"She" is a song by American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

group

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

. It was released in 1975 on the band's third studio album, '' Dressed to Kill''. The song was written by

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; he, חיים ויץ, ; born August 25, 1949) is an Israeli-American musician. Also known by his stage persona The Demon, he is the bassist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the hard rock band he co-founded with Paul ...

and

Stephen Coronel Stephen Coronel (born March 21, 1951) is an American guitarist and former member of the rock band Wicked Lester. He co-wrote a handful of songs that would later be recorded by the group Kiss, a band which featured former Wicked Lester members ...

while Simmons was in a band called Bullfrog Bheer. Although it was first released in 1975,

had performed "She" on previous tours. It was removed from the setlist during the 1980s and the 1990s.

Background

Coronel was the originator of the song, with Simmons contributing the words and lyrics during an evening rehearsal with

Wicked Lester Wicked Lester was a rock band based in New York City. Two notable members were bassist Gene Klein and rhythm guitarist Stanley Eisen. Originally formed in 1970 as Rainbow, the band changed its name to Wicked Lester in 1971 to avoid confusion with ...

. The song was originally called "She Walks by Moonlight", after a line in the film ''

Hondo Hondo may refer to: Places * Rio Hondo (disambiguation), the name of several locations, derived from the Spanish word for "deep" Canada * Hondo, Alberta, an unincorporated community United States * Hondo, New Mexico, an unincorporated com ...

'' where, as Simmons said:

'I want your daughter.' he chief said:'You may not have my daughter.' he cowboy said:'Why not?' he chief said:'She walks by moonlight.' And that's the first line of the song. I didn't even know what it meant, I just loved the sound of it.

The Wicked Lester version of the song is 3:07 in length, while the later '' Dressed to Kill'' version is 4:08 long and the original line "she's no good" was changed to "she's so good". Also, the Kiss version lacked the original's

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...

(played by session musician

Jimmy Maelen Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

) and

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician, best known as the original lead guitarist and co-founding member of the hard rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. Space Ace) and played wit ...

's solo in the song was based on

Robby Krieger Robert Alan Krieger (born January 8, 1946) is an American guitarist and founding member of the rock band the Doors. Krieger wrote or co-wrote many of the Doors' songs, including the hits "Light My Fire", "Love Me Two Times", " Touch Me", and "L ...

's solo in

The Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

' song "

Five to One "Five to One" is a song by American rock band the Doors, from their 1968 album '' Waiting for the Sun''. The song's lyrics were written by lead singer Jim Morrison, though the songwriting credit identified each member of the Doors as songwriters. ...

", starting in the same key and tempo. It was also self-admittedly "copied" by

Mike McCready Michael David McCready (born April 5, 1966) is an American musician who serves as the lead guitarist for the rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of the band. McCready wa ...

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

on that band's song "

Alive Alive may refer to: *Life Books, comics and periodicals * ''Alive'' (novel), a 2015 novel by Scott Sigler * '' Alive: The Final Evolution'', a 2003 shonen manga by Tadashi Kawashima and Adachitoka * '' Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors'', ...

".Gilbert, Jeff
"Prime Cuts: Mike McCready - The Best of Pearl Jam!"
''Guitar School''. May 1995. "She" is one of only three Kiss songs taken from the Wicked Lester era, with the others being the '' Hotter Than Hell'' "

Goin' Blind "Goin' Blind" is a ballad by American hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, written by Gene Simmons and Stephen Coronel; it is sometimes referred to as "Going Blind". The song originally appeared on the band's second album, 1974 in music, 1974's '' ...

" and ''Dressed to Kill'' "Love Her All I Can". "She" and "Love Her All I Can" were intended for inclusion on the ''Hotter Than Hell'' album, but the band already had enough material for the album.

Live performances

Although not released officially until 1975, Kiss played "She" on previous tours.

also performed the song. Following the 1975 Alive! Tour, "She" was dropped and was not performed during the 1980s and the 1990s. The band did play the song occasionally during the 1994–1995 shows and on Halloween night in 1998 at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ( ...

. The band returned the song to the setlist for the Rock the Nation Tour in 2004. It was performed again during the 2008–2009

Alive 35 World Tour The Alive 35 World Tour was a 2008–2009 concert tour by Kiss to celebrate their 35th anniversary. It was the band's first major tour since the Rock the Nation World Tour in 2004. On the tour, Kiss played in Europe for the first time since the ...

Appearances

"She" appears on following

albums: *'' Dressed to Kill'' – studio version *'' Alive!'' – live version *'' The Originals'' – studio version *''

Double Platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

'' – studio version with "Rock Bottom" intro *'' The Box Set'' –

version *''

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

'' – studio version *'' Kiss Chronicles: 3 Classic Albums'' – studio version *''

Kiss Alive! 1975–2000 ''Kiss Alive! 1975–2000'' is a collection of live recordings from American hard rock band Kiss, released by Universal Music on November 21, 2006. This box set marks the debut appearance of Kiss' Millennium Concert performance, recorded on Dec ...

'' – ''Alive!'' version

Covers

*S.G.M. covered the song in 1988. *

Anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...

's cover appears on the first official

tribute album '' Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved'', released in 1994. This version was more similar to the '' Alive!'' version of the song than to the studio take, as on the ''Alive!'' version, Kiss played the coda of "Let Me Know", just as Anthrax did on the cover. *Unmasked's cover is featured on the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

2005 Kiss tribute album '' Gods of Thunder: A Norwegian Tribute to Kiss''. *Snowblynd's version appears on the ''

Lick It Up – A Millennium Tribute to Kiss ''Lick It Up – A Millennium Tribute to Kiss'' is a tribute album to American hard rock band Kiss. The album features various artists covering Kiss songs. Artists include Joe Lynn Turner (Rainbow), Keri Kelli (Alice Cooper/Ratt), Ryan Roxie (Sl ...

'' 2008 tribute album. *Former

lead guitarist Ron Leejack covered "She" on his two-track demo tape ''Wicked'' *Still Wicked, a project consisting of Leejack and

's friend Gordon Gebert, covered the song on the band's 1998 EP ''Something Wicked This Way Comes'' *Ace Frehley covered the song on his 2020 covers album, ''Origins Vol. 2.''

Personnel

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popular ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

, lead vocals *

Peter Criss George Peter John Criscuola (born December 20, 1945), better known by his stage name Peter Criss, is a retired American musician, best known as a co-founder, original drummer, and vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss. Criss establi ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

References

{{Kiss Kiss (band) songs Anthrax (American band) songs Songs written by Gene Simmons 1975 songs