A RAT?! 🎵 SMASHING PUMPKINS "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" REACTION

[@kb_78]

Don’t even try to put ur finger on them. They create anything and everything….beautifully and emotionally. Massively diverse great band.

[@mr.smithgnrsmith7808]

Billy said he saw Robert Smith(Cure) literally turn into some alien/reptilian….he told Stern…wouldn’t name Smith, but a few people in L.A. I know in the music industry said it was 100% Robert Smith….and if you watch the Cure video for Friday I’m in Love Robert and the band are in underground catacombs….hmmm

[@chrisi1466]

And if you don’t believe this guy Billy Corbin is more than happy to talk about how great they (he) are/is every god damn chance he has to speak.

[@reedcastrejon8558]

@@mr.smithgnrsmith7808 ur insane

[@stevenconnor4221]

Billy big head. This was the around the time he was friendly with that porn girl Sasha grey, not saying it is but would explain a lot of the lyrics, plus through Billy's childhood which is the pinnacle for this angst that makes sense.. go on Billy give us a good old times gospel song 🤣 ps I am a great fan of the Smashing Turnips just don't partake with thier views and lifestyle choices and love of Wrestling.

[@SicSemperTyrannis74]

The most underrated of the popular 90s bands. And that's sayin alot as popular as they were...but still. Billy Corgan is a genius

[@adamdonovan4071]

The world is definitely a vampire.

[@Sportsref13]

especially the Music world... many bands have written songs about that fact

[@jacksmith4460]

very gnostic inspired POV

[@whiterabbit75]

It will drain you dry if you let it.

[@oreally8605]

Most definitely absolutely TRUE

[@Kirai_]

A psychic vampire.

[@williammatthews693]

"Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage." One of the greatest lines of all time. It's meaning: no matter how much the world sucks, you can't change it. I love the defeatism in it!

[@notimportant3686]

no, it means despite how strong my effort is due to how much anger is driving me, i'm stuck

[@LivingInTheKaliYogurt]

Brad actually nailed the meaning about 95%. It's about Billy feeling trapped by the corporate music industry. Despite his authentic anger and the honesty of the message he's trying to impart he's still owned by the industry even as he condemns it. The Jesus stuff is about how the music industry sets up certain charismatic musicians like Billy to play the role of Gods for lost consumers looking for something/ someone to believe in knowing full well that at the point the audience begins to lose faith in an artist who has been promoted into a role they can't possibly fulfill for the people buying the records (the role of perfect, sinless source of meaning), the industry will happily order the death of the artist's career (ceasing to promote their work, spreading lies so that the artist will be worth less if they go elsewhere to put out their work, dropping them from their contracts, etc.).

[@mitchelltyler5972]

Sometimes I forget just how good their drummer actually is. This song is a great reminder, that's for sure.

[@stevenconnor4221]

A jazz drummer, all the great drummers are

[@heatherfranks6716]

Billy was a fucking BEAST!!! JELLYBELLY still has some of the sickest hits I've heard!!!!

[@kkarnet]

Billy Corgan is a gem to watch in interviews. He's got views on everything. Ya, Brad hit it. This is a song about the industry.

[@Sir_AlexxTv]

If you love music, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is a MUST HAVE album ... masterpiece.

[@pr073u569]

Billy went on Rogan and talked a lot about the industry. This double album was amazing when it first came out and still holds up today.

[@nebulous8389]

They are currently working on 33 songs for a Mellon collie sequel

[@killdozer3464]

@@nebulous8389 this is great news!

[@nebulous8389]

@@killdozer3464 they are most likely done now or putting the finishing touches on it...we should hear about it later this year....and yeah Billy especially lately has been putting out such good music that's very underrated so this should be an explosion of creativity

[@dannyjr7997]

Yeah how they first treat you like you are the needle in the hay stack Then always after treat you like you are Not the needle in the hay stack. FD up corrupt industry as All.

