Bullet with Butterfly Wings

Infobox Single
Name = Bullet with Butterfly Wings

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Artist = The Smashing Pumpkins
from Album = Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
B-side =
Released = October 1995
Format = CD and Cassette
Recorded = 1995
Genre = Post-Punk
Length = 4:16
Label = Virgin Records
Writer = Billy Corgan
Producer = Flood, Alan Moulder and Billy Corgan
Certification =
Last single = "Rocket"
(1994)
This single = "Bullet with Butterfly Wings"
(1995)
Next single = "1979"
(1996)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Type = Studio
prev_track = Here Is No Why
prev_no = 5
this_track = "Bullet with Butterfly Wings"
track_no = 6
next_track = "To Forgive"
next_no = 7

"Bullet with Butterfly Wings" is a song by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. It was the lead single from the band's 1995 double album "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness". The song won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. This song was the band's first Top 40 US hit, peaking at number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100.

ong

Billy Corgan, lead singer of the group, has stated that the line "but can you fake it / for just one more show" refers to the band's headlining slot on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour, where they supposedly became disillusioned with the idea of "alternative" rock.Fact|date=August 2007 This interpretation is also supported by the fact that the first fully played incarnations of the song occurred at a few Lollapalooza shows, as well as on demos recorded early that year. A very embryonic version was apparently recorded during the recording of "Siamese Dream"; according to Corgan, "somewhere, I have a tape of us from 1993 endlessly playing the 'world is a vampire' part over and over." In fact, these lines quoted do not appear in the song until a demo from late 1994, although Corgan was more likely referring to that section of the song rather than the lyrics themselves. It was not until 1995 that Corgan finished writing the "rat in a cage" chorus section of the songcite news | last = Corgan | first = Billy | title = King B's | publisher = Guitar World | date = January 1997] .

Live performance

"Bullet with Butterfly Wings" like "Disarm", "Stand Inside Your Love" and "Today" metamorphosed dramatically during and after every tour. "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" in particular, verified by Corgan himself, comes in five different versions.

drums - this version would crash and burn with Corgan screaming at the top of his lungs, "Despite all my rage, I'm still just a rat in a cage". The latter was a nine minute or longer jazz version of the song. During the "Sacred & Profane" tour, the fifth variation of "Bullet" started off with an extended bassline and drumbeat build-up into the main song. This version is similar to the newest versions the band has been using on its 2007 tour.

Also to be noted is that later renditions of "Bullet" used the C tuning of "The Everlasting Gaze" and "Heavy Metal Machine", making the song sound heavier. As a result, the chorus was so low in Billy's register it sounded almost spoken. They then preceded non-stop with a cover of "Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads. Post-reformation renditions restore the original tuning.

Video

The music video for the song, directed by Samuel Bayer, is a performance video with heavy conceptual elements. The visual look of the video was inspired by documentaries about diamond mining, while, in contrast, the band used the video to debut their new glam rock wardrobes - notably, Billy Corgan's black shirt with the word "Zero" written in silver, and silver pants. The video also marks the last filmed appearance of Billy Corgan prior to his decision to shave his head.

Track listing

The following tracks appeared on the original single:
#"Bullet with Butterfly Wings" (Billy Corgan) - 4:16
#"...Said Sadly" (James Iha) - 3:09

"...Said Sadly" features Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt on vocals.

amples

Footnotes

External links

* Allmusic [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:6hvsa9igi2dk review]