Only Women Bleed

It is a ballad about a woman in an abusive marriage. The song is often mistakenly presumed to be about menstruation, and that has limited its play on radio and in other public forums. As a single by Cooper, it was released as just "Only Women".

Prior to the release of Welcome to My Nightmare in the US, a shortened version of the song was released as a single and was alternatively titled "Only Women" by Atlantic Records due to protests by feminist groups.{{cite web|last=Weber |first=Barry |url=http://www.allmusic.com/song/only-women-bleed-t3662946 |title=Only Women Bleed - Alice Cooper : Listen, Appearances, Song Review |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=2013-05-13}} The album version of the song features more orchestral movements than the single, and also runs longer than the 45 at 5:49.

According to co-writer Dick Wagner, the song's musical riff and vocal melody were developed several years earlier during his tenure with the late-1960s Michigan-based band the Frost, but Wagner had never liked his lyrics and the song was never recorded. He played the riff for Cooper, and the two developed new lyrics for the eventual Welcome to My Nightmare recording.{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/InterviewWithGuitiarstDickWagner2010-10-17|title=Interview with Guitarist Dick Wagner 2010-10-17 : Outsight Radio Hours : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive|work=Internet Archive|date=17 October 2010|access-date=November 27, 2014}}

Billboard staff responded warmly to this single. The lyric of it was described as "stunning".{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/70s/1975/Billboard%201975-03-29.pdf|title=Review: Alice Cooper — Only Women|magazine=Billboard|date=29 March 1975|accessdate=16 May 2021|volume=87|number=13|page=50|via=American Radio History|issn=0006-2510}} Record World called it "a ballad with a surprisingly international flavor" and said that "Alice's new sound should prove a soft touch for reaching his widest audience yet!"{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=April 5, 1975|accessdate=2023-03-10|title=Hits of the Week|page=1|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/75/RW-1975-04-05.pdf}} Beverley Legge of British weekly magazine Disc in his review of 5 July 1975 supposed that the listeners could be shocked by "subdued" sound of Cooper. As per him "the song is a fairly harmless lament about downtrodden maidens" and "quite unlike anything he's done before". Legge considered "change of style has worked" and named song "definitely one of the outstanding tracks" on the album. The B-side song of European release, "Devil's Food", was also taken from the album. It's sound was more similar to well-known style of Alice Cooper band, "packed with snarling vocals, angry guitar licks and plenty of phasing, making it a total contrast from the other track."{{cite magazine|last=Legge|first=Beverley|author-link1=|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Disc/1975/Disc-1975-07-05-S-OCR.pdf|title=Alice Cooper – "Only Women Bleed"|magazine=Disc|date=5 July 1975|access-date=24 April 2023|pages=8|location=Sutton|publisher=IPC Specialist and Professional Press Ltd.|via=World Radio History|issn=0308-1168|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411215951/https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Disc/1975/Disc-1975-07-05-S-OCR.pdf|archive-date=11 April 2023}}

It is one of Cooper's biggest hits, reaching number 1 on the Canadian RPM national singles chart{{cite web |url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.3999a&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=ccntousk30frf6h4jsn237nm12 |title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |publisher=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |access-date=2013-05-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020115356/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.3999a&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=ccntousk30frf6h4jsn237nm12 |archive-date=2012-10-20 |url-status=dead }} and number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1975. It is from his solo studio album Welcome to My Nightmare. It was the first of several ballad releases by Cooper that reached the top 20 of the Hot 100 singles chart.

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Julie Covington's cover version of the song reached #12 on the UK Singles Chart when it was released as a single in 1977.{{cite web | url=https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/julie-covington-only-women-bleed/ | title=Only Women Bleed | website=Official Charts }} It was later included on the 2000 re-release of her eponymous 1978 studio album

Other cover versions include Guns N' Roses, Glenn Hughes, and Ike & Tina Turner. A cover by the band Favorite Angel would peak at number 69 on the Hot 100 in September 1990.{{Cite web|url=https://www.musicvf.com/Favorite+Angel.art|title=Favorite Angel Songs ••• Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts}}

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• {{cite book|last=Crouse|first=Richard|chapter='Only Women Bleed' Alice Cooper|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OyZyWKcmRhEC&pg=PT106|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OyZyWKcmRhEC|title=Who Wrote the Book of Love?|date=1998|location=Toronto|publisher=Doubleday Canada Limited|page=106|isbn=9780385674423|access-date=8 February 2015}}

• {{YouTube|dTx6S4kXbXc|Alice Cooper – "Only Women Bleed"}}
• {{discogs master|type=single|356852}}

{{Alice Cooper}}

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Category:1975 songs

Category:1975 singles

Category:Alice Cooper songs

Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles

Category:Songs written by Alice Cooper

Category:Songs written by Dick Wagner

Category:Song recordings produced by Bob Ezrin

Category:1970s ballads

Category:Rock ballads

Category:Atlantic Records singles

Category:American soft rock songs

Category:Songs about domestic violence