[@hulkhatepunybanner]

*Billy Corgan seems to be the representative for Generation X.*

[@Veritas-TheGoader]

Double entendre Part about the music industry’s, part about being under the rule of religious parents while wanting to be a rock star. “Jesus was an only son for you”, was Billy jealous of the love Jesus got from his parents and the disdain he felt from them. The music industry was as crippling to Billy’s artistry as his own parents were in his mind. My thoughts on it anyway

[@oisinduggan8944]

Funny how he became an industry shill then huh

[@justdone1068]

Yes.

[@lancecasteel4366]

Nailed it John Condon!

[@THEDEEPDIVE]

Billy's parents were not religious in that sense. Your narrative isn't accurate but I am curious where you got that info?

[@Veritas-TheGoader]

@@THEDEEPDIVE as I said, “my thoughts “. But sense you know his parents so well, and their religious beliefs we can say you are right. I don’t really care. Art is personal perspective, so it comes from me.

[@d0llface]

Smashing pumpkins was my first rock concert. I still love there music and I’m in my 50s.

[@sarahzentexas]

Love this band. Billy’s voice is an acquired taste, and I def acquired that taste. Brad, you nailed the meaning. 💯 The main thing about their sound, other than the vocals, is the heavy crunching guitar. James Iha and Billy Corgan together. Y’all should go back and re-listen to Cherub Rock. It has the same crunchy guitar riff-heavy music.

[@adamdonovan4071]

D’Arcy’s Bass guitar is epic too though. Rock out to one the most badass female bassists on the planet.

[@cactustactics]

I mean this album especially doesn't have "a sound", it's all over the place (in a good way!) and three of the five singles (Tonight Tonight, 1979 and Thirty-Three) definitely aren't from the crunchy side. I think Soma would be a good listen

[@antoniomaraspin]

Billy Corona? Billy CORGAN! T9 victim, dude?

[@adamdonovan4071]

@@antoniomaraspin Pretty sure that’s an autocorrect snafu….but yeah. He is the king though, right?

[@sarahzentexas]

@@antoniomaraspin Autocorrect is a b***h. 😂

[@BalbazaktheGreat]

My literal introduction to the world of 90s AltRock/the Grunge era - it was like nothing I'd ever heard before. If you want something a bit more chill from the Pumpkins, check out "Tonight, Tonight" or "Today."

[@wixxed]

Tonight Tonight is so damn epic, I hope Brad & Lex check that one!

[@platinumspider7859]

Disarm.

[@anthonyhansel9175]

Cherub Rock or 1979 would be my picks.

[@lavenderllamamusic]

@@anthonyhansel9175 i'm pretty sure they've reacted to those already. Unless i'm thinking of a different couple lol

[@pauljansen1137]

Yes...guys...great song..."Mayonaise" next please!!

[@rustysmittyful]

Oooh a great deep cut!

[@Skunz]

My fav track by them by far!

[@eddieward341]

Mayonaise and disarm are two of my favorite songs by smashing pumpkins.

[@JohnnyBoombatz1119]

2nd this! It’s my favorite SP song!

[@AG-lm5uf]

@@rustysmittyful hardly a deep cut. It’s one of the best songs one of their most popular albums

[@Lechuque]

The whole Siamese Dreams album is a masterpiece. I'm a huge Pink Floyd fan and that album for me is on the same level.

[@garryiglesias4074]

Revenge ? Lechuck's Revenge ??? I'm a huge Pink Floyd fan, and converted my highschool best friend to them, he was a HUGE Smashing Pumpkins fan... Great tastes.

[@supertrexandroidx]

Mellon Collie also, if you've never listened to the entire thing in one go while on hallucinogens, you've missed quite an experience, ha ha

[@Dr.Bong_]

@@supertrexandroidx can confirm.

[@tukkerintensity5575]

I think Gish is better but SD is fantastic as well! I also like Bleach more than Nevermind so I think I just like raw sounding early records :)

[@danielshaffer6067]

One of the handful of albums I've labeled "flawless"

[@robertheaney1685]

If you want to hear one of best rifts Billy Crogan did and best drumming Jimmy Chamberlin did - Check out Geek USA. Such a great Smashing Pumpkins song that is so underrated.

