Man of the Year (The Eyes of Alice Cooper, 2003)

It’s been a year since the “Fridays with Alice” blog began, and what a year it has been! Words cannot express how thankful and appreciative we are that you have joined us on this journey. We press forward into another year, knowing that His Grace, Mercy, Love, and Majesty go before us leading the way. May God be given all the glory through this blog and all its associated content.

“The Eyes of Alice Cooper” was released on September 30, 2003, in the U.S. As the album turns 16, it seems fitting to revisit that LP this week. Alice was ready to move past the doom and gloom of industrial metal found on “Brutal Planet” and “Dragontown.” This album finds him returning instead to his roots. A mixture of humor, reality, and pure untainted Rock ‘n’ Roll. The record is a stripped-down LP with no defined concept. Each song has its own unique sound and ambiance. Alice states, “I thought, if there’s going to be anything that holds this album together lyrically, it’s going to be the fact that every song is just a little ironic slice of life.” As always, his words ring true. Each song is its own narrative of sorts. Another cool fact about this record, the cover art featured four different versions. Alice’s eyes could be found in either red, blue, green, or purple – motivating many fans to collect all four.

This album is filled with a solid tracklist. Already covering three songs on the record, we focus this week on “Man of the Year.” A tune filled with irony, humor, and a bitter twist. The lyrics find a successful man gloating about his earthly accomplishments. His “low-fat breakfast.” His love for his family. His perfect “urine tests.” He’s a “knight,” a “saint,” plays “golf with the president,” and makes “Madonna faint.” However, somehow he’s ended up “depressed and in despair.” Ultimately, the song finds the man taking his own life, yet he’s still fascinated with being flawless. His body laid to rest in the “perfect state” and the Lord eager to meet him. While the song is pure irony, it stops you dead in your tracks. Posing various questions in the process. Questions like, “What is it that drives me?” “What am I striving for in this life?” “Who will the world say I was in the end?”

Picking up where we left off last week, this song gives us the perfect example of a highly successful man that settled for the things of this world. Someone willing to accept “their good enough” instead of “His greatness.” It’s a common problem. However, it’s a problem many have overcome and remedied through His Word. Something that is often discovered through a moment of epiphany revealed to be His Truth. The discovery of what actually fits in that God-shaped hole – Him, His Plans, and His Word. In the case of this song and its narrative, this man knew something was missing. Despite all of his achievements and success something was wrong. Instead of searching further or more in-depth, he gave up.

It’s nothing new. It’s a constant force on all humanity. We were not created to live life without Him (Jeremiah 10:23, Matthew 4:4, John 5:19). In fact, once we’ve learned to trust and receive Him, we find an entirely new understanding of this life (Proverbs 3:5-6). Time spent with Him and seeking His Will becomes more valuable than possessions and status. We find everlasting joy in our trials and perseverance (James 1:2-3), in the things to come (John 16:22), in the fellowship of others (2 John 1:12), and in His timing (Isaiah 35:10). We find Him embedded in our daily thoughts and motives – guiding our paths.

Our attitude by default is to seek and live only for ourselves. Philippians 2:21 says, “All seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.” But we all end up questioning this life. We come to that place or crossroads, where we start asking some essential questions. Questions that shoot straight into our hearts and straight into our soul. Questions that beg for answers – “Why am I here?” “Why am I not happy?” “Why do I feel empty inside” These are inquiries that force us to strip ourselves’ of all pride. Forcing us to connect with our Creator – seeking Him with a humble heart (Proverbs 22:4). He’s the ONLY ONE that can answer these questions. He waits for us to ask and seek out His answers. Psalm 34:4 reads, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” When we seek Him, He stands at the ready. Ready to redirect your life and fulfill your heart and soul (Jeremiah 29:13, Matthew 7:7).

