The house lights are back up. Half the crowd (the ones who knew four songs from the radio) have left. We're past the final real encore and they're back out to jam. This is Silverfuck from the 2/1/1997 show in Charlotte, NC.

Normally, I wouldn't be one to node lyrics to a song done in concert. I mean, varying just a line or two is nothing. However, this is vastly different from the version off Siamese Dream. It's got a lot of the same lyrics, but none of the same music. There's clips from The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right) interspersed in this one. The end goes into a tease of Worms, an instrumental. There's much guitar and drums. Some parts have major echo turned on, almost to the point where you can't understand what's going on anymore.

So what is it about this particular song? This particular recording? First, it's a great memory from my teenage years. I can put this song on, close my eyes, and still see the entire concert going on. I remember how they took turns leaving the stage, then coming back out for more, but something was always going on. The energy it took to perform something like this... the fact that you can really sense that Billy Corgan is letting us in on something very personal. I also like it because of how angry it gets at times but then comes back down to Earth if only for a few moments. It's contrasts over the span of half an hour with the aid of some skillful guitar work and the best screaming I've ever heard.

I've written these lyrics down from a careful listening of my recording of the show. It runs just over 40 minutes long.

If you're a Pumpkins fan, message me and a copy of this show can be yours too. This offer is extended indefinately because I want to spread it around.

Italicized parts are sung, regular parts are spoken (or screamed), and typewriter parts are recorded clips from TAFH. In addition, I've marked lines I'm not sure of with a question mark. Little horizontal rules indicate a major change in the style of the song.



And I hear your winter
And I hear your rain
And I gave my life away
And I feel no pain

I feel no pain


I never really liked sunny days
The black wings just reach out to me over the distance
And I can feel the wind beneath my feet


And I hear you fade away
And I hear you cry
And I gave my life away
And I feel no pain


I feel no pain
I feel no pain
I feel no pain (more and more echo each time)
I feel no pain
I feel no pain
I feel no pain

She was my lover
She was my angel
What I've recovered
I put into a box underneath my bed
Yeah, I put it all in a box underneath my bed
Yeah, I put her in a box underneath my bed
What about it?

And no matter how far I pushed that box down and under
I could still hear the things she said
And what might those be, you ask?
Well, I'll tell you

She said, "Bill, you're a whore and you always were
My mother swore I never should have let you in our house
And I hate you and I always did
I just did a real good job of pretending
Oh yeah and by the way, I didn't even like your first record, Siamese Dream."

And to these things I replied, "Baby, why?"
Yes, why?
Why must you make me cry?
Why must the girls make the boys cry?

So we decided to go for a ride
For the end had come
And we drove as far as the eye could see
To the dirt of her guarded soul (?)
Whereupon I handed this girl a poisoned apple
To sleep the eternal sleep

It was my final act of restless devotion,
Attentive affections,
And persecuted perjury of her person

Yet another American tragedy come to full fruition
The time had come
The deed was done
And I watched this girl eat that apple
With the same lips, and teeth, and tongue that had once graced mine

And it was over just where it had started
Because the end was the beginning
Was the end was the beginning
Was the end was the beginning
Was the end is the beginning

Baby! So where rest you now?
Baby! She's lost
She is lost (repeated many times, with heavy echo)
She's lost (repeated many times, with heavy echo)

In the clouds

And I just couldn't let go cause he does
Cause we were together again
We'd always have other lovers but just couldn't be friends, oh


Fucking whore
Fucking whore
Fucking whore
Fucking whore
Fucking whore
Fucking whore
That's right, she was a fucking whore
Yeah!

Yeah!

I really don't wanna look stupid when I'm sleeping
I never really liked sunny days
The black wings just reach out to me over the distance
And I can feel how the wind blows


Baby, baby, baby you got a lot to learn
Daddy's gonna drive you to school to learn
Daddy wants you to grow up like a big girl
In your pigtails and in yours curls, yeah
You gotta


You gotta fuck it up
You gotta bring me down
You gotta suck it
oh


Baby, baby, baby there's nowhere you've been (?)
Down in a hole, daddy, in some sinful situations
Just like you wanted
Just like you told
Daddy knows every little girl can always be bought oh
You gotta


You gotta fuck me up
You gotta suck me in
You gotta bring me down!
Yeah


Hey, hey! Hey are you still with me?
Hey, hey! Alright, all the fucking poseurs have left
Gone back to scurry back in their MTV homes
Yay, hey! It's just you and me and us and them
We'll make a (don't know what he screams here)
Yeah!

I won't forget you
I won't forget you
I won't forget you
I won't forget you
We won't forget you
We won't forget you
We won't forget you forever
For as long as we live
We won't forget you
We won't forget you
Oh


We got the power!
We got the power
We got the power

And no one's gonna fucking take it away
We got the power
We got the power

And nobody can take it away
We got the power
p-o-w-a
p-o-w-a
We got the power

And don't you fucking forget it

I see the clouds, the ocean
It requires an ability to judge distance
The aeroplane files high
Turns left
; looks right