[@themusicbehindthegirl2335]

Absolutely their best song!

[@BareThomas84]

Yessssss

[@GreetTheSacredCow]

It's a guitar riff*, not rift. :)

[@stevelowe5176]

And Corgan. Gotta watch auto correct

[@robs.6891]

Billy Corrigan

[@anyone9689]

no matter what you do or how you fight it , all are still chained to human existence .

[@flightgravity7483]

Smashing Pumpkins’ vibe is there’s never one vibe. The album this song is on is all over the place stylistically, but that’s what was unique about them. They were never afraid to experiment.

[@rumourhats]

Yup. They were new-wave, metal, grunge, folk, prog, psych, happy, sad, angry, jokey, etc... It's all there.

[@boki1693]

"Despite of my Rage, I am still just a rate in a cage." I always thought that he was saying he was super angry about something, wanted to do something about it but it didn't matter because there was nothing he could do about it. The Pumpkins use a lot of distortion on their guitars. Thats what is throwing you off I think.

[@Dr.Bong_]

Fuzz. Distortion is slightly different. You have overdrive, distortion and fuzz. Basically you are intentionally clipping the sound wave and each of the 3 will do so in slightly different ways. Check out something like chilli peppers for overdrive, pantera for distortion and pumpkins for fuzz.

[@williammatthews693]

Same. No matter how much life or the world sucks, you can't change it. I love the defeatism in it!

[@FuzeMuzik]

I think it’s like all other lyrics or poetry, open to interpretation. Perhaps his alienation with the “fans” who jumped on the Alternative bandwagon at the time, the turmoil within the band and the pressure of the industry in general builds up. Filling him full of this angst, trying to make him into a larger than life rock star and one day, you realize that your just as angry and frustrated as everyone else on this planet. We’re all trapped in a maze of hardship and uncertainty at some point. We try our best to make it through this experiment that is LIFE. There is no one answer to it all? Just my interpretation. BTW, I feel it’s best to listen to the first albums in their entirety (leading up to MACHINA) to get a better sense of what they’re about. There are lots of hidden gems in the Pumpkins discography. Nice work on your reviews. ;)

[@3DJapan]

This was the theme song for the Discovery Channel show Whale Wars.

[@thediaz07]

Never watched that. Watched South Park tho 😂😂

[@mmsizzlak]

Tupac had just dropped "California love" and "hit em up" ...I had that shit on repeat on my headphones... My very white homie in high school takes my headphones off, puts his on my ears and says, "just listen and give it a chance." Then he played this song.

[@Cron0s91]

I makes so much sense that Lex is struggling to vibe with the dark and depressing style of Smashing Pumpkins that I'm not even mad lol Amazing song

[@ljwhitmire200]

Ol' Billy got it from both ends: he was advised to give the other band members writing credits even though they mostly didn't help. He was warned that the money disparity would break up the band. They were right. The music industry kills you from the outside and the success eats the band apart from the inside. Saw them at their residency in Asheville, NC in 2007. Great show!

[@bevil4aday]

Despite all his rage, he's still just Nicolas Cage...

[@AlisonBryen]

Not the bees!

[@ashlealabine6937]

Soma was always my favorite song. I was obsessed with the whole Siamese Dream album in 8th grade, especially that song.

[@annaoswald5943]

Brad is correct about the band feeling the music industry is corrupt. I've heard Billy in an interview say they play "jedi mind tricks" to get their way. Something very dark about these people.

[@inphanta]

Industry Rule 4080…

[@TheRealMirCat]

As a screw you to the music industry, they released their 2000 album "Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music" free on the internet.

[@Joedirt3349]

The liitle hat people?

