Alice Cooper: Poison Meaning

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Poison Lyrics

Your cruel deep eyes
Your blood, like ice
One look could kill
My pain, your thrill

I want to love you but I better not
Touch (dont touch)
I want to hold you but my senses
Tell me to stop
I want to kiss you but I want it too
Much (too...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Mar 21st 2016 report

   On the surface, this song is about a man who is in love with (or has a crush on) a woman. The woman is sexy and attractive ("your mouth, so hot" "i wanna kiss you" "i wanna touch you") etc, but cruel. She's the kind of person who gets a kick from men falling for her. ("your cruel device" "my pain - your thrill"). Maybe the woman will even let him... do all the things he wants to do ;-) but he knows that will make the problem worse ("i better not touch") She is already "under [his] skin". If he gives into his desire, he may lose himself.
   
   (To those who suggested the woman in the song may be too young, or under age... you are welcome to read the song that way, but I can see no specific evidence in the song to back up your claim. Would you care to elaborate?)
   
   On a deeper level, the woman may certainly be a symbol for heroin, as others have suggested. (he "better not touch", he "wants it too much"), and heroin is, actually, poison. It's already "running through [his] veins" and because it's so addictive, even if he had come off it when he (with Desmond Childs and John McCurry) wrote this song, he would still have been prone to cravings. So he is still addicted, and a part of him doesn't want to "break these chains".
   
   As for being about AIDS? That metaphor doesn't work at all. Why would a person be simultaneously attracted to, and disgusted by AIDS? Why would a person say "I don't want to break these chains"? AIDS is not "hot", and it doesn't call you ("i hear you calling") like a woman might, or like you might imagine heroin does, if you were an addict.
   JTG

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Apr 16th 2012 report

   He says on a recent interview that this song is about his alcohol and drug addictions, if you piece it together this was his first sober album and he would have written it whilst in rehab, so it makes sense that he wrote this realising that alcohol and drugs are not good for him and are his Poison.
   
   However it is clear in the film clip that they tried to make it about love and sex with the gorgeous but naked woman in it. Come on though, who would wanna watch a man injecting himself and being locked up in a mental institution, this was way better.
   
   I personally take this song as a love song, cos it's so vivid and dark and I'm rather kinky so it suits me perfectly, I feel love run through my veins and burn deep inside me so yeah. This is the most beautiful song of all time, I love you so much Alice Cooper

3. 3TOP RATED

   #3 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Feb 3rd 2010 report

   The song is in general about loving someone you shouldn't. My interpretation is that it's about being in love with someone who doesn't love you in return but still wants to be your friend, and how her presence in your life is "poison running through your veins", because you want to move on really bad, but you're stuck loving this girl you can't love (I wanna love ya, butI better not touch), but she still wants to be in your life (I hear you calling and its needles and pins) and the pain that comes with the girl still being in your life (My pain, your thrill).
4. anonymous

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   Apr 21st 2020 report

   What if it's about loving a family member, cousin, sister etc. "Poison running through my veins" (the same/similar blood). Rest of the lyrics seem to fit too...
5. anonymous

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   Nov 8th 2019 report

   Alice Cooper is christian and the song is about the devil and how we always are attracted to sin and evil even tho we know that it is wrong.
   
6. anonymous

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   Feb 23rd 2018 report

   I like to think it BDSM. My pain your thrill. Being in chains.
7. anonymous

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   Nov 13th 2017 report

   It could be about drugs but I found that poison is a women who is very beautifull, more then his wife. Her wife is a chain which he musnt break if he wants a normal life. When he says "poison" he expres hate because he blames geogeus woman for taking his minds away from the right direction. So the best thing is to sing a song about her and to make it count by becaming better artist.
8. anonymous

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   Sep 6th 2017 report

   I think that this song brilliantly expresses the angst and internal conflict of being addicted to something really bad for you.
   It could be a co-dependant relationship with someone, or a sustance or even a behaviour or habit that is really destructive for us, but that we are so 'hooked' on you cannot tear yourself away.
   The songs genius in my opinion is in the strength of it's musical marriage between epic rock riffs, and crystal clear, superb word pictures; expressing that central theme.
9. anonymous

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   Oct 16th 2016 report

   Heroin and pussy. The end
10. kooljohn176

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    Oct 30th 2015 report

    Hey, I heard that ever since the trail blazer Alice Cooper was a child having a baby snake as his pet that he found in his backyard and named it ''Alice'' after a joyful little girl that he liked in Sunday school, he became in love with snakes to even performe with on his stage shows and sometimes used them symbolically out of love, fear and respect for them to relate to the mysteries of a woman that he may have been in love with cautiously.
11. anonymous

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    Jun 19th 2012 report

    I want to hurt you just to hear you
    Screaming my name
    
    this line is epic so don't ruin it's epicness
    I think a woman and maybe drugs are combined in this song, maybe he can't have the girl of his dreeams because of drugs or something as much as he wants the girl he has to fight his deamons within. so he is having a hard time fighting his one self.
12. anonymous

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    Mar 1st 2012 report

    He's so deepily in lust with a woman that he thinks it's love and she uses this to her advantage despite it hurting him.
13. anonymous

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    Jan 13th 2012 report

    i think its a about a damaged women who s on a i hate men mission so shes gettin with guys and hurtin their feelings at the same time to make her feel better and boost her self esteem

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
14. anonymous

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    Sep 19th 2011 report

    I have read through other interpritations, I was looking it up as I was told long time ago it was about the aids threat, so that was my favourite choice, but could be any of above. Why not ask Alice on his fan mail site.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
15. anonymous

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    Dec 31st 2010 report

    That alice cooper may have a few to many problems for anyone to figure out
16. ebsfac

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    Nov 10th 2009 report

    This song is about intravenous drug use. The "woman" is symbolic of the drug.
17. brandtaylor93

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    Nov 7th 2009 report

    SImple meaning:
    
    
    It's about loving someone but you can't express this love too you can't just run up to this person and kiss them and tell them this.
    
    this could put on many meanings: while the song was written Alice was probably thinking about love with one who is HIV+.
    
    yet the song could apply with loving them yet they do not love you back and you could interpret that how you wish.
18. anonymous

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    Oct 7th 2009 report

    He loves an under aged girl and knows he can't have her.

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