic though. I'll just give you the names of the UA-cam video and the uploader: Name of the video: Alice Cooper - Only Women Bleed (lyrics) Name of the uploader: A National Acrobat Length: 5:50 (on a search list), 5:49 (on the video itself) The sound is in high quality on that video of course. Otherwise I wouldn't have recommended it. When you compare this with the Spotify version, you'll notice that the length there is only 3:30. By the way, the uploader's name "A National Acrobat" is also a great Black Sabbath song from one of my favorite albums. Take care and enjoy the music.
This song works well onstage paired with Cold Ethyl. I’ve always liked where Alice says,”Sometimes, a man can bleed” ,in Burning Our Bed, off his Hey Stoopid album.
From my peripheral experience it seemed that this song turned Alice from Marilyn Manson to an eccentric crooner/rocker. It used to go through my head. Very catchy and thoughtful.
My heart sank as soon as I heard the first edit in the song. I'm not sure why you chose to play the single version (three and a half minutes) rather than the original album version (almost six minutes). There's so much you missed.
I don't know if the album version is even available. I listened to the album on Spottify and it had the single version. I guess the only way to hear the full 6 minute version is to buy the album.
Bought this on 45 back in the 70's my mum would go ballistic whenever I played it, she hated it even though I tried to explain to her what the song was really about
I’m gonna subscribe because you waited until the end of the song. I hate it when they interrupt right in the middle of the song. Watching from Panama City Florida, USA. 🇺🇸🦅
Not sure if you realize it, but this was a pretty big hit, his first as a solo artist. (I just saw that you said the lyrics limited its success, but I remember hearing it on the radio all the time.) Although I like the song, I'm not sure it's a great fit on this album. I wonder if it was put there specifically to be a hit single. 🤔
Sad that this is a story everyone can tell in one way or another. (And I mean at the extreme, not at the "mere neglect" end.) Or maybe not? I hope not (but I suppose should hope so. Now I'm confused about what's not and what's so.) It would've been great if the next thing was a more confused song titled something like, "Treat Her Mean, Keep Her Keen", about the strange way in which those who shouldn't have love wasted on them end up being loved to the end, and then dearly remembered forever. (I'm thinking of someone I know, now, who sometimes says things like, "He was a bastard, but he was my bastard." Weird. Great topic for a bewildered song.)
If anyone has not heard Tina Turner's cover of " Only Women Bleed" (75 the year it was rejeased) you need to! Absolutely heartwrenching (and performed with her abuser) perhaps the best cover ever! Forgive the link but use this one! ua-cam.com/video/Ie_u53Se_3g/v-deo.html
Have You Listened to this 12 Minute song by KANSAS - Incomudro Hymn to the Atman 1975 this song guaranteed to shift many times with some incredible music sounds right from the start to finish totally recommended this song started a whole list of Great hits check it out
I'd recommend listening to the album version, Justin, it's a much better song overall. It's really infuriating that Spotify uses this version in the album... Only Women Bleed is the song that introduces the "Steven" leitmotif, and it's exactly the part they cut. 😑😑
Magnificent song. It has been one of my two favourite Alice Cooper songs since their release, the other being "Hello Hooray". They are both very theatrical and dramatic.
totally confused. I've been listening to this song for nearly 50 years. Must have heard it, quite literally, 100s of times. But this edited version... never heard it? Where has the middle of the song gone? Seems sacrilege to cut it out. Loses so much of the drama.
Thought you’d like this song a lot more but a whole section was chopped off. It is reprised later in the album to give you that “conceptual continuity”.
Disappointingly, you played the shortened hit single instead of the fuller album version. The 45 is too abruptly edited, mid-way, and you lose a verse; plus the grand sweep of Ezrin's strings & ethereal background vocals work better on the album track. *WTMN* is a very loose concept album, and *Only Women Bleed* fits the bill since domestic violence is a hellish nightmare for anyone - usually female - on the receiving end. Lyrically, it’s one of Alice’s best; an empathetic, proto-feminist, tour-de-force. Dick Wagner had written the basic melody some years earlier.
Before you carry on please listen to the full version. You don't have to react to it but there is a section missing here that is relevant later on so it would be good for you to get the reference...
JP, please listen to the Elkie Broioks version of this track... she makes you really see how moving this song is. ua-cam.com/video/6SPDe2WxL6U/v-deo.html
IMO I think she begs for him to ''come watch me bleed'' because she's begging him to truly see her and all she does and endures. Not talking from experience or anything. *shifty eyes*
Sometimes Alice gets accused of glorifying violence against women, but he is just telling stories about the dark side - which incudes the fact that women are way more likely to be victims of violence in situations like this.
This was actually a great song off this album. The "scary" aspects of this album were just silly. It was an overall disappointment when it came out compared to the original Alice Cooper band (this was his solo album) of Killer, Love it to Death, School's Out, and Billion Dollar Babies.
A refreshing was needed after "Muscle of Love" though. I think Alice did a fine job mixing it up, expanding his horizons, and increasing his charm without losing his identity on this album.
Do yourself a favor and find "from the inside"! Another incredible Alice concept album about his stay at an institution to quit drinking. Great video btw.
This is another of the great list of overplayed songs. Aside from the lyrics, which can be applauded for showing more awareness than was typical for the era, the strings and plodding, repetitive chorus made it a non-favourite for me. There are a lot of songs from this era which I might have enjoyed more if I had not heard them so many times (I was so happy when I was finally able to get a FM radio and a cassette player in my car).
So apparently this is the single version of the song. Sorry about that, it was the one listed on the album for Spotify so I had no idea😬 Still good either way though lol!
Enjoy your day!🎃
That’s probably what I heard the most… be well.
Don't sweat it brother. How would you have known. Love your channel
JustJP
Tina Turner,'s cover of
" Only Women Bleed" is heartwrencing as she performs with her abuser( Ike Turner) ! Perhaps the best cover ever. Forgive the link,but use this one! This is a must react!!
ua-cam.com/video/Ie_u53Se_3g/v-deo.html
Definitely a lot shorter than the album version
I am glad you are enjoying this album. You have no idea how controversial this was in 1975. It split the fanbase, but brought in a horde of new fans. Many older fans objected to the instrumentation, production, and overall slickness of the product. On the other hand, it was accessible to a brand new audience. This song was a real wedge between the older fans and newer audience. Alice Cooper playing a feminist power ballad was his most shocking move yet, even more so than cross-dressing, on-stage beheadings, and performing with snakes.
Back in the "70's domestic violence just wasn't talked about. What happened in the house stayed in the house. We all knew it was happening but society, and law enforcement looked the other way. That's why it was altered and censored for AM radio. This song was a real risky subject for any artist to bring up. "You And Me" was the complete opposite. A truly beautiful song about the love between a man and a woman....as it should be.
Several notes about this song. First of all this is the single version. The album version is a little more of an opus. I reccommend a mulligan on this one. The title was changed on the single to Only Women. Only Women Bleed was in fact too controversial for radio play back in the day. Radio programmers lost their shit when they saw the title and just knew that Alice was about to release some way-out-there song about periods. Good call there. This is Alice's most covered song. Tina Turner, Etta James, Guns and Roses and Tori Amos among others. OWB was the highest charting single from the album. I hate to be the spoiler, but the song will make more sense to the concept of the entire album once you hear Years Ago/Steven/The Awakening. You'll see that this song is the central point of the nightmare/delusion of Steven. OWB was probably the first song that directly addressed the issue of spousal abuse. In 1975 slapping your wife around was still considered a comedy staple by most people Except of course, those on the receiving end of the abuse. Who would of thought that Alice Cooper, the scourge of decent people everywhere would be one of the first to bring this topic into the forefront of conversation. OWB was the first in a string of ballads that charted for Alice in the late 70's. When it was first played for a group of label and radio execs no one guessed it was Alice Cooper. They all thought it was James Taylor.
Alice waa a big Burt Bacharach fan. You can definitely here it in his ballads. Artists back then had a much wider range of influences Alice no exception.
Have you heard Tina Turner's cover? "Only Women Bleed" (75 the year it was rejeased) you need to!
Absolutely heartwrenching (and performed with her abuser) perhaps the best cover ever! Forgive the link but use this one!
ua-cam.com/video/Ie_u53Se_3g/v-deo.html
This is a lot scarier than all the monsters, black widows and necrophiles. Because this is real, and it's real for so awfully many people.
I'd certainly call it a ballad and a significant song. It's a moment of truth amongst the shock-rock fantasy songs. I think it encourages awareness and sympathy of the issues you pointed out. Alice's '70s ballads did well in the singles charts, this went to #1 in Canada and #12 in the US. Other ballads released as singles: I Never Cry, You and Me, How You Gonna See Me Now.
