"Poison" is a song by American musician
Alice Cooper. Written by Cooper, producer
Desmond Child
John Charles Barrett (born October 28, 1953), known professionally as Desmond Child, is an American songwriter and producer. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008.
His hits as a songwriter include Kiss's "I Was Made for Lovi ...
and guitarist
John McCurry, the song was released as a single in July 1989 from Cooper's eighteenth album, ''
Trash''. It became one of Cooper's biggest hit singles in the United States, peaking at number seven on the ''Billboard''
Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
. The
power ballad performed even better in the UK by peaking at number two on the
UK Singles Chart. "Poison" remains one of Alice Cooper's best known songs. It is ranked by ''Billboard'' as the "
91st top song of 1989", while Ultimate Classic Rock ranked it as the "7th best Alice Cooper song", commenting "Poison sounds like a typical '80s pop-metal number at times, but Cooper’s intensity brings it to a whole other level." The song's main riff was written by guitarist
John McCurry, who two years earlier had used it for the
John Waite track "
Encircled".
Music video
There are two versions of the video to the song, one of which shows Alice Cooper being chained to a bizarre mechanism and singing while a ghostly woman looms over him. The original video had to be censored for showings during the day, due to shots of a topless model. Rana Kennedy plays the roles of both women in the video but the topless scene were shot with a body double. This is notably visible in the video. The studios in which the video was filmed in spring of 1989 have since been torn down and are now a parking lot in Los Angeles. The video is still often played on
MTV Classic's ''
Metal Mayhem''.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Cover versions
*
The Vandals, 1993
*
Groove Coverage, 2003
*
Husky Rescue, 2007
*
Baracuda, 2008
(sampled in "Where Is The Love", alongside Amaranth
''Amaranthus'' is a cosmopolitan genus of annual or short-lived perennial plants collectively known as amaranths. Some amaranth species are cultivated as leaf vegetables, pseudocereals, and ornamental plants. Catkin-like cymes of densely pack ...
by Nightwish
Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neva ...
)
*
Alex Day, 2013
*
Powerwolf, 2023
Film & media usage
*
Tango & Cash, 1989
*
The Jackal, 1997
*
End of Days End of days may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''End of Days'' (film), a 1999 supernatural film
Music
* ''The End of Days'', a 2010 album by Abney Park
* ''End of Days'' (soundtrack), a soundtrack album from the 1999 film
...
, 1999
*
Peter Pan, 2003
*
Mean Creek, 2004
*
Pineapple Express, 2008
* A modified version of the song was featured in a February 2011 television ad campaign for the
Volkswagen Passat.
*
Spartacus Vengeance, 2012
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poison (Alice Cooper song)
1989 singles
Songs written by Desmond Child
Songs written by Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper songs
Song recordings produced by Desmond Child
1989 songs
Epic Records singles
Songs about BDSM
Glam metal ballads
1980s ballads