“Dead Babies” By Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper’s accessible, tongue-in-cheek shlock works so well because fans have always been in on the joke. Sneaked among his cheesy horror classics and angsty-teen-rebellion anthems is “Dead Babies.” The other songs in his catalog are light-hearted and humorous in comparison. “Dead Babies” reads like a police report, detailing a child who swallowed too many aspirin tablets, the mother not “there to save her, she didn’t even hear her baby call,” abandoning Little Betty at home, too inebriated to notice or care.
If parents, politicians, and critics reacted badly to it, it makes perfect sense. Cooper held up a mirror to neglectful parents for once, forcing them to take a look a long, hard look at themselves instead of their kids. The blunt lyrics of the song are punctuated by a baby’s scream before the first chorus. That same distressed, wailing baby is noticeably absent by the arrival of the second refrain. You can figure out why by the song’s title.
A childlike scrawl on the album cover adds a demented touch to the proceedings. Lyrics like “We didn’t want you anyway” driving home the point about the dangers of crappy parenting, the elegy sung from the point of view of a cold, uncaring father & mother who treat their kid as a disposable object or burden. A lot of listeners could relate, which might be why the album sold so well. Of all Alice Cooper’s songs, this ironically is the only one that strives to make a valid piece of social criticism. Adults didn’t want to hear it. Hopefully, the kids took Uncle Alice’s PSA to heart.
6 Songs To Upgrade Your Lame Halloween Playlist
Source: Pinoy Daily News
![Disclaimer](<a href="https://rebrand.ly/LazadaSalePh"><img src="http://getfreefollowers.net/images/lazhorizontal.jpeg" /></a>){kind=link}
0 Comments