The Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet With Butterfly Wings

The official video for "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" by The Smashing Pumpkins, directed by Samuel Bayer, pairs the song's raw angst with gritty, dystopian imagery. Set in a bleak, mud-soaked world, the band performs amid suffering workers, echoing the track’s iconic rage-filled refrain. Released in 1995, it captures the dark tone of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.

The Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet With Butterfly Wings

The official video for "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" by The Smashing Pumpkins is a powerful visual counterpart to one of the most iconic alt-rock anthems of the 1990s. Directed by Samuel Bayer — who also directed Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” — the video immerses viewers in a dystopian, industrial landscape that feels both timeless and apocalyptic. Covered in mud and surrounded by bleak ruins, a crowd of anonymous laborers toils in the background as the band performs amidst decay and despair. Billy Corgan's intense delivery of the famous line “Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage” resonates even more in this desolate setting, turning personal anguish into a universal outcry.

 

The video's tone perfectly mirrors the raw energy and existential frustration of the song, which was the first single from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, a double album that defined an era for alternative rock. The contrast between vulnerability (“the world is a vampire…”) and defiance is reinforced not only by the music, but also by the haunting visuals. It’s not just a music video—it’s a gritty, symbolic reflection of alienation, loss of identity, and the struggle for meaning in a world that often feels broken. A perfect encapsulation of '90s angst, artfully captured.