“Let’s Put the X in Sex” is widely regarded as one of the worst KISS songs ever. The title is stupid, the song simplistic and the video is derivative of videos by groups like Winger, Warrant, Ratt and Poison. It was released at a time when KISS were popular, but no longer ground breaking. Paul Stanley has famously said, “A trend is your friend,” and it was during the mid to late 80’s that the band were most definitely following the glam rock trends of the day.
On the surface, the song appears to be nothing more than a mild wordplay on the term “X”, as in X-Rated. It’s as if Paul is saying, “Let’s put the X-Rating in sex.” The song was released on the “Smashes, Thrashes and Hits” compilation alongside another new song titled, “Rock Hard”. That song had some of the worst KISS lyrics ever -no easy feat from the band who gave you, “Don’t need no doctor, putting me to bed / Give me the nurse and I’ll make sure that she’s fed.” But in “Rock Hard”, the band reaches an all time low when Paul sings, “You make me rock hard, baby all night / Love’s like a glove and it fits just right.” So it isn’t surprising that no one looked for a deeper meaning in, “Let’s Put the X in Sex”.
But let’s do just that.
The song starts with Paul detailing how he received a letter with a photograph of a woman wearing sexy lingerie. He explains, “I knew her body, but I couldn’t see her face.” He then states, “Something in that photograph reminded me of YOU,” and this is important because we see here that he is referring to one specific person.
In the next verse her receives a phone call with heavy breathing. While it, “sounded quite so nice,” Paul is unable to discern who the caller is. He sings, “I asked who was calling, but she wasn’t playing fair.” It is clear that this is the same woman who sent the letter and there is a clear implication that this is someone he has met before. In the final verse, the interaction between Paul and this mystery woman escalates even further when she actually visits Paul. She is wearing, a hat, shades, and trench coat. Clearly she has met Paul before because she knows his secrets. But Paul, “didn’t have a clue (who she was)”. Finally the mystery is resolved when Paul sings, “Then I saw those black lace panites and I knew that it was YOU.” Clearly this is a former lover. And another word for former lover is…(wait for it)…”Ex”.
So this seemingly cheesy title is actually a clever wordplay that is saying “Let’s put the Ex in Sex”.
Now if only there were a deeper meaning to that awful music video 😉