[@Gekokujo76]

I love Brad because Im a "lyrics first" guy myself. That said, sometimes you have to just scream the chorus or sing along "in the mode of the song and style of the singer" to get what the artist is trying to convey. This song is a perfect example...scream the chorus just like Billy Corgan is doing. You'll get the point/vibe of the song. No lyric reading/over-thinking over-analyzing needed. You can know that Hey Jude by the Beatles was written by Paul to Julian Lennon to soothe him during his parent's divorce...and it was originally going to be "Hey Jules"....OR you can sing along to the "la la laa laa laa laaaa la la laa laaaaaaa He Jude" with the energy and passion of the people singing it. The latter will get you to the heart of the song even faster.

[@stephenodubhlaoich]

You just reminded me of my dad, the one to introduce me to Smashing Pumpkins, when he told me about some dopey guy in front of him singing "Hey dude" during Hey Jude at a concert lol

[@scapito]

Smashing Pumpkins is complex and unique. It doesn't surprise me that you don't have a good feel yet. They're a band that has albums where all the songs flow together, build on one another. Individually the songs can stand in their own, but I think they make more sense in context of their album. Btw, Ava Adore is one of my favorite songs.

[@jwreagan]

Going to Ava Adore after what they have listened to by The Pumpkins is a reaction I would like to see. The two sounds are quite different. Still sounds like them though. :)

[@scapito]

@@jwreagan Agree!!! So many variations to their sound.

[@grinja73]

I dont know if it was the hotel room OD but after mellon collie the band lost a lot of popularity. The album was colossal they were always going to come off a high they could not sustain, but adore did not receive the attention that could have been expected

[@steveparker8065]

It's about everyone, all of us as far as I understand it. The rat race. Great reaction plenty more Pumpkins to Smash!

[@aplaguedoctor406]

You can't put your finger on the vibe exactly because they're songs are so diverse. One minute they lull you to sleep, the next they rock your socks off and the 3rd they take you on some 8 min psychedelic journey. Another good one from them is Geek USA - probably my favorite pumpkins tune

[@blizzardofodds4220]

This song is about how the record industry signs the artist into contracts and tries to take everything from them. The rat in the cage is the artist meaning he is trapped no matter how mad or anger they show they will never be able to break out of that environment of being controlled by the record label.

[@UnexpectedTurnOfEvents]

I think it means that once you realize that all your working, running around, toiling, wheeling and dealing etc is for nothing in the end, meaningless, you feel angry about it, but it won't do you any good. You're still like a rat in a cage running on one of those mouse wheels, still trapped no matter how furiously it spins the wheel. It applies to most of us, actually, at least in this societal structure. We can be aware of the ultimate pointlessness of this game, but we're nonetheless struck in our cage.

[@jasonliang2932]

This song, like most of Melon Collie, is a duet between Jimmy's drumming and Billy's vocals.

[@TRUMP-2024-STF]

He’s such a great drummer.. to bad they don’t talk anymore.

[@christpower5402]

You’re on point about that. Because that’s exactly what the lead singer of that song is about. Good work.

[@unmemorablehero]

Pumpkins are such a great band. For me they are up there in importance as Radiohead. My favorite is tonight tonight, but they have so many good jams.

[@NexterZulu]

Thru The Eyes Of Ruby and Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans are the best songs they ever made in my opinion. They are longer, epic songs, and definitely worth checking out!

[@nebulous8389]

One of most versatile and courageous bands of all time 🤘 enjoy the adventures

[@creativitycell]

Vocals reminded me of mick Jagger in the 60s at his best,.....interesting. Great track, great band, one the best from 1990s, unique.Epic fuzzy guitar sound.🙏❤️

[@AcousticGString]

I lived 2 houses away from them, the band lived in a house together in Chicago on West School street. It was a purple brick house, this was the 90s, around 96'.

[@lchamp7946]

My army buddy introduced me to the pumpkins during basic training way back when Gish was their only album. I’ve loved them since day one and for most of my life. Although we lost touch over the years, I learned that he suffered PTSD from his military service and committed suicide three years ago. I’d give almost anything just to have one more day with him and vibe out listening to the pumpkins. My point is to say that sometimes we don’t realize how beautiful and important our friendships are until they depart, never to return. The loss will be there until it is our time to depart too. RIP G.Mathews and till Valhalla my friend.

