It's Easy to "...Say Something" Positive about this Pumpkins Single
Written: Sep 20 '04
Product Rating:
Pros: Two fabulous songs--a hit and a b-side...
Cons: Not at all essential...
The Bottom Line: While not required listening, Bullet With Butterfly Wings is the best single from Smashing Pumpkins out there. Two great songs, nothing more and nothing less.
lambchops's Full Review: Bullet With Butterfly Wings [Single] by Smashing P...
For a band around just twelve years, the Smashing Pumpkins amassed a great catalogue of songs. Maybe it had to do with Billy Corgan’s need for both greatness and perfection or maybe it was entirely based on commercial interests, but in either case fans of the Pumpkins never had to do without material.
As much as I always wanted to love everything Smashing Pumpkins, I could not. Not even all of the band’s massive hits rubbed me the right way. Any band with this extreme a number of songs will undoubtedly produce something now and again that is none too appealing. In no small part because a large percentage of the Pumpkins’ work is rarities and non-album songs there is a great deal of truly mediocre stuff out there. I’ve in the past been in particularly under whelmed by the oddities on the many singles. Some are good; some are merely interesting, while the worst of the lot are vomit-inducing crap.
I am indeed a fair-weather fan of the Smashing Pumpkins.
Most people are already aware that much of the Smashing Pumpkins music isn’t the work of a band. It is the work of a single, iron-fisted and rather persnickety man named Corgan. His bandmates at times were little more than faces to instruments and touring partners. D’Arcy Wretzky, James Iha, and (usually) Jimmy Chamberlain shouldn’t be discounted though—they are each talented in their own unique ways and were unfortunately overpowered by the embryonic Corgan.
In the mid-1990’s the Pumpkins were at the top of their game. They’d already had a few successful albums and plenty of rock hits. I liked ‘em, in no small part due to the hard rockin’ Bullet with Butterfly Wings. It was that song that stood out to me most among so many others from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. I’ve always appreciated the Pumpkins at one of two extremes—loud and unruly or soft and melodic. Bullet with Butterfly Wings fits neatly into the former category.
Released as a single in 1995, this song hit just about every chart. It was something of a cross-over. The single itself contains but two songs--Bullet with Butterfly Wings and …Said Sadly. As one of the least indulgent single releases from the band, it comes as something as a pleasant shock. One might expect at least three or four b-sides on such a Pumpkins release. Instead we have just one—a lovely duet between sometimes vocalist Iha and the then sweet part of Veruca Salt Nina Gordon. It is, without question, my favorite single from the band.
Back to Bullet with Butterfly Wings. Featuring a distinctive bass line and fantastic drums, the song begins modestly enough. At first, it is unclear as to what direction it will go. Loud? Soft? Crazy? Mild? Of course, it takes but very little time to reveal itself as an intelligently crafted but raging rock track. The chorus is classic:
Despite all my rage I’m still just a rat in a cage
Then someone will say what is lost can never be saved
Despite all my rage I’m still just a rat in a cage
And I still believe that I cannot be saved
What is particularly notable however is of course the non-album …Said Something. Iha provided a goodly number of songs to the Pumpkins. Oddly enough his songs never really ended up in the spotlight. He later struck out with a solo album (Let it Come Down – 1998). His music is calm and summery and very much in contrast to Corgan’s dark aesthetics. In the case of this song, he sounds just brilliant when paired with the angelic Gordon. Both of their light, coy voices mesh perfectly. The soft and crystalline song works wonderfully and with a slight acoustic alt-country twang it easily ranks among my favorite Pumpkins b-sides. It is an unexpected gem.
As with all singles, there is nothing essential about Bullet with Butterfly Wings. Both included tracks are excellent, but unless you are seeking to finish off your Smashing Pumpkins discography it is still best advised to check out their albums rather than singles in particular Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. This however is my favorite of the lot from because it includes my favorite single and my favorite b-side.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Bullet with Butterfly Wings
02. …Said Something
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