Good Boy Billy

I have been a Smashing Pumpkins fan since the days of Gish and Pisces Iscariot. I loved all of their more popular albums that followed after that and I loved the solo stuff that Billy Corgan put out (he had a great acoustic import).

I was a fan for several reasons. I think that the Pumpkins have extraordinary talents in their ability to play their instruments and in their writing (every transition they make in their songs just seems to be perfect). Bily Corgan is also a great lyricist. He is so honest and so poetic. He is very philosophical yet very tangible. You can watch the journey of his life over the years in his lyrics. Often, he is very angry at God, and often, he has a lot of questions, but always, he knows that God exists. There were a couple of years in my life that I was angry and searching, and I found solace in his music.

When I was a young teenager, I caught a lot of flac from other Christians for listening to the music that I did. A lot of people told me that I should only listen to "Christian Music." I always disagreed with that because I am of the opinion that the only thing that separates Christian and secular music is that... well "Christian music" was written by a Christian. I have never seen that as a good reason to avoid secular music. I think that everyone who is creating something is acting out of their God given ability that we weere all given when we were created in his image. Besides, there is lots of "Christian" music that is very angry, rebelious, and not in any way more moral than secular music. I remember that several people really got on my case about the Smashing Pumpkins in particular. I always said that they were not bad... they were just looking for the truth exactly like me. I felt that they were inspiring because they cared enough to search, strive, and even be angry. This appealed to me because it seemed real, not like they were just doing what they thought they should.

So, back to Bily. I have always loved his music and really felt like it is full of truth and sincerity. He recently became a christian and strarted playing music that is openly about God and about God's love. His recent Band Zwan (they are good, but not like the pumpkins) is very forthright about their belief in Jesus. Billy Corgan is also featured in a song on the new Blindside album (which is an amazing record from start to finish). And you know what is the coolest part? It is still real. In his same Bily Corgan way, he will write whatever he wants and not try to kiss up. He seems to have found the truth he always knew was out there, but you can tell that he found it by searching for it.