[@brian95240]

Their sound is a premier example of Alternative music. That label offers an artist tons of creative "wiggle room". One song can be hard; another may lean more orchestrated. It opened lots of doors for bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stone Temple Pilot's clean sound and Dave Matthew's Band. I look at it Luke a musical buffet LOL

[@wallaceh.9423]

The 90s were so awesome, wish I could go back. No social media, just real conversation and great music 🎶

[@brettkenschaft4239]

"Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage".... some of the coolest lyrics ever written!! Another badass song off of this album is "Zero"

[@curtiswilson3569]

Woot some of that great 90s stuff.

[@reno5298]

This is one of my favorite songs, brings up nostalgic feelings. When this song came out, my brother and I had just gotten a boom box for Christmas (5th grade). We used to listen to and record (cassettes) music on the alternative music station (105.3 FM The Edge). This song (along with Green Day - Brainstew, Garbage - #1 Crush, No Doubt - Don't Speak, Butthole Surfers - Pepper, Cake - Going the Distance, etc.) came on late night and, to this day, I find it very relaxing, like a lullaby.

[@psychoslingers8732]

Mayonnaise, Soma, Luna, Thirty Three… Hell just listen to Siamese Dream and Melancholy in their entirety, trust us.

[@ArtsyFartsy1978]

It was his parents that were keeping him in a cage. And he’s literal talking about Job from from the Bible.

[@timbrown5720]

Glad someone picked up the Job reference

[@THEDEEPDIVE]

His parents were one of the bricks in corgan's wall.. this song is bigger than that

[@CJ-Fischer]

Smashing Pumkins are the mad scientist of grunge music! Lol that’s how I’ve always looked at them. Very Genius no doubt. Love them

[@HendricksWildcat]

I think this band has a different vibe than any other.... a strong artistic inspiration... a super high quality songwriting.....hats off!!

[@bdmention]

I'm glad you're reacting to the music by using lyric videos, but every once in a while the official video really compliments the song. This is one of those times.

[@spackle9999]

Brad is way smarter than people give him credit for. He figures this shit out pretty quick.

[@mvm5375]

Unbelievable band. Masterpiece album!

[@itmightbme]

Saw them in concert in Birmingham AL for my 25th bday! Really great 💜

[@RaefonB]

My favourite Smashing Pumpkins song - nice one! The suppressed anger and frustration, spilling out into that energetic sound...it's good shiz, very human. Seemed to take a while to grow on you guys, Lex wasn't digging them, but always glad to see you give something new a chance. :)

[@jeffpatton2866]

You guys should check out "Disarm" which is one of their unique songs and always gives me goosebumps when I hear it.

[@tilemonkee5510]

Song starts...Brad doing his usual " Im not sure what this means yet expression" , the singer says "now Im naked" , and a nanosecond later Brads got it paused....ROFL!! ROFL I tell you!! Love you, buddy!

[@barriehull7076]

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.[53] The song is also used in the South Park episode "Whale Whores", which parodies Whale Wars.[54] "Weird Al" Yankovic performed the chorus in "The Alternative Polka" from his Bad Hair Day album.[55] The song was featured as a playable track in the video game Guitar Hero 5.[56] It was also used in the launch trailer for Dead Space 2[57] and TV spot for Battlefield 1. The song was the TNA Lockdown wrestling pay-per-view theme song for 2009.[58] UFC also used it for the Anderson Silva vs Nick Diaz fight in UFC 183's short trailer.[59] A remixed version of the song can be heard in the teaser trailer for Rampage,[60] and it is sampled in the film's end credits song, "The Rage", performed by Kid Cudi.

[@LAVISHING]

Billy Corgan is amazing! Love that you guys are getting into different genres and are willing to listen to them with an open ears!

