In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Away to the side you move your head
Gravity fingers dig in your back
The strangest man won't let you breathe
Rocking on you in a movie scene
His words fill your mouth
His guests bleed sick
Devoid of touch
He lets out to the streets where you were raised
Sittin' home waiting for the coming age
You had to wait your turn
You had to wait your turn
Wake up early, wash up late
Satellites connect you to your hate
Your patience grows but your skin is thin
The pager signals they're coming in
Through the hole in the wall
You left the hole in the wall
Here's to the atom bomb
May everyone find a way to get on
A little piece of heaven is all you seek
In the same old re-run week after week
Their faces make you want to kill
The little piece of heaven singin' on the windowsill
No lights can turn you on
Pixelate the night
Reading the words
Of your eyes on the streets where you were born
Sittin' home waiting for the coming dawn
Near the hole in the wall
You left a hole in the wall
Gravity fingers dig in your back
The strangest man won't let you breathe
Rocking on you in a movie scene
His words fill your mouth
His guests bleed sick
Devoid of touch
He lets out to the streets where you were raised
Sittin' home waiting for the coming age
You had to wait your turn
You had to wait your turn
Wake up early, wash up late
Satellites connect you to your hate
Your patience grows but your skin is thin
The pager signals they're coming in
Through the hole in the wall
You left the hole in the wall
Here's to the atom bomb
May everyone find a way to get on
A little piece of heaven is all you seek
In the same old re-run week after week
Their faces make you want to kill
The little piece of heaven singin' on the windowsill
No lights can turn you on
Pixelate the night
Reading the words
Of your eyes on the streets where you were born
Sittin' home waiting for the coming dawn
Near the hole in the wall
You left a hole in the wall
Lyrics submitted by virex7, edited by BillyCorgan298
Here's to the Atom Bomb Lyrics as written by William Patrick Corgan
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song is about a girl who uses and destroys men. Billy's lyrics are really poetic, and while they seem to be a bunch of random images, he's actually trying to say specific things. However, we all have different takes on what he means. Here's what I think:
"Clung to the sweater from the day you were born": The girl attaches to men and uses them, as she has her whole life.
"Never knew better, that's what you swore": The girl says she doesn't think she's doing anything wrong. To me, this implies that the girl knows that she's doing wrong, and doesn't care.
"Mother heard you cause the walls were thin": I think this is about the girl having sex in her house as she seduces guys, and her mom hears it.
"In saturnine, sweetness, and horatio fin": Hah I have no idea what all this means. Saturnine is obviously the song from the Machina II EPs, and I think its about a person of the same name. I heard somewhere that "saturnine" is an astrological term in which the planet saturn entrances people; perhaps Saturnine is the name of the girl who Billy is singing about.
"No boy could spell you out": Even though this girl seduced lots of guys, none of them ever suspected her intentions.
"In the grass at night Beneath the stars You grew right past the streets where you were raised Sneakin' out early to a secret place": I think this is also about sex.
"Like a hole in the wall": I'll get to the part about the hole in the wall at the end.
"Into the bed you hang your sling To watch your man as he seeks relief": The guys that the girl sleeps with are tired and world-weary, and they sleep with her to "seek relief". However, she uses them for her puposes and then leaves them.
"You cut out his heart and watch him die So we can know you, and that you're alive As the hole in the wall You are the hole in the wall": She doesn't actually kill the guys she sleeps with, but she causes them pain. These lines explain why the girl hurts these guys; it's almost like she's doing it for sport, or out of a whim, like a kid might tear down an anthill just because he can. It's interesting to note that when Billy sings these lines, he doesn't really sound angry. This isn't an angry song, its more resigned and sad.
"No one can know your song In kisses and noise Now you belong to them all": I think that, in a way, these lines say that the girl is only one of many other women who use men selfishly. Billy says that the girl 'sings the same tune' as other women who seduce men; now, she belongs in the same group as these women.
"Awake to the dawn and scratch your eyes Light the prayer candles that you remind to Send you a boy that you could waste A little piece of heaven to set you straight Through the hole in the wall You are the hole in the wall": This verse is interesting; it discusses how the girl wants to ruin boys in spiritual terms. The girl prays ("lights her prayer candles") and asks ("reminds the candles") for a boy to waste. The entire verse is pretty ironic, because when people usually pray, they are asking for good things to happen, not for bad things to happen to other people. It's a creative way for Billy to show how bad of a person this girl is.
The rest of the song I don't really understand, sorry. As for the repitition of "the holes in the wall", well, I don't understand that so much either. In a lot of his music, Billy Corgan takes a random object and makes it a symbol for something specific. For example, in Muzzle, he calls his relationship with the girl he loves "the world", and when they broke up, he "knew the silence of the world". I can't help but think that the holes in the wall is some kind of metaphor, but I can't figure it out. Well hope this helped people.