Always loved this song and thought to myself "I don't remember it being that short". Then I saw the comments and realized I wasn't imagining it. We forgive you for playing the shorter version. If you ever get the opportunity, you should listen to the longer one on your own. Love your analysis, love your reaction. I'm having a lot of fun with you playing this album, brings back a lot of memories of my youth.
Some of Alice's biggest hits were his slow songs.
I'll Never Cry. You and Me.
Always liked the song, hadn’t heard it for a long time. Listening, I can hear the Ezrin touches, clean guitars, children vocals, swooping strings, etc. The Wall comes to mind. Still like it.
Saw him do this live in 1978. He was hammered at the time, his present wife, a dancer at the time was in the show. Welcome to my Nightmare Tour.
Oh, Justin, my friend, the single version of this song does it no justice at all. The album version takes you through the emotional feel of the lyrics, with both the use of the strings, backing vocals and a beautiful solo by Dick Wagner, which is criminally left out of this version, and he wrote the music!!. Suffice to say, the album version is the only one worth hearing. Still liked your reaction though and your balanced view of the male and female 'roles' in life. Yes, us women do a lot, but you men have got it all to do as well. It's all relative. Cheers!.😊Wanted to add here that Alice has written another similar song, off the album, "Brutal Planet", called, "Take It Like A Woman", which deals with DA issues in such an emotional and poignant way and gets me every time I hear it.
Such a beatles-y arrangement. Neat.
On the Halloween theme you should try "What's he Building in There? In which Tom Waits tries to figure out what his creepy neighbour is up to in his shed.
I used to sing this to my infant niece to help put her to sleep and it worked every time. While somewhat of an outlier song from Alice Cooper style-wise, I consider it his tour de' force.
My fav Alice Cooper halloween-ish songs are "He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask)" 80s synthpop style with Friday the 13th vibes, "Millie and Billie" hidden gem on the "From The Inside" album and "Dangerous Tonight" an amazing combination of hard rock, glam metal and AOR
Very insightful reaction. Everyone has mentioned that something epic is lost in the short version, but I still think you are right about the lyrics being the power of the song. To answer your question of why it would be censored IF it was about menstruation.. anything relating to the biology of women was taboo in the early 70's. Definitely not mentioned in public or social settings, and oftentimes not spoken about in the home. Hence the many nicknames you hear referring to periods, pregnancy and menopause. (Aunt Flo, Bun in the oven, The Change) And these were normally spoken apologetically. My own family called the monthly periods "Herman" and I have no idea why or where that came from but I think it's pretty hilarious. Things are so different now. It seems so silly to be so uptight about it, but that's the way it was and my guess is that it's because of our country's puritanical origins. Remember, early sitcoms had married couples sleeping in separate beds, and when the Bradys appeared in bed together, it was scandalous. Getting your period and being in school was humiliating and shameful, as if it's something anyone can control. I'm so glad we've progressed, and hope we don't slip backwards. The fact that you ask why it's a big deal is wonderful because it affirms that those ways of thinking and acting are in the past and hard for today's generations to understand. Sorry I'm so long winded! Real quick, I just want to back up the statements about domestic violence being a taboo subject as well. This song was ground breaking. But right around this time, other artists started to approach these subjects and these same subjects started to appear on prime time television shows. Serious props to Alice Cooper for exploring it in such an insightful and profound way, and props to you for getting it. I know I'm a year late with this comment! If you get a chance, please check out Alice Cooper Goes to Hell which is another concept album and includes another of my favorite Alice Cooper ballads "I never cry"
This is one of my all-time favorites from Alice. Has some melodic similarities with Procol Harum's "Homburg", don't know what's the story behind that.
Is it just me, or does the intro to this sound similar to "my opening farewell?" Both those songs always trip me up.
Etta James did an amazing cover of this song.
Great song..... I remember this on the radio as a kid.... and Department of Youth being played on TV.
I could not turn the radio on back in '75 without hearing this song. My sisters and I knew every word on this album!
This was the single version. For example, it's missing a certain beautiful theme, which repeats later on another song with some variations. It's one of my favorite parts and also adds to the wholeness of the album.
You're probably listening to this album on Spotify. I just checked and the version on Spotify has the album version replaced by this single version. Not only that... the full length album version can't be found anywhere on Spotify. I faintly remembered that I noticed something similar on Spotify before. That's why I suspected that this was the case.