[@geraldbaker8479]

Always loves this song but God damn it, that South Park episode. "Yeah we're badass" "We're not protesters, We're pirates" LoL

[@isabellarocks1000]

Dead on with the meaning. Looking back to the first line the world is a vampire. Referring to the industry is an interesting analogy too. It is subtle but he also changed words from "What is lost cannot be saved" to "I still believe that I cannot be saved" so he has become lost in the industry's BS and he feels rage but he can't get out of the cage the industry put him in.

[@kennylaysh2776]

I love this song. Used to listen to it over an over when it came out, and I hated the small town I was stuck in lol!

[@fritzworley6316]

My favorite Smashing Pumpkins song. Love your channel guys. Great reactions every time.

[@Cjopa]

Y’all gotta check out “Mayonaise” “Tonight, Tonight” and “Today” maybe one of these songs will do it for Lex lol. I know not everyone has the same taste in music, obviously, but Smashing Pumpkins is probably my favorite 90s band and when I hear someone say they aren’t really digging it, I’m like “Whaaaaaaa” lol

[@shanealexander5935]

Listen to Thirty-three. It's a softer side of their music. Beautiful song.

[@Baalthulhu]

Because of this song my mom STILL calls the smashing Pumpkins "The Rat boys" when they come on the radio

[@dipsydoodle7988]

Smashing Pumpkins will always be one of my favorite bands. They are complex. The lyrics, the music, it's not your everyday stuff and they don't sound like anyone else and no one sounds like them.

[@Chrono-Trigger]

Ok, first of all, I subscribed a while back, and dam! I cant keep up! You both are just spitting out the vids! You have become familiar faces in my home. I appreciate you. Keep on making them, I'll keep watching them! DC*

[@jaredwaters4633]

I like your reactions. She's adorable and he's cool. I like how she's just vibing and He's analyzing the lyrics for deeper meanings.

[@radicaladz]

Also recommended, with a similar vibe:- "Zero" from the same album as this. "The End is the Beginning is the End" - not to be confused with "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning"; they're similar, but with wildly different tones and lyrics. "Solara".

[@steviekc9057]

OMG The End is the Beginning is the End is soooo amazing. In the way back it was so hard to get your hands on because it was only on the Batman & Robin soundtrack. (nipple suit clooney lol)

[@radicaladz]

​ @Stephanie Petersen - yeah, it's on their B-sides and rarities collection now. What amuses me about that song is that Billy Corgan wrote it not really knowing much about the movie, or Batman in general, but it totally captured that grimdark post-80s style of the Batman comics and what we've seen in the DCEU... but it's almost completely at odds with the tone of the movie it's supposed to be plugging. ;P

[@radicaladz]

And then, because irony is apparently dead, Zack Snyder used Beginning=End=Beginning as the trailer music for Watchmen, thus getting in on the downbeat trailer song remix trend about half a decade before it became fashionable.

[@nethrelm]

@@steviekc9057 That soundtrack is one that I still own with some Pumpkins on it. I also have the Lost Highway soundtrack (for "Eye"). 👍

[@ZeppeRemmy]

Just chill and enjoy the genius of The Pumpkins, they are alt rock royalty💜☮️✝️

[@Bekka_Noyb]

one of the best 90s grunge songs! ♥

[@Me-myself-b3g]

Artistic perfection...thats the Pumpkins!

[@marcodallolio9746]

A rat in a cage is an apt description of a human being in most civilizations

[@rutssy]

Love Love Love the Smashing Pumpkins. Thanks for reacting!

[@willpina]

lots of religious references in this song. "Cool and cold like old Job" is a reference to the Book of Job from the Bible

[@Angela-sq1jz]

To Forgive and Galapagos both still bring tears to my eyes….beautiful!!!

[@kennethjenkins3972]

I like when you can identify your own life in the lyrics and it can mean different things to different people. This song came out at a particularly low point in my life and it felt like I was at the end of my rope, the world feels like a vampire draining your life, I was angry but felt like I had no control over my life or the direction it was going. Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage.

[@riphopfer5816]

You should try ‘Thru the Eyes Of Ruby’. My favourite SP tune. Beautiful melody, dynamics, lyrics, concept. It will blow BOTH your minds.

