Bullet with Butterfly Wings

"Bullet with Butterfly Wings"
Single by the Smashing Pumpkins
from the album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
B-side
ReleasedOctober 16, 1995 (1995-10-16)[1]
Recorded1995
Genre
Length4:16
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)Billy Corgan
Producer(s)
The Smashing Pumpkins singles chronology
"Rocket"
(1994) 		"Bullet with Butterfly Wings"
(1995) 		"1979"
(1996)
Music video
Bullet with Butterfly Wings on YouTube
Audio sample

"Bullet with Butterfly Wings" is a song by the American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. It was released as the lead single from their 1995 double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, and is the sixth track on the first disc. This song was the band's first top-40 US hit, peaking at number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also spent six weeks at number two on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and peaked at number four on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. In Canada, the song peaked at number 18 on the RPM Top Singles chart and spent four weeks at number one on the RPM Alternative 30 chart, becoming Canada's most successful rock song of 1995. It also reached number one in Iceland for a week.

The song won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1997. It was named the 91st best hard rock song of all time by VH1 in 2009[6] and ranked number 70 on the 2008 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" of Rolling Stone.[7] The song came second in the Triple J Hottest 100, 1995,[8] was later voted number 51 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time, 2009[9] and placed at number 25 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of the Past 20 Years, 2013.[10]

Background

The song had its origins during the recording of 1993's Siamese Dream. According to frontman Billy Corgan, "I have a tape of us from 1993 endlessly playing the 'world is a vampire' part over and over".[11] Corgan wrote the noted chorus "rat in a cage" on an acoustic guitar during the same session that "Landslide" was recorded.[11]

The lyrics "Can you fake it, for just one more show?" may refer to the band's experience headlining the 1994 Lollapalooza festival, with Corgan calling it "old Job".[12][13] Along with other parts of the album, Corgan appears to compare himself to Jesus Christ, with the line "Tell me I'm the chosen one / Jesus was an only son".[12]

Critical reception

"Bullet with Butterfly Wings" is widely considered one of the Smashing Pumpkins' best songs. Louder Sound and Kerrang both ranked the song number three on their lists of the greatest Smashing Pumpkins songs.[14][15]

The New York Times noted of a 2014 concert by the band that "one chorus always gets the Smashing Pumpkins' fans shouting along", identifying the line as: "Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage".[16]

Music video

Filming for the music video took place in late September 1995 with Samuel Bayer as director.[17][18] The filming location was a quarry located in the Simi Valley California hills, most likely the mining pits of the Gillibrand Industrial Sands facility, located adjacent to the Big Sky Film Ranch[19] The visual look of the video was inspired by the work of Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado on gold mining,[20][21] 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.[22] The video also marks the last filmed appearance of Billy Corgan prior to his decision to shave his head.[23][24]

When asked why the band chose Bullet for the first video, Corgan responded "the record company did a survey of K-Mart shoppers between 30 and 40 and this is the song they came up with". "This is the blue light special", said Chamberlin,[25][26][27] though it is likely in the context of the interview that these statements were sarcastic.

Track listings

Original US/UK CD single[28][29]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Bullet with Butterfly Wings"Billy Corgan4:16
2."...Said Sadly"James Iha3:09

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

1996 Re-issue[30]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Bullet with Butterfly Wings"Billy Corgan4:16
2."...Said Sadly"James Iha3:09
3."You're All I've Got Tonight"Ric Ocasek3:10
4."Clones (We're All)"David Carron2:43
5."A Night Like This"Robert Smith3:36
6."Destination Unknown"Dale Bozzio/Terry Bozzio/Warren Cuccurullo4:14
7."Dreaming"Debbie Harry, Chris Stein5:11

US 7" double A-side single[31]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."1979"Billy Corgan4:24
2."Bullet with Butterfly Wings"Billy Corgan4:16

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[52] Silver 200,000‡
United States (RIAA)[53] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

In other media

The song is used, slightly edited, as the title song for the Animal Planet reality television series Whale Wars, which follows the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as they chase Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.[56] The song is also used in the South Park episode "Whale Whores", which parodies Whale Wars.[57]

"Weird Al" Yankovic performed the chorus in "The Alternative Polka" from his Bad Hair Day album.[58]

The song was featured as a playable track in the video game Guitar Hero 5.[59]

It was also used in the launch trailer for Dead Space 2.[60]

The song was the TNA Lockdown wrestling pay-per-view theme song for 2009.[61]

Parts of the song were used in the exposition of the 2022 film Black Adam.[62]

A stripped-down remix by A.P. Laurenson was uploaded in 2016,[63] which had gone viral and later served as the basis for various trailers, including Rampage in 2018,[64] Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II in 2022,[65] and The Last Voyage of the Demeter in 2023.[66]

References

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  2. ^ A.U. (August 6, 2015). "The 95 Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1995". Spin. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  3. ^ 1001 Albums: You Must Hear Before You Die. Hachette; 2011. Print.
  4. ^ Segretto, Mike (2022). "1995". 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute - A Critical Trip Through the Rock LP Era, 1955–1999. Backbeat. pp. 547–548. ISBN 9781493064601.
  5. ^ Richardson, Sean (February 13, 2003). "Ride on". The Boston Phoenix. Archived from the original on October 18, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
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  8. ^ "Triple J Hottest 100 1993". Triple J. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  9. ^ "Countdown | triple j's Hottest 100 of All Time, 2009". Triple J. Retrieved February 10, 2016.
  10. ^ "Countdown | Twenty Years of triple j's Hottest 100". Triple J. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  11. ^ a b Corgan, Billy (January 1997). "King B's". Guitar World.
  12. ^ a b Pareles, John (October 22, 1995). "RECORDINGS VIEW;Alternative Rockers Think Big, Uneasily". The New York Times. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  13. ^ McKelvey, Iain. "The Throwback, 1995". Vulture. Archived from the original on December 22, 2014. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  14. ^ Bigland, Matt (October 18, 2016). "The 10 best Smashing Pumpkins songs". Louder Sound. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  15. ^ Law, Sam (November 20, 2021). "The 20 greatest Smashing Pumpkins songs – ranked". Kerrang. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  16. ^ Pareles, Jon (December 9, 2014). "After Years of Rage and Fury, a Cooler-Headed Sound". The New York Times.
  17. ^ "Smashing Pumpkins making of Bullet With Butterfly Wings - video dailymotion". Dailymotion. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  18. ^ Amy Hanson (2004). Smashing Pumpkins Tales of a Scorched Earth. Helter Skelter. pp. 214–. ISBN 9781900924689.
  19. ^ "Mining Pits". The Quarry at Gillibrand. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  20. ^ Finished challenges. "2 out of 3 - Bullet with butterfly wings: Digital Photography Review". Dpreview.com. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  21. ^ "Bullet with Butterfly Wings". Personal.umich.edu. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
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  26. ^ "spfc.org : interviews : MTV News Interview". www.spfc.org. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
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  28. ^ "Smashing Pumpkins Bullet With Butterfly Wings UK 5" CD SINGLE (54612)". Eil.com. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  29. ^ "Smashing Pumpkins Bullet With Butterfly Wings USA 5" CD SINGLE (241127)". Eil.com. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  30. ^ "Smashing Pumpkins The Aeroplane Flies High USA BOX SET (76593)". Eil.com. December 9, 1996. Archived from the original on May 30, 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
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