zerokitty July 10th, 2008 03:51PM  
I feel this song is primarily about how Corgan is lost, and the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ was not enough to save him spiritually. I slightly feel that the song is also about how Corgan feels trapped by stardom.

While the punchy chorus of "despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage" obviously speaks of entrapment, it's the first and second verses that tell us that stardom has become a double edged sword, or like the title, the bullet with butterfly wings. And it is the third verse that makes it clear that Corgan "cannot be saved."

The "World is a vampire, sent to drain..." bit is about the fans that "drain" or suck the life out of Corgan. The following few lines sum up how he has traded his work or "pain" for a piece of the game and with it came his "betrayed desires."

The second verse is about how Corgan is now exposed through his work, and is now continually trying to fake it in the spotlight of prominence. It speaks strongly of how he is annoyed that his desires for stardom have become disappontment.

In the third verse Corgan goes on to mention that "Jesus was an only son," and since he constantly uses the phrase "can never/cannot be saved" throughout the song, I feel as though he is trying to make the connection that although Jesus has already sacrificed himself for man, Corgan is still lost and cannot be saved because there is no other son of God to save him.

I don't quite think the connections Corgan is trying to make between being spiritually lost and being betrayed by his dreams is clearly expressed enough, so that's why I feel the song is more so about his feeling of loss rather than "betrayed by stardom." Like most pumpkins songs, the lyrics are a little more difficult to crack, so I am not sure that these are right, it's just what I have come to think after a few years of listening :D