Lyrics for Bullet With Butterfly Wings as interpreted by Ice

Bullet With Butterfly Wings Lyrics
The world is a vampire, sent to drain
Secret destroyers, hold you up to the flames
And what do I get, for my pain?
Betrayed desires, and a piece of the game
Even though I know -- I suppose I'll show
All my cool and cold-like old job
Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage
Then someone will say what is lost can never be saved
Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage
Now I'm naked, nothing but an animal
But can you fake it, for just one more show
And what do you want, I want to change
And what have you got
When you feel the same
Even though I know--I suppose I'll show
All my cool and cold--like old job
Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage

Then someone will say what is lost can never be saved
Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage
Tell me I'm the only one
Tell me there's no other one
Jesus was an only son
Tell me I'm the chosen one
Jesus was an only son for you
Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage
And I still believe that I cannot be saved

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vampyrblood15
12-06-2001

Rated 0 
Yeah!!! Someone finally got the words to one of my FAVORITE songs!!! I believe it's about trying to express how you feel. They feel trapped, just as I do.

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Enraged7
01-21-2002

Rated 0 
i love this song

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kill ur self
04-27-2002

Rated 0 
THERE BEST FUCKIN SONG


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NoOtherOne
05-07-2002

Rated 0 
This song kicks, for serious. You can just totally rock out to it.

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Steve
05-10-2002

Rated 0 
i get over excited when i listen 2 this song and turnit up full

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Bryan21
05-14-2002

Rated 0 
This song is awesome and Prob there best song. I play it too loud also..hehe

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Ethilien
05-18-2002

Rated 0 
i can relate

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crone85
05-25-2002

Rated -3 
"Jesus was an only son for you
...
and i still believe that i cannot be saved"

Well, he says that Jesus is Gods son, but nevertheless, he still thinks he can't be saved. Maybe he thinks he's done such terrible things that he can't be forgiven or saved, perhaps the reason he feels like a "rat in a cage."

By the way, I thought this was for discussing lyrics, not telling our favorite songs. =P

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MysticDragon
05-29-2002

Rated 0 
The lyrics in this song hold such raw emotion...
"despite all my rage i am still just a rat in a cage"
God... it just says so much...
I think he's dealing with his frustration over the lack of control over hislife and the fact that no-one is listening to him or understanding his pain.
Awesome song.

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bogan_gurl
05-30-2002

Rated 0 
I get many diffrent things out of this song.. the fact that he is a rat in a cage indicates to me he feels Trapped with as MysticDragon said no control over his life..NO ones listening no one is trying to understand."the world is a vampire, sent to drain " i love this first line, explaining how i feel, that the world will suck your blood out.. leave you lifeless...Its an awesome song.. All about sin, pain, frustration, change, etc.. All in all a top song.A top band.. infact the best >;) but i would say that...

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anarchysomething44
05-30-2002

Rated 0 
Billy Corgan is a genuis! "Despite all my rage i am still just a rat in a cage" That is one of the greatest lines I've ever heard, it just tells so much. This song is there best. Pumpkins Rock!!!


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Maggot
06-08-2002

Rated 0 
it's about someone who is trapped in a situation they have no control over. they're so angry and yet they have no influence over what will happen - "despite all my rage i am still just a rat in a cage"

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MechaBunny
06-14-2002

Rated 0 
Two interperetations from me:
One: The anger stuff that everyone said.
Two: Could be prisoners of war, because in the music video, that's what it seems like. Think about it: If you were a prisoner of war, then you would be angered, but you wouldn't be able to let it out, and you would be trapped like a rat in a cage. I dunno about the rest of the song for that meaning, though.

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Victory March
06-15-2002

Rated 0 
Heeey, I think its a combination of both the anger thing and the POW thing... well kinda, i think there's areally likely chance of both...
To me it shows no matter what you do sometimes you're still caught in that situation and there's NO WAY out of it and its so damn hopelsss, but you can't do anything but get mad etc. I think at the end with "and I still believe that I canno be saved" is kinda like, not an acceptance of the situation, but realizing what it is and the fact that you're frantic won't save you. Nothing really will. Meh, that's jsut me.

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PeaceGypsy420
06-17-2002

Rated 0 
Well, this is quite obviously the most populat pumpkins song....i remember this from like 2nd grade!
But anyway, "despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage..."
I think that even though he's so frustrated and angry because he's oppressed by rules and laws and society, but the people who are oppressing him just make fun of something he takes so seriously. they're like: aww, how cute, a rebellious angst teen, not like we haven't seen one of those before...

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Lem
06-20-2002

Rated 0 
The world is relentless. We're all trapped in it. There's no way to escape. After all. life is a terminal disease. No one can survive it for long. Our life flashes before our eyes in the moments before death, and it's called living. Despite the strength of our emotions, love, hate, anger, we can't really achieve anything permanent except our own destruction.
I hadn't really considered the POW angle before, but I think this song relates to their survival of the horrifying conditions, and having the pride to keep on going, day after day, as they say: "Can you fake it, for just one more show." Hide the pain, and fuck them all. Sometimes all that sustains us is our hate.

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amessofme
06-22-2002

Rated 0 
we didn't choose to live in this world, and there's really nothing we can do to change that. we're trapped in a place in which many of us would much rather not be..we can be angry, we can complain, we can try to fight it and wish that we were somewhere else, but no matter what, we're stuck here. this is your life, you can't escape it. "fuck the world if i'm cursed, i'm having visions of leaving here in a hearse." also the part about believing that he can't be saved..the first thing that pops into my head is that he's saying that he wants to leave this world, but he believes that if there is something after death, he'll get the worst of it..so it's kind of a double-edged sword. escape one hell only to live in another.

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egut521
07-11-2002

Rated 0 
ok this is what my friend (b.w.) says about this song, who is a die hard sp fan, and knows everythign about them...

BWBW was written during Mellon Collie, Corgan's "blue period" if u will. At this time he was in a great state of depression for tons of reasons. He was mentally depressed, the band was falling apart, JImmy was fucking around with drugs...his band, his life, his dreams,everything he had was falling apart and he felt like it was all his fault. He is a Catholic and for him to stand up and say that not even Jesus can save him, you get insight into his extreme feelings of despair and hopelessness. he was trapped, like a rat in a cage.

yeah thats what my friend says, i think hes right personally.

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egut521
07-11-2002

Rated 0 
ok this is what my friend (b.w.) says about this song, who is a die hard sp fan, and knows everythign about them...

BWBW was written during Mellon Collie, Corgan's "blue period" if u will. At this time he was in a great state of depression for tons of reasons. He was mentally depressed, the band was falling apart, JImmy was fucking around with drugs...his band, his life, his dreams,everything he had was falling apart and he felt like it was all his fault. He is a Catholic and for him to stand up and say that not even Jesus can save him, you get insight into his extreme feelings of despair and hopelessness. he was trapped, like a rat in a cage.

yeah thats what my friend says, i think hes right personally.

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plastic tiara
07-18-2002

Rated 0 
i think its about anger...how you feel like you cant get out... "despite all my rage i am still just a rat in a cage"

this is my favourite smashing pumpkins song. really great.

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Eckoxus
07-29-2002

Rated 0 
i think the song is billy's personal feeligns but theres also an important parellel to the story of job in it. Quick brief description for the bible-uneducated, Job was a great person his entire life and always loved God, then god decided to test his faith by killing his only son to see if hed still remain faithful.

Other than the line "I suppose ill show all my cool and cold like old job", which is an obvious one, he speaks of "what do i get for all my pain? betrayed desires", which would indicate job's work his entire life, all for nothing.

Then "Jesus was an only son to you", which would be Job speaking to god, for Job had only one son also.

also after he loses his son he speaks of "now im naked, nothing but an animal, but can you fake it, for just one more show". This i guess is implying Job's continued faith afterwards, even though he was stripped of his loved son, etc.

Then most of the rest of the song is just rage and pissed off'ness that you guys are talking about. I'm not sure about the extra job material, but it seems to fit.

By the way, im completely atheist and don't support billy's christian ways at all, im just pointing out the parellel of the stories.

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2 Replies
Eckoxus
07-29-2002

Rated 0 
oh and by the way, if you get the Smashing Pumpkisn collectors DVD it explains all the videos, and the video for BWBW isnt a POW camp, its a like a workers mine/construction site thing. The video has its own story seperate from the song: the video is about this guy that is in this mine construction camp thing and he finds a beautiful butterfly and tries to protect it from all the ugliness around him, and he ends up getting beat up(and dies?) from all of the terribly things around him (mainly people).

just fyi. that came from billy's mouth so i can actually vouch for that one to be really true, not sure about my post just a second ago above that ones just my interpreation.

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MistaTwista
08-01-2002

Rated 0 
"dispite of my rage i am still just a rat in a cage...jesus was an only son for you" this kinda shows that he has no control over his life and god is playing him like he is a rat in a cage. in this song he seems to be screaming at god for controlling his life so much

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electric_lights
08-03-2002

Rated 0 
what ?

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stayhuman
08-15-2002

Rated 0 
'i suppose i'll show all my cool and cold like old job' - what the hell does that mean? any help most welcome.


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