It's a good thing that I checked that but It's very unfortunate and wrong in many ways that Spotify and/or the record companies can haphazardly or on purpose replace the contents of an album. Maybe they just don't care. It might've also been a simple human error and that shorter single version was supposed to be a bonus track on the album. Who knows?
I think it must be a problem only on Spotify. I've seen them making a few similar mistakes before. It would be incomprehensible if the same mistake would actually be on the new remastered version of the album. There are so many remastered versions and many of them are pointless. I've used Spotify for a long time and they keep replacing previous versions of the albums with new remastered versions all the time, forcing me to fix many of my old playlists. I've also noticed that some remastered albums are sounding much worse.
Is there a way you could still listen to the proper version somewhere? Well, at least I can give you a link. Adding links here could be problematic though. I'll just give you the names of the UA-cam video and the uploader:
Name of the video: Alice Cooper - Only Women Bleed (lyrics)
Name of the uploader: A National Acrobat
Length: 5:50 (on a search list), 5:49 (on the video itself)
The sound is in high quality on that video of course. Otherwise I wouldn't have recommended it. When you compare this with the Spotify version, you'll notice that the length there is only 3:30. By the way, the uploader's name "A National Acrobat" is also a great Black Sabbath song from one of my favorite albums.
Take care and enjoy the music.
This song works well onstage paired with Cold Ethyl. I’ve always liked where Alice says,”Sometimes, a man can bleed” ,in Burning Our Bed, off his Hey Stoopid album.
Always loved this cut..
Some radio stations censored the song title to just Only Women.
From my peripheral experience it seemed that this song turned Alice from Marilyn Manson to an eccentric crooner/rocker. It used to go through my head. Very catchy and thoughtful.
A big hit in the UK for Julie Covington in 1977
My heart sank as soon as I heard the first edit in the song. I'm not sure why you chose to play the single version (three and a half minutes) rather than the original album version (almost six minutes). There's so much you missed.
He did not choose to, he obviously did not realize. Pretty cool he is checking the whole album !
I don't know if the album version is even available. I listened to the album on Spottify and it had the single version. I guess the only way to hear the full 6 minute version is to buy the album.
Bought this on 45 back in the 70's my mum would go ballistic whenever I played it, she hated it even though I tried to explain to her what the song was really about
I’m gonna subscribe because you waited until the end of the song. I hate it when they interrupt right in the middle of the song. Watching from Panama City Florida, USA. 🇺🇸🦅
Ty Kirby! Hello from Orlando :)
Not sure if you realize it, but this was a pretty big hit, his first as a solo artist. (I just saw that you said the lyrics limited its success, but I remember hearing it on the radio all the time.)
Although I like the song, I'm not sure it's a great fit on this album. I wonder if it was put there specifically to be a hit single. 🤔
Sad that this is a story everyone can tell in one way or another. (And I mean at the extreme, not at the "mere neglect" end.)
Or maybe not? I hope not (but I suppose should hope so. Now I'm confused about what's not and what's so.)
It would've been great if the next thing was a more confused song titled something like, "Treat Her Mean, Keep Her Keen", about the strange way in which those who shouldn't have love wasted on them end up being loved to the end, and then dearly remembered forever. (I'm thinking of someone I know, now, who sometimes says things like, "He was a bastard, but he was my bastard." Weird. Great topic for a bewildered song.)
Don’t know what all of this Alice Cooper is about but I love this one love you
The dancer in the video after the tour became his wife she is tuff as hell got Alice to stop drinking.
This pretty much blew people away when it came out. A ballad by Alice? And such a strong subject. Great tune.
If anyone has not heard Tina Turner's cover of " Only Women Bleed" (75 the year it was rejeased) you need to!
Absolutely heartwrenching (and performed with her abuser) perhaps the best cover ever! Forgive the link but use this one!
ua-cam.com/video/Ie_u53Se_3g/v-deo.html
Play Beth right after this by Kiss two of the best ballads of all time love You
This song is a killer!!!!!!
Alice Copper is from Detroit Michigan.
I think this is one of his best song!
King Crimson - In The Court of the Crimson King 1970 full version classic rock
IMO this is the darkest tune on the album.
Love the reactions.
Have You Listened to this 12 Minute song by KANSAS - Incomudro Hymn to the Atman 1975 this song guaranteed to shift many times with some incredible music sounds right from the start to finish totally recommended this song started a whole list of Great hits check it out
Don’t forget to finish tea for the Tillerman so you can get on with teaser and the Firecat hint hint love you
Unfortunately,, This Version Has Been Visited Upon By The Butcher,, The Baker & The Candlestick Maker 🤪
Try the suite Years Ago / Steven / The Awakening from side 2 and tell me that's not prog. Absolutely stunning!
