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
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
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
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 my rage I am still just a rat in a
despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a
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 for you
and I still believe that I cannot be saved
and I still believe that I cannot be saved
and I still believe that I cannot be saved
and I still believe that I cannot be saved
BMI Work # 001995912
length- 4:16
The early live version of this song was jokingly called [Siva Part 2]
Foo Fighters have partially covered this song.
Weird Al has spoofed this song within his medley [The Alternative Polka].
There is also a spoof called [Minimum Wage].
When performed live during many of the MCIS tour shows, a segment of "The Howdy Doody Show" would be played to intro the song: "Heh-Ho! Well Howdy Doody Boys and Girls, and welcome to the only circus of its kind in the world...world...world...The World!"
The first single from MCIS.
The Video director, Samuel Bayer's concept was inspired by Brazillian photographer Sebastiao Salgado, whose works include black and white images of manual laborers. The video has a feel of labor camps and oppression.
Billy Corgan: (from Guitar World)
- "The
original riff came to me during one of the Siamese Dream sessions. I
have a 1993 tape of us endlessly playing the "world is
a vampire" part. But
I didn't finish the song for a year and a half, writing
the "rat in the cage"
part on an acoustic guitar at the BBC studios in London
on the same day
that "Landslide" was recorded."
Billy Corgan: (from Machina promo interview CD)
-
"We've actually just started playing this new version of 'Bullet with
Butterfly Wings.' Which is, on the surface it seems like the same song,
but the melodies are completely different and the emotional intent of
the song has changed, and thereby the content of the words have changed.
In fact I think the recording is maybe the beginning of the mutation, as
opposed to the final. Because when something is well done, you can riff
on it forever. It's just getting it up to that high level. That's like
pushing a rock up a hill, but once the rocks up the hill, the rock can
roll in any direction."
Official Releases:
- Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
- Bullet with Butterfly Wings
- The Aeroplane Flies High
- Launch CD-Rom #4
- Free Tibet (Video Documentary)
- Rotten Apples
Promo Release:
- Smashing Pumpkins 1991-1998
- Smashing Pumpkins (2000 - 7 track)
Bootleg Release:
- Mellon Collie Demos