Billy Corgan attends Hole’s ‘Violet’ lyrics auction
In recent days the news had arrived that Courtney Love has auctioned off some of his objects to support an animal centre, including the manuscript ofViolet” a song from Holetext linked to Billy Corgan and their relationship (Read here).
Now the frontman of Smashing Pumpkins revealed that he wanted to participate in the auction to win the handwritten text by Courtney Love.
The auction is part of a fundraiser for the Ellis Park wildlife sanctuary, running through December 15. All proceeds will be donated to the association, which takes care of rescued animals in Sumatra and was founded by Warren Ellis of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.
The Smashing Pumpkins frontman posted a video clip on his official Instagram account in which he announced that he had purchased three tickets for the auction in which the sheets with the lyrics to the song written directly by Courtney are up for auction.
“Hi friends. I have a very special announcement. Check this out. I just bought my ticket to the Ellis Park Wildlife Sanctuary auction for the lyrics to ‘Violet’ written by Courtney Love,” he began in the video.
“There’s been a lot of talk about this auction this week, so I bought my ticket because I’d like to get these lyrics, because I think they’re about a guy I know a little about, and I’d like to hang them on my wall. Anyway, support this project if you want, Ellispark.org and you can also participate in the auction, but you have to buy a ticket. I got three tickets for 20 dollars, so I’m going to win.”
Corgan also shared on his Instagram story a screenshot of the NME article in which Love spoke about the story and meaning of the song, inspired by the pair’s relationship and revealed: “It’s not just about Billy Corgan, like many might think; it’s about sitting on the fire escape of his apartment, sipping cheap wine and taking a Vicodin (oh, to be young!) as the Chicago sun sets, leaving behind a jeweled amethyst sky.”
In the caption of the screenshot, Corgan said, “She forgot to mention that I wrote one of the poignant couplets in it. But I will always love this song. I love you Court.”
“Violet” was the opening track of the band’s second album, 1994’s “Live Through This”, and was written by Love three years earlier during Hole’s tour ahead of the release of their debut album in 1994. 1991, “Pretty On The Inside”.
Love wrote “Violet” with Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson, with whom she formed the band in 1989. The lyrics first appeared on a flyer Love designed to advertise a Hole show at Jabberjaw in Los Angeles in August 1991. The auctioned pages were discovered by Love during research for her memoir and found in an old notebook, which had been returned to her by the police after spending years in a stolen locker.
The group released four studio albums before disbanding in 2002. In 2009 they reunited, resulting in their fourth album “Nobody’s Daughter”, before disbanding again in 2012.
