Bullet with Butterfly Wings

"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<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and ranked number 70 on the 2008 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" of Rolling Stone.<ref name=guitarsongs>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The song came second in the Triple J Hottest 100, 1995,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> was later voted number 51 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time, 2009<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and placed at number 25 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of the Past 20 Years, 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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".<ref name=kingbs>Template:Cite news</ref> Corgan wrote the noted chorus "rat in a cage" on an acoustic guitar during the same session that "Landslide" was recorded.<ref name=kingbs />

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".<ref name=nytimes>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=vulture>Template:Cite web</ref> 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".<ref name=nytimes />

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Music video

Filming for the music video took place in late September 1995 with Samuel Bayer as director.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="2004 book">Template:Cite book</ref> The filming location was a quarry located in the Simi Valley hills of California, most likely the mining pits of the Gillibrand Industrial Sands facility, located adjacent to the Big Sky Film Ranch<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The visual look of the video was inspired by the work of Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado on gold mining;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name="LLC1996">Template:Cite book</ref> The video also marks the last filmed appearance of Billy Corgan prior to his decision to shave his head.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:CbignoreTemplate:Dead YouTube link</ref>

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,<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> though it is likely in the context of the interview that these statements were sarcastic.

Track listings

Original US and UK CD single<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Track listing

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

1996 Re-issue<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Track listing

US 7-inch double A-side single<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

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Chart (1995–1996)	Peak position
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	66
European Alternative Rock (Music & Media)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	11
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	1
Netherlands (Single Top 100 Tipparade)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	9
US Cash Box Top 100<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	27

Year-end charts

Chart (1995)	Position
Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	1

Chart (1996)	Position
Canada Rock/Alternative (RPM)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	32
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	75
US Mainstream Rock Tracks (Billboard)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	31
US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	50

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Template:Abbr
United States	October 10, 1995	Contemporary hit radio	Virgin	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
United Kingdom	October 16, 1995	Template:Hlist	Hut	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Australia	October 23, 1995		Virgin	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Cover versions

• Hawthorne Heights made a cover of this song, released as part of a 2007 Smashing Pumpkins tribute album from MySpace Records.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• MØ made a cover of this song; this version was released as a one-off single in 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• My Chemical Romance performed a cover of the song at Oracle Park as a part of their Long Live The Black Parade tour.

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The song is also used in the South Park episode "Whale Whores", which parodies Whale Wars.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

"Weird Al" Yankovic performed the chorus in "The Alternative Polka" from his Bad Hair Day album.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The song was featured as a playable track in the video game Guitar Hero 5.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

It was also used in the launch trailer for Dead Space 2.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The song was the TNA Lockdown wrestling pay-per-view theme song for 2009.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Parts of the song were used in the exposition of the 2022 film Black Adam.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A stripped-down remix by A.P. Laurenson was uploaded in 2016,<ref>Template:Citation</ref> which had gone viral and later served as the basis for various trailers, including Rampage in 2018,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II in 2022,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and The Last Voyage of the Demeter in 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2025, the song was used in a live-action trailer for Battlefield 6, in a style similar to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II trailer.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

External links

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