Today, I discovered a little too late, was Alice Cooper’s birthday. I don’t know whether it’ll surprise anyone or not, but I’m a fan of his. First off, his music is simply awesome (my favorite is probably “He’s Back,” written in honor of that masterpiece of cinema: “Friday the 13th Part VI”). But more than that, to me he embodies a sort of gleeful mockery of evil. Cooper acts like some sort of sadomasochistic horror freak, but it’s all an act. If it were real, he wouldn’t be half as much fun. I think he’s one of the very few modern artists who really capture the feel of a medieval macabre or bawdy: the dancing deaths and “Miller’s Tale.” In singing about being a serial killer or about having hot masochistic sex, Cooper is actually mocking them. The reality may be horrible, but he approaches it with such a deft, light touch that becomes entertaining rather than repulsive. You enjoy the song like you enjoy a horror movie: because it is fires up the blood and sends shivers down the spine, while at the same time being fundamentally innocent. An Alice Cooper song is a camp-fire story or slumber-party game in music form. It’s ultimately a mockery of evil rather than an endorsement of it.
Cooper himself is, apparently, a devout Christian who has gone on record saying his songs are meant to say “this is the devil: don’t choose it.” I believe him. At least one of his songs wouldn’t be out of place at a Youth Group Meeting (oh, boy, if I ever host one…). Cooper has seen enough of the ugly side of life in his time, and now he sings about it in a way that makes it over-the-top absurd rather than frightening. His songs are, in essence, a rousing chorus of “we are not afraid!” directed straight at Satan. That’s a rare skill and all too often misunderstood these days, particularly in Christian circles.
Happy Birthday, Alice!
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