Billy Corgan has expressed interest in owning the lyrics to Courtney Love’s song ‘Violet.’
“Hello friends, I have a very special announcement,” the Smashing Pumpkins frontman said in an Instagram video. “Check this out. I just bought my ticket for the Ellis Park Wildlife Sanctuary auction for the lyrics for ‘Violet’ written by Courtney Love.”
He continued, “Now, it’s made a lot of press this week that this auction’s going off. So, I’ve actually bought my ticket because I’d like to win these lyrics because I think it’s about a guy I know a little bit about and I’d love to put that on my wall.”
“Anyway, support this if you want to, EllisPark.org. Ellis Park. org. You can enter the auction as well but you gotta buy a ticket. I got three tickets for 20 bucks. So, I’m in it to win it,” he concluded.
Love also spoke about the auction of the handwritten lyrics for Hole’s ‘Violet,’ stating that Corgan wasn’t the only person who inspired the song. Corgan responded on X by posting a screenshot of a news headline quoting Love.
The singer wrote, “She forgot to mention that I wrote one of the heart-rending couplets contained therein. But I will always love this song. Love you, Court.”
The lyrics to ‘Violet’ have long been speculated to be about Billy, given that he and Love were romantically involved in the early 1990s. However, Love clarified the song’s inspiration in an interview with NME, saying, “It’s not just about Billy Corgan, as many might assume; it’s about sitting on the fire escape of his flat, sipping cheap wine and taking a Vicodin (oh, to be young!) while the Chicago sun sets, leaving behind a bejewelled amethyst sky.”
She added, “Sometimes I just channel whatever comes. I realise my comment on ‘Jools Holland’ was a bit mean – I was just being bitchy beefy. But someone has to uphold the standards of good faith beef!”
Love co-wrote ‘Violet’ with Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson. The lyrics first appeared on a flyer for one of the band’s early shows in Los Angeles in August 1991.