Its really good!
Excellent song!
Cold Ethyl great tune as well as hello hurray
The year this album came out, 1975, was International Women's Year... Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. ;-]
Nice song. Nice video.
I'd recommend listening to the album version, Justin, it's a much better song overall. It's really infuriating that Spotify uses this version in the album... Only Women Bleed is the song that introduces the "Steven" leitmotif, and it's exactly the part they cut. 😑😑
Who would've expected Alice Cooper in the 70's to have come out with such a feminist ballad!
Great song, bit short that I thought though? Live it's really great.
"Come watch me bleed." See me. See who I am.
Magnificent song. It has been one of my two favourite Alice Cooper songs since their release, the other being "Hello Hooray". They are both very theatrical and dramatic.
totally confused. I've been listening to this song for nearly 50 years. Must have heard it, quite literally, 100s of times. But this edited version... never heard it? Where has the middle of the song gone? Seems sacrilege to cut it out. Loses so much of the drama.
I'm wondering the same thing 🤔
It was butchered to make a single, thus changing /loosing the original dual context
iTunes has this version too. Can’t stand it. Probably my favorite part of the song.
it's akin to listening to a 3minute radio edit of stairway to heaven. It totally changes the character of the song into a shadow of itself.
The song actually DOES fit the the theme of the album, considering the nightmare of abuse so many women suffer through.
Thought you’d like this song a lot more but a whole section was chopped off. It is reprised later in the album to give you that “conceptual continuity”.
A very hard core anti abuse song.
Disappointingly, you played the shortened hit single instead of the fuller album version. The 45 is too abruptly edited, mid-way, and you lose a verse; plus the grand sweep of Ezrin's strings & ethereal background vocals work better on the album track.
*WTMN* is a very loose concept album, and *Only Women Bleed* fits the bill since domestic violence is a hellish nightmare for anyone - usually female - on the receiving end. Lyrically, it’s one of Alice’s best; an empathetic, proto-feminist, tour-de-force. Dick Wagner had written the basic melody some years earlier.
Before you carry on please listen to the full version. You don't have to react to it but there is a section missing here that is relevant later on so it would be good for you to get the reference...
JP, please listen to the Elkie Broioks version of this track... she makes you really see how moving this song is. ua-cam.com/video/6SPDe2WxL6U/v-deo.html
IMO I think she begs for him to ''come watch me bleed'' because she's begging him to truly see her and all she does and endures. Not talking from experience or anything. *shifty eyes*
Sometimes Alice gets accused of glorifying violence against women, but he is just telling stories about the dark side - which incudes the fact that women are way more likely to be victims of violence in situations like this.
awesome
This was actually a great song off this album. The "scary" aspects of this album were just silly. It was an overall disappointment when it came out compared to the original Alice Cooper band (this was his solo album) of Killer, Love it to Death, School's Out, and Billion Dollar Babies.
I disagree. The "Steven" trilogy of songs at the end is some of the most haunting stuff Alice has ever written.
A refreshing was needed after "Muscle of Love" though. I think Alice did a fine job mixing it up, expanding his horizons, and increasing his charm without losing his identity on this album.
@@bookhouseboy280 Well the band had drugs problems apparently. But they also had a sound which didn't carry over into Alice's next phase.
@@cobrasys The stage show for this album was ridiculous and not scary. Not anything like his previous theatrics with the hanging, etc.
This was the hacked up butchered version. The original has much more length and in the instrumentation. It's still one of the greats.
Do yourself a favor and find "from the inside"! Another incredible Alice concept album about his stay at an institution to quit drinking.
Great video btw.
Alice wusses out. Bleah.
A good song but I prefer Julie Covington's cover version.
I rate the music higher than you. And let's give Alice some praise for the vocals.
This is another of the great list of overplayed songs. Aside from the lyrics, which can be applauded for showing more awareness than was typical for the era, the strings and plodding, repetitive chorus made it a non-favourite for me. There are a lot of songs from this era which I might have enjoyed more if I had not heard them so many times (I was so happy when I was finally able to get a FM radio and a cassette player in my car).
HI JP,good one for you ..(.spooky tooth),higher circles,im alive,the mirror. give it a spin if you dare...LOL,have a nice day.
Hey Justin! When you get a chance check out a live version of OWB. So much better and longer. Great song!😎