“Beguiled” by The Smashing Pumpkins
Needless to say when perusing the lyrics of “Beguiled”, we’re going to have to go out on a limb or two in interpreting its wording. But first, let it be known that the word “beguiled” is not present in this song.
Instead from the onset, the vocalist gets to musing about “the serpent” in what have you. So when you combine those two concepts, the logical conclusion would be that he’s referring to Satan, who is often symbolized as a beguiling serpent.
So with that in mind, what should be noted secondly is that Billy Corgan is along the lines of being a Christian. In fact interestingly, even a good decade prior to this writing there has at least been speculation that The Smashing Pumpkins themselves may be a Christian act.
As generally perceived they are not and rather fall under the genre of alternative rock. But the point being made here is that since Corgan is the group’s primary songwriter, then of course some of his beliefs would make into the band’s music.
Lyrics of “Beguiled”
So without beating around the bush any longer, what it looks like concerning “Beguiled” is that the intended addressee is the younger generation, i.e. the likes of teenagers.
The message the vocalist is relaying is twofold. As a premise, what he is putting forth is that the devil is indeed out there, if you will. And going back to the concept of beguilement, his modus operandi is, most simply put, to deceive people into destroying their own lives.
But as for the vocalist, it’s like he’s been there and done that. So the second part of his message is that rather than leaning on the powers that be, the “young pagans” rather need to “return the faith”, because the way the world is these days, “there’s no escape”. Or put otherwise, he feels that the only way to counteract the mass deception and manipulation in circulation is with faith, which we will take as meaning a strong belief in an unseen Higher Power.
And again, even though his message may not be a particularly pleasant one, since the singer knows what time it is, so to speak, and is actually concerned about the younger generation, then he feels a need to instruct them accordingly.
When was “Beguiled” released?
The Smashing Pumpkins have been inactive for the past couple of years, at least as far as dropping new songs go. But on 20 September 2022 they got around to releasing “Beguiled”, the lead single from their forthcoming studio album “Atum: A Rock Opera in The Acts”, which is the 12th of this longstanding rock band.
The Smashing Pumpkins reportedly premiered this song via a live TikTok performance.
Credits
The band is currently being held down by co-founders Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlain along with Jeff Schroeder, who joined the crew during the aughts.
“Beguiled” was written and produced by frontman Billy Corgan, who had been working on the aforementioned album, which is a product of EMI, over the last four years.
