"Bullet with Butterfly Wings" is a song by the American
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
band
the Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The ...
. It was released as the lead single from their 1995
double album
A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording ...
''
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
''Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness'' is the third studio album and first double album by the American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released on October 23, 1995, in the United Kingdom and on October 24 in the United States ...
'', 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
Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...
chart and peaked at number four on the ''Billboard''
Album Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...
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
The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards from 1990 to 2011.
The academy recognized hard rock music artists for the first time at the 31st Grammy Awards in 1989. The category ...
in 1997. It was named the 91st best
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
song of all time by
VH1
VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...
in 2009 and ranked number 70 on the 2008 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
''.
The song came second in the
Triple J Hottest 100, 1995
The 1995 Triple J Hottest 100, counted down in January 1996, was a countdown of the most popular songs of the year, according to listeners of the Australian radio station Triple J. A CD featuring 32 of the songs was released. A countdown of the ...
, was later voted number 51 in the
Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time, 2009
The Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time was a music poll conducted in 2009 amongst listeners of Australian youth radio network Triple J. Over half a million votes were compiled, with Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" collecting the highest numbe ...
and placed at number 25 in the
Triple J Hottest 100 of the Past 20 Years, 2013
Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble":
Sports
* Triple (baseball), a three-base hit
* A basketball three-point field goal
* A figure skating jump with three rotations
* In bowling terms, three strikes in a row
* ...
.
Background
The song had its origins during the recording of 1993's ''
Siamese Dream
''Siamese Dream'' is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, released on July 19, 1993, by Virgin Records. The album was produced by Butch Vig and frontman Billy Corgan. Despite its recording sessions ...
''. According to frontman
Billy Corgan
William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, singer, and only constant member of alter ...
, "I have a tape of us from 1993 endlessly playing the 'world is a vampire' part over and over".
Corgan wrote the noted chorus "rat in a cage" on an acoustic guitar during the same session that "Landslide" was recorded.
The lyrics "Can you fake it, for just one more show?" may refer to the band's experience headlining the 1994
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza () is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991, with Chicago becoming its permanent location beginning in 2005. Music genres i ...
festival, with Corgan calling it "old
Job
Work, labor (labour in Commonwealth English), occupation or job is the intentional activity people perform to support the needs and desires of themselves, other people, or organizations. In the context of economics, work can be seen as the huma ...
".
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".
Critical reception
"Bullet with Butterfly Wings" is widely considered one of the Smashing Pumpkins' best songs. ''
Louder Sound
''Classic Rock'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future. It was launched in October 1998 and is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 196 ...
'' and ''
Kerrang
''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...
'' both ranked the song number three on their lists of the greatest Smashing Pumpkins songs.
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' 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".
Music video
Filming for the music video took place in late September 1995 with
Samuel Bayer
Samuel David Bayer (born February 17, 1962) is an American visual artist, cinematographer, and commercial, music video and film director. Bayer was born in Syracuse, New York. He graduated from New York City's School of Visual Arts in 1987 with ...
as director.
The filming location was a quarry located in the
Simi Valley
Simi Valley (; Chumash: ''Shimiyi'') is a city in the valley of the same name in southeastern Ventura County, California, United States. It is from Downtown Los Angeles, making it part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. Simi Valley borders Th ...
hills of California, most likely the mining pits of the Gillibrand Industrial Sands facility, located adjacent to the
Big Sky Film Ranch The visual look of the video was inspired by the work of Brazilian photographer
Sebastião Salgado
Sebastião Ribeiro Salgado Júnior (8 February 1944 – 23 May 2025) was a Brazilian social documentary photographer and photojournalist.
He traveled in more than 120 countries for his photographic projects, which appeared in numerous press p ...
on gold mining; in contrast, the band used the video to debut their new
glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...
wardrobes - notably, Billy Corgan's black shirt with the word "
Zero
0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. Adding (or subtracting) 0 to any number leaves that number unchanged; in mathematical terminology, 0 is the additive identity of the integers, rational numbers, real numbers, and compl ...
" 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.
When asked why the band chose Bullet for the first video, Corgan responded "the record company did a survey of
K-Mart
Kmart ( ), formerly legally registered as Kmart Corporation, now operated by Transformco, is a department-store chain and online retailer in the United States and its territories. It operates four remaining Kmart big-box department stores � ...
shoppers between 30 and 40 and this is the song they came up with". "This is the blue light special", said Chamberlin, though it is likely in the context of the interview that these statements were sarcastic.
