Released: February 25, 1973

Songwriter: Michael Smith Dennis Dunaway Michael Bruce Glen Buxton Alice Cooper

Producer: Bob Ezrin

[Intro]
La, da, da, da, da

[Verse 1]
Please clean your plate dear
The Lord above can see you
Don't you know people are starving in Korea?
Alcohol and razor blades, and poison and needles
Kindergarten people, they used 'em, they need 'em
The over indulgent machines were their children
There wasn't a way down on Earth here to cool 'em
Cos they look just like a humans, at Kresge's and Woolworth's
But decadent brains were at work to destroy
Brats in battalions were ruling the streets
Sayin' generation landslide, close the gap between them

[Chorus]
And I laughed to myself at the men and the ladies
Who never conceived of those billion dollar babies
La, la, da, da, da

[Verse 2]
Militant mothers, hiding in the basement
Using pots and pans as their shields and their helmets
Molotov milk bottles, heaved from pink high chairs
While mothers' lib burned birth certificate papers
And dad gets his allowance from his sonny the dealer
Who's pubic to the world but involved in high finance
Sister's out till 5, doing banker son's hours
But she owns a Maserati that's a gift from his father
Stop at full speed, at 100 miles per hour
The Colgate invisible shield finally got 'em

[Chorus]
But I laughed to myself at the men and the ladies
Who never conceived of those billion dollar babies
La, la, da, da da, yeah-ho

[Instrumental outro 2:40-4:30]

Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper is the stage name and ‘fun villain’ character of Vincent Furnier. Cooper became the target of parents and ministers for his dark lyrics and gory theatrical performances that earned him the title Godfather of Shock Rock. Despite once claiming the name was conjured from a ouija board that told him he’s the reincarnation of a 17th century witch, Cooper laughs the topic off with flippant answers like “It was either a Scrabble board or a bowl of alphabet soup” and “I didn’t want a name like Iron Butterfly or Black Sabbath. I wanted it to be something your aunt might be called.”

The band Alice Cooper was originally signed by Frank Zappa to his own record label. Their first notoriety came when Cooper tossed a wayward chicken (possibly arranged by long-time manager Shep Gordon) into the crowd, who then tore it apart at the 1969 Toronto Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival Festival. Newspapers claimed he’d bit the bird’s head off and drank its blood. Zappa advised them to not deny the story and Cooper used it as inspiration to make his character darker.

The band’s teaming with producer Bob Ezrin for their third album Love It To Death led to their US breakthrough with a top 30 hit “I’m Eighteen” in early 1971. By then, the band was already infamous for their stage show, which had escalated into simulated torture and executions. That same year, Killer was released with its two singles “Under My Wheels” and “Be My Lover” finding moderate US success, and both albums being certified gold the following year.