Bullet with Butterfly Wings
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| Bullet with Butterfly Wings | ||
|---|---|---|
| single by The Smashing Pumpkins | ||
| Released | October 24, 1995 | |
| Recorded | ??? | |
| Genre | Alternative rock | |
| Length | 7 min 25 sec | |
| Record label | Virgin | |
| Producer | Billy Corgan, James Iha, D'Arcy Wretzky, Alan Moulder, Flood | |
| Professional reviews | ||
| Allmusic.com | 2.5 out of 5 stars | link |
| The Smashing Pumpkins Singles | ||
| Disarm | Bullet with Butterfly Wings | 1979 |
"Bullet with Butterfly Wings" is a popular song by The Smashing Pumpkins. It originally appeared on their 1995 album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, from which it was a single. The single would later be packed in as part of the box set The Aeroplane Flies High, and the song would appear on the greatest hits album Rotten Apples. In 1997 the song won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance.
Song
Like the subsequent Mellon Collie single "Zero", "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" was one of the Smashing Pumpkins' darker songs and one of the first signs of change in the band's style. Previous albums, though not always lighthearted, had a less gloomy sound to them. While Mellon Collie was not entirely dark, it did have several songs that had a bleak attitude, and "Bullet" exemplified this. Later albums by the Pumpkins would have a tendency towards such songs, though few would be as dismal as "Bullet". With the chorus line "despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage", the song gained the Pumpkins a reputation for writing gloomy music.
Critics of the song have sometimes claimed that the lyrics are supposed to refer to the alleged suicide of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. This is usually assumed because of the lines "but can you fake it/ for just one more show", which may refer to Cobain's attempt to disband the group before he died.
The music video for the song, in which lead singer Billy Corgan wears a black shirt emblazoned with the word "ZERO", is the last one filmed while Corgan had hair; he shaved his head not long afterwards.
Single
The following tracks appeared on the original single:
- "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" (Corgan) - 4:16
- "...Said Sadly" (Iha) - 3:09
The version of the single that appears in The Aeroplane Flies High has the following tracks:
- "Bullet with Butterfly Wings"
- "...Said Sadly"
- "You're All I've Got Tonight" (Ric Ocasek) - 3:10
- "Clones (We're All)" (Carron) - 2:43
- "A Night Like This" (Robert Smith) - 3:36
- "Destination Unknown" (Bozzio/Bozzio/Cuccurullo) - 4:14
- "Dreaming" (Debbie Harry) - 5:11
"...Said Sadly" features Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt on vocals. "You're All I've Got Tonight" is a cover of a song by The Cars; "Clones (We're All)" is an Alice Cooper cover; "A Night Like This" is a Cure cover; "Destination Unknown" is a Missing Persons cover; and "Dreaming" is a Blondie cover.
Chart positions
1995 Bullet With Butterfly Wings Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 4 1995 Bullet With Butterfly Wings Modern Rock Tracks No. 2 1996 Bullet With Butterfly Wings The Billboard Hot 100 No. 22