Track listings
Original US/UK CD single
"...Said Sadly" features
Nina Gordon
Nina Rachel Gordon Shapiro (born November 14, 1967), known as Nina Gordon, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She co-founded the alternative rock band Veruca Salt and played on their first two studio albums, '' American Thighs'' ...
of
Veruca Salt
Veruca Salt is an American alternative rock band founded in Chicago in 1992 by vocalist-guitarists Nina Gordon and Louise Post, drummer Jim Shapiro, and bassist Steve Lack. They are best known for their first single, " Seether", which was rel ...
on vocals.
1996 Re-issue
US 7" double A-side single
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Cover versions
*
Hawthorne Heights
Hawthorne Heights is an American rock band formed in Dayton, Ohio in 2001. Originally called A Day in the Life, their lineup currently consists of JT Woodruff (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Matt Ridenour (bass, backing vocals) and Mark McMillon ...
made a cover of this song, released as part of a 2007 Smashing Pumpkins tribute album from
MySpace Records.
*
MØ
Karen Marie Aagaard Ørsted Andersen (; born 13 August 1988), known professionally as MØ (; not to be confused with ∅), is a Danish singer and songwriter. She signed a recording contract with Sony Music Entertainment in 2012 and released he ...
made a cover of this song; this version was released as a one-off single in 2019.
In other media
The song is used, slightly edited, as the title song for the
Animal Planet
Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel focusing on the animal kingdom owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1 ...
reality television series ''
Whale Wars
''Whale Wars'' was a weekly American documentary-style reality television series that premiered on November 7, 2008 on the Animal Planet cable channel. The program follows Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, as he and ...
'', which follows the
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is a non-profit, marine conservation activism organization based in Friday Harbor, Washington, Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington, in the United States. Sea Shepherd employs direct action t ...
as they chase
Japanese whalers in the
Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary
The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is an area of 50 million square kilometres surrounding the continent of Antarctica where the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has banned all types of commercial whaling. To date, the IWC has designated two ...
. The song is also used in the ''
South Park
''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...
'' episode "
Whale Whores
"Whale Whores" is the eleventh episode of the South Park season 13, thirteenth season of the American animated television series ''South Park''. The 192nd overall episode of the series, it aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October ...
", which parodies ''Whale Wars''.
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...
performed the chorus in "The Alternative Polka" from his ''
Bad Hair Day
''Bad Hair Day'' is the ninth studio album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on March 12, 1996. It was Yankovic's last studio album for the Scotti Brothers label before it was purchased by Volcano Entertainment in 19 ...
'' album.
The song was featured as a playable track in the video game ''
Guitar Hero 5
''Guitar Hero 5'' is a 2009 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fifth main installment and the ninth overall installment in the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was released internationally in ...
''.
It was also used in the launch trailer for ''
Dead Space 2
''Dead Space 2'' is a 2011 survival horror game developed by Visceral Games and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360 in January. The second mainline entry in the ''Dead Space'' series, set on the ...
''.
The song was the
TNA Lockdown
Lockdown was a professional wrestling List of TNA pay-per-view events, event held by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion TNA Wrestling. The event was first held in 2005 and was considered one of the flagship events in th ...
wrestling pay-per-view theme song for 2009.
Parts of the song were used in the exposition of the 2022 film ''
Black Adam
Black Adam (Teth-Adam) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He was created by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck, and first appeared in the debut issue of Fawcett Comics' '' The Marvel Family'' comic book ...
''.
A stripped-down remix by
A.P. Laurenson was uploaded in 2016, which had gone viral and later served as the basis for various trailers, including
''Rampage'' in 2018,
''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II'' in 2022, and ''
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
''The Last Voyage of the Demeter'' (also known as ''Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter'' in some international markets) is a 2023 American supernatural horror film directed by André Øvredal, and written by Bragi F. Schut Jr. and Zak Olkewicz. It ...
'' in 2023.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bullet with Butterfly Wings
1995 songs
1995 singles
The Smashing Pumpkins songs
Music videos directed by Samuel Bayer
Songs written by Billy Corgan
Song recordings produced by Flood (producer)
Song recordings produced by Billy Corgan
Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
Song recordings produced by Alan Moulder
Virgin Records singles
Grunge songs
Alternative metal songs
Number-one singles in Iceland
Songs containing the I–V-vi-IV progression