Only Women Bleed

"Only Women Bleed" is a song written by Alice Cooper and Dick Wagner. 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".

It is one of Cooper's biggest hits, reaching number 1 on the Canadian RPM national singles chart^[1] and number 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1975. It is from his 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.

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.^[2] 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 was developed several years earlier during his tenure with the late-60s 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.^[3]

Guns N' Roses (who featured Cooper on their 1991 song "The Garden") used to play an excerpt of this song in concert as an intro to their reading of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door".

The song was featured on the soundtrack to Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween.

It also was featured on, and was the title of, the season 1 finale of Pamela Adlon's series, Better Things.

Chart performance

Other recordings

Cover versions of the song have been recorded by notable artists including:

• Ike & Tina Turner on the 1980 album The Edge (originally recorded in 1975).
• Carmen McRae on her 1976 album Can't Hide Love.
• Julie Covington on her eponymous 1978 album; it reached #12 on the UK charts when it was released as a single.
• Etta James on her 1978 album Deep in the Night
• Ruby Turner on her 1986 album Women Hold Up Half the Sky
• Elkie Brooks on her 1986 album No More the Fool
• Lita Ford on her 1990 album Stiletto
• Favorite Angel on their 1990 album Only Women Bleed
• Slash (Guns N' Roses) on their Use Your Illusion Tour
• John Farnham on his 1993 album Then Again
• Dick Wagner on his 1995 solo album Rock HitStory
• Glenn Hughes, Paul Gilbert, Bob Kulick, Mike Porcaro, Steve Ferrone & Paul Taylor on the 1999 tribute album Humanary Stew: A Tribute to Alice Cooper
• Etta James on her 1999 album Heart of a Woman
• Audrey Turner on her 1999 album I Smell Trouble
• Tori Amos as a B-side to her 2001 single "Strange Little Girl"
• Luna B-side on the Lovedust single 2002
• The Chris Farlowe Band on his 2004 album Rock N Roll Soldier
• Wednesday on her 2007 Album Torch Rock and a video based on her performance at Alice Cooper's 2006 Christmas Pudding Benefit
• Madeleine Martin for 2007 Californication
• Tina Arena on her 2008 album Songs of Love & Loss II

References

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics