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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
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
Lyrics submitted by Ice, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Track duration: 04:18
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BTW, I trust the line is "all my cool and calm", not "cold"-- but whatever. The word doesn't change the fact of the bigger meaning behind the reference-- which is to say he'll mimic the character and be patient but persistent in his beliefs and his stance. So, sorry, gotta vote your correction down. Overruled. ;)
** First: The Verses **
"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"
The first verse is Billy Corgan explaining the trade-off between art and commerce ("the game"). What does he get for throwing his art to the wolves? "Secret destroyers" being critics, snarks, executives, etc.
"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"
The second verse is a dialogue with fans regarding the nature of touring and the emotional cost to the performer. Is he just a dancing monkey? The final lines are a call the Alternative scene, imho.
** The Chorus **
"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"
Despite all his rage, he's still at the mercy of the music industry. "Why are you trying to change a lost cause?"
** The Religious Allusions **
In Biblical terms, Job was a righteous man who lived with integrity. However, Satan believed Job only lived this way to get God's praise and protection. Satan proceeds to mess with Job in order to provoke him to denounce God...but he remains a man of integrity and ends up even better off than before.
This can be seen as a metaphor for what Billy is trying to say about the music industry. Billy believes that he is being accused of paying lip service to the Alternative scene, when in reality, his artistic integrity is authentic and will prevail in the long run.
The Jesus reference pertains to being sacrificial lamb for the Alternative cause.
** Finally: The Title **
This song is a hit for the music industry while also criticizing it. In other words, a "Bullet with Butterfly Wings"
That and I think he may be singing "I suppose I'll show all my cool and _gold_, like old Job."
Makes more sense ;-)
Also, the title may be a reference to chaos theory and the butterfly effect, where a small change (the flapping of butterfly wings) leads to a large change in outcome. It is just a song, after all, but might subtly effect the change he'd like to see through the fans. Then the bullet (hit) would be the (literal) bullet that killed the thing he hates.
How it sucks us dry (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)
How the people of power, global elite, il..... (whatever you want to call them)' manipulate our behaviour and desires
And despite him knowing all this he can't free himself from it which enrages him. He realizes that his desires of
before were flawed by societies idea of what is important (example: fame, rockstar, popularity...) and that it came
at a price. He has the option of continuing it ('piece of the game') and accept these fake desires he once had.
The part of Jesus at the end...
He's not religious and sees religion (christianity) as a story to control society. In the song he expresses his belief that
since jesus is not real - he can't be saved dispite all the madness (something most people hold on to as comfort in difficult
times)
All these bands from the 80s and 90s were very outspoken about the power of society and how governments, secret organizations
work in order to extend their influence under the radat. Rage against the machine and Metallica amongs many others are well known
for these kind of songs
--------------------
The world is a vampire, sent to drain
Secret destroyers, hold you up to the flames
--------------------
^ The world continues to drain away your effort of just being a good person, and yet, even through struggle, you still feel God's punishing you for your natural sins which are sometimes uncontrollable.
--------------------
And what do I get, for my pain?
Betrayed desires, and a piece of the game
--------------------
^ Billy Corgan here, expresses how even after the pain of trying to avoid his crimes, there seems to be no award, leaving him in a boring world, which he refers to as a "game".
--------------------
Even though I know -- I suppose I'll show
All my cool and cold-like old job
--------------------
^ Even though I know I'll be punished, I'll continue to sin with my cold heart.
--------------------
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 protesting against the establishment of good, there is no freedom for me. Sin captivates me. I am trapped, and there's no escape from it; no returning to something of morality.
--------------------
Now I'm naked, nothing but an animal
But can you fake it, for just one more show
--------------------
^ I am not in sync with anything of moral value, but I suppose I'll fake it, and hope that someone will so help me.
--------------------
And what do you want, I want to change
And what have you got
When you feel the same
--------------------
^ This line contemplates with the previous. It is expressed how even though he's faking being of moral value with actions, he still feels immoral on the inside - his soul. He just feels the same immoral person despite his moral actions - what's the point of that?
--------------------
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
And I still believe that I cannot be saved
--------------------
^ Someone please tell me I'll be saved, please tell me I'm the only one that will be saved, because I'm so different from the rest of them. But I am reminded again, that Jesus was God's only son, leaving me out in the dust. I cannot be saved, and I know it. I suppose I have no value to this world - from both immoral and moral viewpoints.
Secret destroyers, hold you up to the flames[/quote]
Secret societies and the elite like vampires are using the people
[quote]
And what do I get, for my pain?
Betrayed desires, and a piece of the game[/quote]
What did he get to know the truth?
A place in the music business but another long term plan was betrayed
[quote]
Even though I know - I suppose I'll show
All my cool and cold - like old job
[/quote]
Even though he knows all about it, the show must go on
[quote]
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
Then someone will say what is lost can never be saved
[/quote]
Even if he is pissed about it he can't do anything
[quote]
Now I'm naked, nothing but an animal
But can you fake it, for just one more show?
[/quote]
His true intentions and feelings have been told,he is now an animal like everyone else
But maybe he could fake it just a bit more, another show
[quote]
And what do you want?
I want to change
And what have you got, when you feel the same?
[/quote]
Who doesn't want change?
[quote]
Tell me I'm the only one
Tell me there's no other one
Jesus was the only son, yeah.
Tell me I'm the chosen one
Jesus was the only son for you
[/quote]
He wishes he was the savior, Jesus
The chosen one to purge the evil
[quote]
And I still believe that I cannot be saved
[/quote]
Realizing he is not Jesus, he believes he cannot be saved by him anyway.
Was one of his reasons to become popular, change the world but then realized how the whole system is rigged.
My interpretation of the title is that the bullet represents violence and the butterfly wings represent change. So a bullet with butterfly wings would represent change through violence. I also picture a bullet with butterfly wings being shot out of a gun and just floating - like a bitterly. So the idea is that change can't happen through violence. When the chorus says "despite all my rage I'm still just a rat in a cage" the speaker is misguided: it's BECAUSE of his rage that he's still a rat in a cage. This idea could play into the entire theme of the album, which is essentially about life for those who aren't familiar with MCIS. But back to the song, the speaker is really getting pissed off that no one will listen to him and goes on to say that he can't be saved - even though it is his anger that preventing this change he wants. Basically his anger leads him into deeper depression.
Everyone is a rat in a cage except Jesus Christ. He was the only person to actually make an impact on the world. Every other person is meaningless in relation to the rest of the world and history.
Then someone will say what is lost can never be saved ( you can't bring him back what he did can only be retold or re read.)
Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage
Tell me I'm the only one (tell me i'm important tell me that what i can do will have lasting meaning beyond my death)
Tell me there's no other one
Jesus was an only son
Tell me I'm the chosen one ( tell me i'm significant that what i'm doing isn't just what billions of people did before me nothing...nothing lasting...no where near as lasting as what jesus did)
Jesus was an only son for you ( for everyone he was the only person to have an impact).
It's not that other people don't have lasting impact or significance but compared to Jesus christ even if you don't believe he was the son of god he still makes everyone else in comparison " just a rat in a cage" spinning and exerting emotions in all directions going no where but the confines of your own cage.
Best release from stress, ever, is to BLAST this fucking song and scream along with it...
DESPITE ALL MY RAGE, I'M STILL JUST A RAT IN A CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE!!!!!!!