[@tehmascot]

"Despite all my rage im still just a rat in a cage" basically translates to Even though I'm angry enough to want to fight... im still a rat in a cage.. meaning I'm still held captive by someone else who controls what happens to me. That has always been my interpretation of it at least.

[@Elias_Cepeda]

Love Smashing Pumpkins. Thanks for reacting :)

[@echopryme]

Love long enough, and you'll hear this shit in your head every time you're heading to work. 💯

[@treasuretrails]

I thank the whale wars tv show for introducing me into this banger song!

[@johnroberts7018]

A local band around here used to do this song but with changed lyrics around the time of 9/11. It was about the terrorist attacks and Bin Laden lol. They sang “despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cave”.

[@inphanta]

Pumpkins have a rich and varied library. I personally lost interest after Adore and don’t rate their new stuff at all but you’ve got a lot to choose from. Try “Rhinoceros” from their first album and see what you think. :)

[@Dinosaurs_with_laser_guns]

You hit the nail on the head in the analysis, Brad!

[@flamesfearfuture]

I like, that you're actually listening, instead of just reacting.

[@elvisromero383]

So in interviews Billy Corgan meant these lyrics to represent how he felt about the music industry at the time

[@jboogie8159]

I suppose the lyric means that no matter how angry and in a rage a rat in a cage is in he's still in a cage. It s an illustration of mortal man no matter how much fury we are still confined an stuck in a rendering us utterly powerless. Or as Shakespeare wrote "full of sound and fury signifying nothing".

[@moonlitegram]

Was never a big Smashing Pumpkins fan, but their song "1979" is one of my favorite songs. Go figure.

[@THEDEEPDIVE]

You don't like hard rock?

[@jonajacket]

My favourite band, glad you found them

[@vanhattfield8292]

This is my favorite Smashing Pumpkins tune...

[@raymondboyd1200]

Watching you guys figure out lyrics is like watching my 2 year old TRY to use the computer.

[@SadPeterPan1977]

The thing about the Pumpkins is that they varied their musical sound a lot. No album sounds exactly like the other and even within the album they could go from the poppy nostalgia of '1979' to the ear-melting metal as fuck angry scream of 'Tales of a Scorched Earth', then straight into the musical honey to the ears that is 'Thru The Eyes Of Ruby' and then into the quietly beautiful acoustic 'Stumbleine'. They're less about a specific sound than they are about the emotions it evokes.

[@suthious]

it's about how record company people tried to push him in contractual positions that would isolate him from the band

[@AltCTRLF8]

i still remember when MTV played this music video every hour.

[@badbot4ever566]

Billy talked about how the band was beholded to their contracts and how it made them feel like they weren’t really free .

[@josephgrijalva9395]

thank you Brad. you got it. it is about the music industry and how they PUSH their artists to unbelievable lengths to make money for the Big Wigs. and how there is no way out when you sell your soul. Brad, your analysis of lyrics is spot on.

[@heyskipj]

“Tonight, Tonight” official video. 100% unique. Must-see vs. anything else or any “better” Pumpkins song.

[@heyskipj]

Srsly. Lex would ride that wave. I think Brad would dig it too. lyrically.

[@535wer]

The song today is really great

[@jaydale9097]

Own every album. Deep cut that is my favorite- "Starla". I'm sure u guys won't do it because i will be the only one that suggest it. Really like how you guys have an open mind.

[@raymo6795]

...I always liked 'Zero"...I have a live bootleg of "Cherob Rock" from their prime in the early 90s ( Mayonaise Dream)...it is so big and fat and raw....Corgan and Iha at their best..one of my favorite recordings ever

[@justinpolk1331]

@@raymo6795 . Saw the original lineup in early 90s, one of the best shows ever. They actually played Starla, my buddy which had not listened to them too much, leaned over about half way through and screamed in my ear- " God Damn " and just said Yeah.

[@scotthahn6666]

My Dear Wonderful People, I enjoy Your insights and reactions. You are doing an Awesome job! Keep it up!