Hey, do you know that feeling you get when you Billy Corgan says some wild shit that doesn’t make any sense to you but probably makes perfect since to him and him alone? Well, this new Smashing Pumpkins video is a weaponized version of that feeling, and it’s got a whole bunch of very deep stuff to say that—again—might not make any sense to anyone but William Corgan. The first half of the video takes place in some kind of terrifying asylum, where Corgan is hooked up to an IV of vape juice by some weird ladies. Before we go on, here’s the video:
If your brain hasn’t recovered from being totally blown, let’s reflect on some of the things we’ve seen: There was a drone flying around in a birdcage (whoa), James Iha dutifully washing his hands in a fountain full of blood (whoa), a game of Connect Four with both sides playing with black pieces (whoa), a clown girl giving birth to an invisible baby while being guarded by mimes (whoa), and that’s all before Corgan steps into the outside world. On an otherwise normal suburban street, Corgan says a little girl ripping her dolls apart while wearing a Hannibal mask (holy shit), a man with a face painted like a dog walking some children on leashes (holy shit), and a sad family in metal face paint having a cookout (holy shit). Then, when Corgan enters the same idyllic house he had on a “dream” poster, he realizes he’s back in the asylum with the weird ladies.
It’s like the dream he was striving for is actually the creepy jail he was trying to escape from, and if that doesn’t make you say “whoa” and/or “holy shit,” then you need to wake up from your own creepy jail and start listening to Alex Jones some more like Billy Corgan does.