Going Home (Alice Cooper Goes To Hell, 1976) — Fridays With Alice Cooper…

This week we once again travel back to 1976. Revisiting “Alice Cooper Goes To Hell,” we find “Going Home.” as the LP’s final track. The song is beautifully written and offers a peaceful ending to the nightmarish ordeals that precede it.

The listener finds Steven, the beloved character of many Alice albums, back in his room — happy to be home even amongst his “dirty laundry.” When this album was released, many would most likely believe it was just part of the bedtime story. However, it seems there may have been more going on.

Whether Alice was cognizant of it or not, the song has “Prodigal Son” undertones. For the listener, some 40 years later, it doesn’t seem coincidental that this album ends with “Going Home,” and the next record, “Lace and Whiskey,” ends with “My God.”

It’s as if Alice is being drawn back to the comforts of his friends and family. To his innocence. To his upbringing. To his Faith.

Yesterday, Thanksgiving, the U.S. holiday, was celebrated. Many millions of people traveled home to be with family and friends. We gathered to give thanks for one another, for God’s blessings in our lives, and for the freedoms, we hold dear and sacred.