I’m So Angry (The Eyes of Alice Cooper, 2003)

If you’ve been following “Fridays With Alice (FWA),” you will know that The Eyes of Alice Cooper is one of our favorite albums. Released in 2003, it was the follow-up LP to Dragontown but sounded nothing like its predecessor.

The LP returns to Alice’s roots – raw, pure grit, garage-based Rock ‘n’ Roll. The songs were written, recorded live in the studio (twenty takes), and the best take was used on the album – no overdubs.

“After the heavy industrial leanings of the previous two albums, Alice changed direction again and headed back to his garage band roots for an album of three minute “hits” recorded almost live in the studio as they were written in the space of not much more then a week.” – The Eyes of Alice Cooper discography page, SickthingsUK.co.uk (https://bit.ly/3NyfZCX)

The songs on The Eyes of Alice Cooper are each unique and tell their own stories. However, if you rearrange the tracks and think outside the box, a horrific love story might emerge from underneath the surface.

The songs “What Do You Want From Me?,” “Bye, Bye Baby,” “Be With You Awhile,” “Love Should Never Feel Like This,” “This House Is Haunted,” and “I’m So Angry,” can be pieced together.

Together the above-listed songs could tell a story about the highs and lows of a very dysfunctional relationship. Whether intentional or not, the unconventional eye reveals a sensational story and puzzle within this LP’s songs.

“I’m So Angry” is the second to last track on the LP. It is the personification of deep annoyance and anger. From the subject’s perspective, they can’t even listen to the one they claim to love (or loved) without being infuriated.

I’m so angry
I’m so angry
Something that you said burnin’ in my head
I’m so angry
I’m so angry
Everything you do makes me furious with you

It’s like a poison to me
It’s like you put me in shock
You stick a needle in me
Every time that you talk.

Who are the subjects of this song? Were they lovers? Are they co-workers? Family members? Do they both despise each other, or is this a one-way street full of hatred? What altercation caused all this bitterness and loathing?

Have you ever experienced such extreme emotions?

These feelings can be toxic, all-consuming reactions that affect our health and well-being. In a nutshell, anger is cancer.

With anger, we often find someone trapped in isolation. They may be hurting, depressed, or unwilling to forgive others (maybe all three).

At anger’s core, we find blame (the song paints that narrative perfectly) or the inability to process other feelings and emotions correctly. There’s this sense of entitlement also attached to it. As if someone owes us something. Once we start believing others owe us, we tend to be less forgiving towards them.

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
10 Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.’

14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. – Matthew 6:6-15

In the above-listed verses are the words of Christ. Our Lord clearly shows us how to pray and the power of forgiveness – it’s a two-way street.

If we want forgiveness, we must be willing to give forgiveness. We can’t expect to benefit from being forgiven if we live a life full of bitterness and anger toward everyone around us.

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling, and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” – Ephesians 4:31-32  

Paul reiterates Christ in Ephesians 4, which brings up another point.

Have you noticed just how angry the world has become? Have you observed the majority of humanity’s fuses becoming shorter and shorter? What is driving such anger, vitriol, and hate? Why on earth are so many people so enraged? Are we angry at God? Our fellow man? Or are we mad at ourselves?

In the fifth century AD, St. John the Ascetic described anger as a “deadly poison that must be totally uprooted.” That’s a profound statement.

Renowned author, C.S. Lewis, expounded on St. John the Ascetic’s statement:

“One man may be so placed that his anger sheds the blood of thousands, and another so placed that however angry he gets he will only be laughed at. But the little mark on the soul may be much the same in both. Each has done something to himself that, unless he repents, will make it harder for him to keep out of the rage next time he is tempted and make the rage worse when he falls into it. Each of them, if he seriously turns to God, can have that twist in the central man straightened out again: each is, in the long run, doomed if he will not. The bigness or smallness of the thing, seen from the outside, is not what really matters.” – C.S. Lewis

If we combine the words of both men above, we find that God is the cure for the ailment of anger.

In another passage, Lewis claimed that anger is “the anesthetic of the mind.” Simply put, when anger takes over, our minds go numb. Unable to logically think or communicate, we say and do things we never thought were possible.

Identifying anger and its ill effects poses new questions. How do we confront and handle such a destructive force? What does the Bible say we must do about it?

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.” – 1 John 4:7-16

Read the verses above carefully. As we embrace Him and His Word, we start to see, know, and understand that God is Love. Knowing Him, we (as His children) are called to love one another (John 13:35, Ephesians 4:2) and be at peace within ourselves (James 1:19, Proverbs 19:11, James 3:17-18).

Walking in Love and knowing peace are NOT attributes the world teaches us. We are instead exposed (sometimes at a very young age) to the opposites of these things: turmoil, strife, and conflict. The world glorifies such behaviors and endeavors to portray humanity with no hope or redemption.

However, with the gift of Salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord, we are subject to reprogramming – a new way of seeing humanity. The way our Heavenly Father intended – through the eyes of Christ.

As we develop a relationship with Christ, we begin to sense and recognize a transformation taking place in ourselves. An alteration of the heart and soul that leads to the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). It’s a process that ultimately uproots guilt, greed, jealousy, and anger.

The journey leads us closer to Him as we allow the Spirit to replace our nature with His. It’s an experience that exchanges those traits mentioned above (guilt, greed, jealousy, and anger) and replaces them with the Fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Peace, Love, Joy, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control (Galatians 5:22-23) begin to define our character and replace the vices of this world. As we diligently persist and meditate on God’s Word, we begin to slowly obtain His character, temperament, and disposition.

Through prayer and the application of His Word, we can overcome anger. As we surrender our minds to His Word, we begin to find our “fuses” stretched – it takes more to anger and upset us. In turn, we react with love and patience (Colossians 3:8).

Ultimately, we must learn to rethink and react differently than what the world teaches us is typical or expected. He must become our standard. We must strive to be more like Him.

Wrapping this up, we find a great deal of personal strife attached to anger. It’s unhealthy to live with so much bitterness and hatred.

We’ve mentioned many times before that life is a process. A good part of this process requires a reconditioning of the mind.

As we walk with Him, we must try not to get too hung up on our weaknesses but work on resolving them. We must begin seeing ourselves as He sees us – as His creation.

Diligence and repetition are what form healthy habits. As we spend time in God’s Word, we will learn more about our Creator and whom we become through Him.

We will begin to notice our heart softening (Hebrews 4:12). We will start to see people in a different light (Acts 26:23), focusing less on ourselves and more on others (Philippians 2:3). We begin to realize more and more what this life is about – Loving God and Loving People (Matthew 22:36-40).

In conclusion, Alice does a brilliant job of conveying the complexion of anger. He describes a very irate scenario. The initial build-up from the beginning to the end of the song leaves the listener a bit on edge.

The album features guitarists Eric Dover and Ryan Roxie. The two of them complement each other nicely. Alice admits that is part of what makes this record, the songs, and the sound unique.

“I’m So Angry” is a combination of both of them (Roxie’s Sex Pistols influence and Dover’s early Rolling Stones influence). But I think they both came from those schools of music. You know, in some of these songs, we absolutely tip the hat to certain people.” – Alice Cooper

Again, this has quickly become one of our favorite albums. Alice admits that “every song (on the album) is just a little ironic slice of life.”

Honestly, that’s the best part of Alice’s music. It’s not only easy on the ears but also points out some of the more candid moments in our lives. Moments that make you think, feel, or laugh – an insightful look into the human heart, mind, and soul.

That’s it for this week. Be well, and catch you next Friday!

In the meantime, Keep Walkin’ in Faith and Rockin’ with Alice!