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“Bullet with Butterfly Wings”
Single by The Smashing Pumpkins from the album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Released	1995
Format	CD and Cassette
Recorded	1995
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	4:16
Label	Virgin Records
Writer(s)	Billy Corgan
Producer	Flood, Alan Moulder and Billy Corgan
The Smashing Pumpkins singles chronology
"Rocket" (1994) "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" (1995) "1979" (1996)
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness track listing
Here Is No Why (5) "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" (6) "To Forgive" (7)

"Bullet with Butterfly Wings" is a song by The Smashing Pumpkins. It originally appeared on their 1995 album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, from which it was the lead single. The single would later be part of the box set The Aeroplane Flies High, and the song would appear on the greatest hits album Rotten Apples. The song won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. This song was the band's first Top 40 US hit, reaching #22 on the Billboard Hot 100. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Download high resolution version (996x998, 200 KB)Cover from The Smashing Pumpkins single Bullet with Butterfly Wings. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago in 1988. ... Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (sometimes abbreviated to Mellon Collie or MCIS) is a double CD and triple LP that was released on October 24, 1995 by The Smashing Pumpkins through Virgin Records. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... CD may stand for: Compact Disc Canadian Forces Decoration Cash Dispenser (at least used in Japan) CD LPMud Driver Centrum-Demokraterne (Centre Democrats of Denmark) Certificate of Deposit České Dráhy (Czech Railways) Chad (NATO country code) Chalmers Datorförening (computer club of the Chalmers University of Technology) a 1960s... Typical 60-minute Compact Cassette. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Alternative music redirects here. ... In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. ... Virgin Records was a British recording label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, and Nik Powell in 1972. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... William Patrick Corgan, Jr. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... Mark Ellis, better known as Flood, is a British post punk/alternative rock record producer whose work often blends synthetic and organic elements. ... Alan Moulder (born 11 June 1959) is one of Britains premier alternative rock record producers. ... William Patrick Corgan, Jr. ... The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago in 1988. ... Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness track listing In The Arms of Sleep (18) 1979 (19) Tales of a Scorched Earth (20) 1979 is an alternative rock song written by Billy Corgan from The Smashing Pumpkins and was the second single from their 1995 third album, Mellon Collie and the... Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (sometimes abbreviated to Mellon Collie or MCIS) is a double CD and triple LP that was released on October 24, 1995 by The Smashing Pumpkins through Virgin Records. ... For other uses, see Song (disambiguation). ... The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago in 1988. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... An album or record album is a collection of related audio or music tracks distributed to the public. ... Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (sometimes abbreviated to Mellon Collie or MCIS) is a double CD and triple LP that was released on October 24, 1995 by The Smashing Pumpkins through Virgin Records. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... The Aeroplane Flies High was a 5 disc boxed set by The Smashing Pumpkins. ... Rotten Apples is a greatest hits compilation album by the rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. ... The 39th Grammy Awards were held on February 26, 1997. ... The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance has been awarded since 1990. ... “Hot 100” redirects here. ...

Song

Corgan 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.^{[citation needed]} 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 song^[1]. Alternative music redirects here. ... Siamese Dream is the second album for alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. ...

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. This article is about a song. ... Stand Inside Your Love is a song by The Smashing Pumpkins. ... Siamese Dream track listing Quiet (2) Today (3) Hummer (4) Today is a song by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins, written by lead vocalist and guitarist Billy Corgan. ...

The Smashing Pumpkins performing "Bullet..." live in 1998.

During the tour in support of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, the band performed the song with an audio clip intro which stuttered the line, "The world, world, world, world, world..." - at which Corgan would shout the opening line, initiating a quick tempo version of the song. Later, the band would drop the intro, starting off the song with a drum beat, a style reminiscent of the variation adopted for the "Sacred & Profane" tour. A third and fourth version showed dramatic variations of the song, both of which were adopted for the Adore tour. The former was an extended and extremely distorted electric version, including several other instruments outside of the ones used for the studio track, such as a 7-string Ibanez electric guitar and a bunch of percussion 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. Image File history File links Spadorebwbw. ... Image File history File links Spadorebwbw. ... Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (sometimes abbreviated to Mellon Collie or MCIS) is a double CD and triple LP that was released on October 24, 1995 by The Smashing Pumpkins through Virgin Records. ... Look up Adore in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about the guitar manufacturer. ... Percussion instruments are played by being struck, shaken, rubbed or scraped. ...

