Who Wants To Be Lonely
by Kiss

Album: Asylum (1985)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Who wants to be lonely? No one. That's the play Paul Stanley of Kiss makes in this song as he tries to score some time with the lady. It's a bombastic rocker from the front end of Kiss' no-makeup era, which lasted until 1996.
  • Paul Stanley wrote this song with Desmond Child and Jean Beauvoir. Child was on his way to becoming one of the top songwriters of the decade, with hits for Bon Jovi ("Livin' On A Prayer"), Aerosmith ("Dude (Looks Like A Lady)") and Joan Jett ("I Hate Myself For Loving You"). Beauvoir was in a band called the Plasmatics, which opened some shows for Kiss in 1983.

    Child, who started writing with Stanley in 1979 on the Kiss hit "I Was Made For Lovin' You," told Songfacts it's one of the more underrated songs in the Kiss katalog.
  • "Who Wants To Be Lonely" is part of the 1985 Kiss album Asylum. It wasn't released as a single but did get a music video. Bruce Kulick, who had recently joined the band, was the lead guitarist.
  • The music video is filled with striking images of wet women in leather, with Paul Stanley dressed like a pastel warrior. It was directed by David Mallet, one of the first high-impact music video directors. He was more concerned with interesting visuals than with storyline, which was a good fit for Kiss. Other videos Mallet directed include "Rock of Ages" by Def Leppard and "Ashes To Ashes" by David Bowie.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Chris Rea

Chris ReaSongwriter Interviews

It took him seven years to recover from his American hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)," but Chris Rea became one of the top singer-songwriters in his native UK.

Kristian Bush of Sugarland

Kristian Bush of SugarlandSongwriter Interviews

Kristian talks songwriting technique, like how the chorus should redefine the story, and how to write a song backwards.

U2 Lyrics

U2 LyricsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the lyrics of U2?

Joe Ely

Joe ElySongwriter Interviews

The renown Texas songwriter has been at it for 40 years, with tales to tell about The Flatlanders and The Clash - that's Joe's Tex-Mex on "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"

Tim McIlrath of Rise Against

Tim McIlrath of Rise AgainstSongwriter Interviews

Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath explains the meanings behind some of their biggest songs and names the sci-fi books that have influenced him.

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)Songwriter Interviews

The Brazilian rocker sees pictures in his riffs. When he came up with one of his gnarliest songs, there was a riot going on.