The Chimera

it's strange, alot of these Song titles don't show up in the songs at all. The Chimera is a good example. but thats OK. alot of great bands have song titles that don't make an appearance in the song itself, but are the actual MEANING of the song. like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Pearl Jam. What is see when i close my eyes and think of 'The Chimera', is a beast. and when that bass kicks in, it SOUNDS like a beast! growling, or roaring. it's really cool. the lyrics are dreamy. "Nightingales and nursery Crimes.." "Twins that spark the charts," there's another term thrown into this song, 'Summer' meaning the present. NOW. nice and sunny. y'know, Summer. "summertime is the only child, summertime is the only child this night." this line means that summer is young, like a child. Billy Corgan made us wait until Early-Summer for the release of this album. i think that it means something. he released the album when Summertime was only a child. when it was early in the season. i think it was to hype-up the feel of these summertime songs, and make Winter seem so far away, so cold and distant. it all makes sense now.

I'm pretty confused with this songs meaning.

A Chimera is a beast/monster that is comprised of the parts of a lion, a serpant and a goat.

I don't know how that really relates to the almost lovey-dovey tone and lyrics of this song.

Whistle past the lane 'Cause love's forever strange Nestle on the sun, starlight Nestle on the sun Should you hear that faint murmur Of what love has done

It somewhat ties back into the 5 concept songs from earlier in the album. Billy is past the winter/coldness and is into the summer/fun.

The actions from "Violet Rays" are a murmer now.

I'm probably way off on that though.

I have a lot of conflicting thoughts, so I might add them as different comments. I hear “Nightingales and Nazi crimes” - sometimes lyrics are meant to denote multiple meanings (i.e., Bowie’s “Lennon’s/Lenin’s on sale again” in Life on Mars).

The Nightingale is a famous book about French resistance to the Nazis. There was also the Nachtigall (Nightingale) Battalion, a Nazi group accused of war crimes in multiple trials.

Is it possible that Corgan is equating the mystery and elusiveness of folklore/fables with the study of more recent history? He then contrasts this with extremely recent history - Billy’s own history:

“Twins that spark the charts” - this likely references the cover of Siamese Dream.

The Chimera to me is a song about how obsessions with the stories of the past (ancient and recent) can cause people to lose sight of something real and present, which is a present chance at love.

The Chimera is a reference to mythology/folklore, but there’s a reason Billy chose this creature; it is a split personality, a split nationality/allegiance. This relates to the dichotomy of modern life; we have to navigate history and tradition but also live in the present. Agreeing with one of the above comments, “Summertime’s the only child” reminds us that the present is the only thing real and true and important. Our history and our future is not as important as our present. The Chimera in folklore is a hybrid offspring of monsters, but in modern times, chimeric animals are rare and usually infertile. Billy may be incorporating some self loathing here but I doubt it is meant to be taken so literally. Billy (or his narrator) is the metaphorical chimera in the song; summer (the present) is his only child, so let’s live it up and “make this right (fall in love and just enjoy it all).

Here’s another thought or two… regarding the “chimera” of Greek myth, the “seven stars that shine” likely references the constellation of Pleiades, the seven sister nymphs in Greek mythology. Or it could be a general reference to constellations in general, including Pegasus, which is the horse Bellerophon rode on when be slew… The Chimera.

“Twins that spark the charts” - Bellerophon may have been a twin with his brother Deliades (whom he slew) — but the only twins famous enough to spark anything would be Castor and Pollux, who were Argonauts with Jason and brothers of Helen of Troy. They were also (like Bellerophon) associated with white horses. They were turned to stars and called Gemini (Latin for “twins”). So that’s a connection via constellations, something lovers can see in the sky… “sparking the charts” (sparkling) literally as “starlight” as referenced in the song.

But… also… this is probably controversial, but since this song references both folklore and (I believe) modern folklore… I think “twins that spark the charts” are referencing THREE things:

1. Greek myth (Castor/Pollux/Gemini)
2. Billy Corgan’s larger than life career… modern myth-building: the “twin” girls on the cover of Siamese Dream, sparking the charts. (as mentioned in another of my comments)

3. and finally — and I obviously could be incorrect— this is ONLY a possibility if Billy was ALSO purposely lyrically fusing “nursery rhymes” and “nazi crimes” - which I believe he intended, based on the nightingale (Nightingale Battalion) reference—- IF he intended that (either consciously or subconsciously), AND if he was intended modern chaos to be a form of myth building—- and this is a BIG stretch —-

   “twins that spark the charts” could also, as a third reference… refer to the biggest twins to “spark” - modern sparking twins that were felled… just like The Chimera was felled… the twins that fell…

on 9/11/01 in New York City.