Fulfillment is not something that is easily explained. In the Greg Laurie interview (covered two weeks ago), Alice reveals the fact that you can’t really put knowing Him and His truth into words. It’s a matter of Him opening your eyes and your willingness to allow Him the opportunity to fulfill that gap in your heart and soul – it’s an experience. A journey. A realization. An awakening. But the Word does leave us with a roadmap and directions on how to attain a life fulfilled and renewed. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 says,

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now, we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

We must understand this, God is Love. Once our eyes are opened to Him, the world is not, nor will it ever be the same again. Our newfound sight views all humanity as being loved. But ask yourself this, “how do we reciprocate that love to Him?” The real test of our Love for Him is found in our love for others (1 John 4:19-21). Notice how the man in the song is continuously focused on himself. Not once does he mention a love for anyone or anything else, yet in all his outcomes and victories in life, it wasn’t enough to satisfy Him or His desires. He needed more. It was the need to be unconditionally loved that he craved most. The world had left him with that unattainable feeling or void in his heart. It was his love for ONLY himself that killed him

It would seem that God’s formula is pretty straight forward. Two essential things lead to a fulfilled life. The first is a yearning for God. Which is simply the willingness to seek Him – through His Word, in prayer, and applying what you learn. And second, loving and helping others. Did you know that an excellent way to fight depression is by working and helping others with their struggles and battles as well? As if that’s the way we’ve been programmed or something…as if Matthew 22:34-40 has been encoded into our composition, makeup, and existence – that if we would learn to Love God and Love People with our whole hearts earnestly, we might actually find some sort of fulfillment in this life.

SIDE NOTE: My wife and I have become a little preoccupied with older episodes of “The Twilight Zone.” Interestingly enough, this coincides with one of the episodes. It’s interesting – it seems the further you go back in the series, the more originality and a blatant basis for faith in God you find as well (as opposed to our current “whitewashed” society separated from faith and principles). Creativity laced with truth. On June 2, 1961, an episode of the series entitled, “The Obsolete Man” aired on CBS. In this story, Burgess Meredith played the role of a librarian named Romney Wordsworth. Romney, a man, placed on trial by the state and found irrelevant to society. At this point in time, the state (the world) had deemed books and God irrelevant. What transpires in the episode is chilling yet so real. We find the difference between what the world considers to be necessary and essential (the measure of a man), versus what God sees in us all. Romney finds peace and purpose in God’s Word, while the world considers the machine or the industrial complex of humanity, the only object worthy of value. If you don’t produce or supply what the state deems valuable, then, in fact, you are “obsolete.” Definitely worth the watch if you haven’t seen that particular episode. It was amazing to see how far we’ve come concerning the truth found in our entertainment.

Wrapping this up, humanity was created to be a community. We pull a significant amount of esteem and well-being from fellowship with others. However, the critical element that is often missing is Him. By our own nature, we tend to focus only on ourselves. The things we want. The things we need. Our rights. Our goals. Our mission. Our “truth.” However, when we incorporate Him, His purpose, and His mission, we find a new way of seeing things – a viewpoint that places God and others above ourselves. Focusing more on loving and helping our brothers and sisters instead of a narrow-minded spotlight on only ourselves (Philippians 2:3). It’s in this way of thinking that we find a life made new (1 Corinthians 5:13-17). We discover “a good and pleasant life” lived with others, unified as ONE, through the Body of Christ (Psalm 133:1).

A CHALLENGE FOR US ALL!
Combining this week and last week, we urge you to try something new. Every day when you sit down to look at social media or read the news of this world, first take 3-5 minutes (maybe more) to read the Bible. Then move forward with social media and other sources of information. As you spend time on social media and learning about the current state of the world, see if your thought process changes any at all. As you seek to interact with others, purposely choose to show them His Love – an unconditional Love that sees them as your brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s not easy, but when we apply His plan and use His blueprints, we see amazing things happening around us!

In conclusion, this track is concise and well-written. It tells this man’s story in a 3-minute track – a tale that might often take an entire album to express. Like the rest of the album, it is raw, brisk, and direct. Looking at this record from a historical standpoint, it’s one of the more genuine Alice Cooper records. Primarily because it was a lightly-produced endeavor. An in-house band effort – no click tracks – no overdubbing – it’s an authentic “old school” Rock ‘n’ Roll record. Paraphrasing some Alice remarks, the songs were rehearsed, recorded, and laid to bed within just a couple of weeks. Within a one-room setup, Alice and other members of the band have described the experience fondly. Stating that it felt like they were “recording the album in somebody’s garage.” The result is a cohesive endeavor that manages to remain modern while giving a definite throwback to the past.

That’s it for this week! We again thank you for joining us on this journey and hope you continue to join us as we press forward with our Lord! Be well and catch you next week!

Keep Walkin’ in Faith and Rockin’ with Alice!