Kiss certainly put a lot of thought into their product. Despite the accusations of being affected, when they emerged, their makeup, costumes, and flaming light shows were unique, pushing the idea of a rock band into new realms. This overly dramatic edge hadn’t been seen since the days of early rock ‘n’ roller, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and had only since been revived by Alice Cooper in parts. Shock rockers in every sense, the quartet’s distinctive aesthetic became the lynchpin of their success, adding another string to their bow outside their energetic hard rock.

Appealing to legions of fans who had been fascinated with earlier classic rock acts, and particularly those with wild imaginations stoked by comic books and fantastical prog rock, when the New York band broke out, their anthemic songs and mysterious alter egos made for a commercial masterstroke. It would quickly be filling large venues. They weren’t for everyone, but those who loved them really did. It was sleazy, fictitious and hedonistic, and spoke to the era’s mainstream proclivities.

As has been made clear by fellow New Yorker Sylvain Sylvain, the late guitarist of proto-punk influencers New York Dolls – who also packaged sleaze into their music just in a different, more realistic way – many people simply didn’t understand Kiss, and even hated their approach. He once said: “Too much fire, too much stuff that’s sensational and not enough soul. Not enough real shit. It was OK. By the way, their songs were completely infantile.”

That’s a fair summary for those who cannot get into the ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’ group and reject their indulgent approach. With such anthems as the above celebrating rock bombast in its filthy glory, they always inhabited a very specific space, meaning there’s no surprise that some of the era’s most discerning innovators had negative views of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley’s band. Even Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler has been openly confused by the group’s motivations.

Although Kiss’ success has been a head-scratcher for some, there were times when even the group themselves didn’t understand what they were doing. Most of their best-known cuts make their viewpoint and artistic stance very clear to the listener, asserting them as ‘titans of rock’ who elicited evil incarnate by tapping into rock’s darker side and fascination with all things sinister. Still, other ones continue to leave the members and fans wondering what in the hell they were on about.

The one that has continued to bug Simmons all these years is one of his most famous compositions, ‘Deuce’, from the group’s self-titled 1974 debut. It’s one of their most muscular songs, which the bassist wrote and sang lead vocals on, complete with mind-boggling lines such as “Get up / And get your grandma outta here / Pick up / Old Jim is workin’ hard this year” and “Baby, if you’re feeling good / And baby if you’re feeling nice / You know your man is workin’ hard / He’s worth a deuce”.

In one interview, Simmons claimed that he wrote ‘Deuce’ in his head on a bus. He heard the riff and the melody fizzing around his brain and then picked up his bass to bring it to life, arranging it on the spot. In true Simmons style, he was confident that it would be a staple of the band for years to come, and in this situation, he was right. It was heavily used in encores after already appearing earlier in the set, and oftentimes, due to how much people like it, in second encores, too.

Regardless of its success, though, Simmons still has no idea what on earth he was talking about with the lyrics. He said: “Lyrically, I had no idea what I was talking about. Sometimes stuff means a lot, sometimes it means nothing.”

With another portion of lyrics that go, “And baby / Stop cryin’ all your tears / Baby / Do the things he says to do / Do it”, it sounds about right that Simmons maintains that the lyrics are total nonsense. They could be taken as quite alarming when removed from the music.