Because we love ‘em all. Here’s your 90’s Video of the Day:
Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet With Butterfly Wings
Smashing Pumpkins are working on the double album follow ups to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Machina so while we wait, let's revisit the video that made you and everyone you know want that black Zero t-shirt.
Fashion was a bit all over the place in the 90’s, (not unlike it is now I guess) but there was a prevalence of a lot more sparkly glittery and shiny things. Billy’s pants are a great example of how really everyone, even the cool kids, got roped into it. In the video, the band looks about as glam as they’re going to get, but also this is indeed, the last time anyone would see Billy Corgan with hair.
Samuel Bayer directed the video and he’s also the mastermind behind Cranberries “Zombie” and Blind Melon’s “No Rain.” In it, the band’s fashion forward garb is in stark contrast to the laborers climbing, mining and eventually moshing. The inspiration for the video was a photo collection by Brazilian photographer Sebastiãn Salgado on gold mining. Check out those photos here.
While the meaning of the lyrics can be debated from Billy’s personal experiences as a child, to the complications of becoming a rockstar, or hell, both, he wrote the chorus when he was bored out of his mind. He recalled waiting to record Landslide at the BBC and while the engineers were tinkering with a microphone, the persistent line stuck in his head; “Despite all my rage, I’m still just a rate in a cage.” He picked up a guitar and started putting it together. I’m thankful those engineers weren’t in a rush that day and I’m sure Corgan is too.
Hit me up with 90’s Videos you wanna see featured at abby@wxdx.com