Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American … Read Full Bio ↴Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, reptiles, baby dolls, and dueling swords, Cooper is considered by many music journalists and peers to be "The Godfather of Shock Rock". He has drawn equally from horror films, vaudeville, and garage rock to pioneer a macabre and theatrical brand of rock designed to shock audiences.

Originating in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1964, "Alice Cooper" was originally a band with roots extending back to a band called the Earwigs, consisting of Furnier on lead vocals and harmonica, Glen Buxton on lead guitar, and Dennis Dunaway on bass guitar and backing vocals. By 1966, Michael Bruce on rhythm guitar joined the three and Neal Smith was added on drums in 1967. The five named the band "Alice Cooper", and Furnier eventually adopted it as his stage pseudonym. They released their 1969 debut studio album with limited chart success. Breaking out with the 1970 single "I'm Eighteen" and the third studio album Love It to Death, the band reached their commercial peak in 1973 with their sixth studio album, Billion Dollar Babies. After the band broke up, Furnier legally changed his name to Alice Cooper and began a solo career in 1975 with the concept album Welcome to My Nightmare. Over his career, Cooper has sold well over 50 million records.

Cooper has experimented with a number of musical styles, mainly hard rock, glam rock, heavy metal, and glam metal, but also new wave (1980–1983), art rock on DaDa (1983), and industrial rock on Brutal Planet (2000) and Dragontown (2001). He helped to shape the sound and look of heavy metal, and has been described as the artist who "first introduced horror imagery to rock 'n' roll, and whose stagecraft and showmanship have permanently transformed the genre". He is also known for his wit offstage, with The Rolling Stone Album Guide calling him the world's most "beloved heavy metal entertainer". Away from music, Cooper is a film actor, a golfing celebrity, a restaurateur, and, since 2004, a radio disc jockey (DJ) with his classic rock show Nights with Alice Cooper.

Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Cooper

Band studio albums
Pretties for You (1969)
Easy Action (1970)
Love It to Death (1971)
Killer (1971)
School's Out (1972)
Billion Dollar Babies (1973)
Muscle of Love (1973)

Solo studio albums
Welcome to My Nightmare (1975)
Alice Cooper Goes to Hell (1976)
Lace and Whiskey (1977)
From the Inside (1978)
Flush the Fashion (1980)
Special Forces (1981)
Zipper Catches Skin (1982)
DaDa (1983)
Constrictor (1986)
Raise Your Fist and Yell (1987)
Trash (1989)
Hey Stoopid (1991)
The Last Temptation (1994)
Brutal Planet (2000)
Dragontown (2001)
The Eyes of Alice Cooper (2003)
Dirty Diamonds (2005)
Along Came a Spider (2008)
Welcome 2 My Nightmare (2011)
Paranormal (2017)
Detroit Stories (2021)
Road (2023)

The Sentinel
Alice Cooper Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I'm not a Buddha boy
I'm not a Muslim man
I'm not a Christian or a Jew

I'm not a Mormon freak
I'm not a Catholic geek
And I'm nothing at all like you

My mind, my heart, my soul is calm
While I sit here soldering my see-2 bomb
Got some wires crossed
In my twisted head
Connect the green wire here or was it red?

'Cause it's my fate
I operate on hate
(Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate)
I go by many other names
But now

I am the sentinel
I want the world to know
I'm sending you all to hell
I'm tired and I'm wired here to blow

There's something disturbing
Going on in my turban
I'm home, home on the range
I feel my meditation so deep within
While my medication's kicking in

'Cause it's my fate
I operate on hate
(Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate)
I go by many other names
But now

I am the sentinel
I want the world to know
I'm sending you all to hell
I'm tired and I'm wired here to blow

I am the sentinel
I want the world to know

I'm sending you all to hell
I'm tired and I'm wired here to blow

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Alice Cooper's song "The Sentinel" seem to be sung from the perspective of an individual who is decidedly not religious. The singer declares that they do not belong to any of the major faiths, including Christianity, Islam, Judaism or Mormonism. They go on to state that they are "nothing at all like you," presumably referring to the audience for the song. The singer then goes on to describe how they feel both calm and twisted at the same time, working on some sort of bomb and trying to remember which wire to connect. They operate on hate, and announce that they are the sentinel, tired of the world and ready to blow it up.

The lyrics of "The Sentinel" are difficult to interpret precisely, but they appear to be a commentary on religious extremism and the dangers that it can pose to the world. The singer portrays themselves as an outsider, free from the prejudices and dogmas of any particular faith, but also as a figure of danger, capable of inflicting harm on others. The line "There's something disturbing/Going on in my turban" is a clear reference to the stereotype of Muslims as terrorists, and the song as a whole seems to be satirizing and criticizing the way in which some fanatics can become consumed by their religious beliefs.

Line by Line Meaning

I'm not a Buddha boy
I do not follow the tenets of Buddhism.

I'm not a Muslim man
I do not follow the tenets of Islam.

I'm not a Christian or a Jew
I do not follow the tenets of Christianity or Judaism.

I'm not a Mormon freak
I do not follow the tenets of Mormonism and am not considered an outsider.

I'm not a Catholic geek
I do not follow the tenets of Catholicism and am not considered an outsider.

And I'm nothing at all like you
I am not like you, whoever you may be.

My mind, my heart, my soul is calm
Despite my violent intentions, I am at peace internally.

While I sit here soldering my see-2 bomb
I am constructing a bomb in preparation for an attack.

Got some wires crossed
I am struggling to remember the correct steps in bomb construction.

In my twisted head
My mind is not fully functioning in a healthy manner.

Connect the green wire here or was it red?
I am experiencing difficulty remembering which wire to connect where in the bomb construction process.

'Cause it's my fate
It is my destiny to commit this violent act.

I operate on hate
My motivation for this violent act is fueled by extreme anger and hatred.

(Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate)
I am consumed by hatred, as evidenced by my repetition of the word 'hate.'

I go by many other names
I am known by various aliases.

But now
At this moment in time.

I am the sentinel
I am the guardian and protector of my violent beliefs.

I want the world to know
I desire the world to be aware of my violent intentions.

I'm sending you all to hell
I plan to kill as many people as possible in my violent attack.

I'm tired and I'm wired here to blow
I am exhausted but energized, and fully prepared to carry out my violent attack.

There's something disturbing
I am aware that something is not right about my thoughts and actions.

Going on in my turban
Even though I am not Muslim, the reference to the turban suggests that I may be carrying out this violent act in the name of a religion.

I'm home, home on the range
Despite my violent intentions, I take comfort in familiar surroundings.

I feel my meditation so deep within
I am able to calm my inner turmoil through meditation.

While my medication's kicking in
I am using medication to control my symptoms and emotions.

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: COOPER, MARLETTE

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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