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. The Everlasting Gaze is a song by The Smashing Pumpkins. ... Once in a Lifetime is a popular song by Talking Heads, from their album Remain in Light, and was later used for the promotion of the concert film Stop Making Sense. ... The Talking Heads was an American rock band formed in 1974 in New York City and active until 1991. ...

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. A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song. ... Samuel David Bayer (born in 17 February 1962 in Syracuse, New York) is an American music video director. ... Glam rock (also known as glitter rock), is a style of rock music, which initially surfaced in the post-hippie early 1970s. ...

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• "Weird Al" Yankovic included the song in his polka medley "The Alternative Polka", from his 1996 album Bad Hair Day. It was also featured in the Cold Case episode entitled "Rampage", during the flashback sequence from 1995 where the two mall shooters featured in the episode are made fun of by jocks sitting at a table at the mall they work at. Also, the song was used in a television ad for "World Extreme Cagefighting" on the Versus television network.
• After the September 11, 2001 attacks, "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" was one of the songs put on Clear Channel's list of possibly inappropriate songs.
• The band Hawthorne Heights released a cover of the song on their MySpace page in 2007.
• During VH1's "Top 100 Hard Rock Artists" count-down, Dr. Dre described this song as "the perfect epitome of anger expressed in music."

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... This article is about the musician. ... Singles from Bad Hair Day Released: March 12, 1996 Released: May 7, 1996 Released: November 26, 1996 Bad Hair Day is the ninth album by Weird Al Yankovic, released in 1996. ... For other uses, see Cold case (disambiguation). ... A sequential look at United Flight 175 crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced nine eleven or nine one one) consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[1] suicide attacks upon the United States, predominantly... A clear channel, in the general sense, is a communications channel (such as a radio frequency) on which only one transmitter operates at a time. ... This is a list of songs purportedly deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks. ... Hawthorne Heights is a band formed in Dayton, Ohio in June of 2001. ... For the New York radio and television presenter, see Doctor Dre. ...

Track listing

Single track listing

The following tracks appeared on the original single:

1. "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" (Billy Corgan) - 4:16
2. "...Said Sadly" (James Iha) - 3:09

William Patrick Corgan, Jr. ... James Yoshinobu Iha (Japanese: 井葉吉伸, Iha Yoshinobu or ジェームス・イハ, Jēmusu Iha) born March 26, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois, USA) is an American rock musician. ...

The Aeroplane Flies High track listing

1. "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" (Corgan) - 4:16
2. "...Said Sadly" (Iha) - 3:09
3. "You're All I've Got Tonight" (Ric Ocasek) - 3:10
4. "Clones (We're All)" (David Carron) - 2:43
5. "A Night Like This" (Robert Smith) - 3:36
6. "Destination Unknown" (Dale Bozzio/Terry Bozzio/Warren Cuccurullo) - 4:14
7. "Dreaming" (Debbie Harry/Chris Stein) - 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. All songs feature Corgan on lead vocals, except "...Said Sadly" and "A Night Like This", featuring Iha, and "Dreaming" which features D'arcy's voice. Ric Ocasek (born Richard Otcasek on March 23, 1949, in Baltimore, Maryland) is the former vocalist and frontman for The Cars and a producer for several other groups, including Bad Brains and Suicide. ... For other persons named Robert Smith, see Robert Smith (disambiguation). ... Destination Unknown is a hit single by the new wave band Missing Persons. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Dreaming cover This article is about the song by Blondie. ... Deborah Ann Harry (born July 1, 1945, in Miami, Florida) is a singer-songwriter and actress most famous for being the lead singer for the punk rock/new wave band Blondie. ... Chris Stein (born January 5, 1950 in Brooklyn, New York) is co-founder and guitar player in the popular group Blondie [1]. He was diagnosed with a rare and usually fatal genetic disease called Pemphigus in 1983. ... Veruca Salt is an alternative rock group of the 1990s and 2000s. ... In music a singer or vocalist is a type of musician who sings, i. ... // In popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition (performance or recording) of a previously recorded song. ... The Cars were an American rock band, fronted by Ric Ocasek, that emerged from the early punk scene in the late 1970s. ... Alice Cooper (born February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans four decades. ... This article is about the band. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Blondie is the name of an American rock band that first gained fame in the late 1970s, and which has sold over 140 million records. ...

Samples

Image File history File links BulletWithButterflyWings. ...

External links

• All Music Guide review

The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music, owned by All Media Guide. ...

Footnotes