Billy Corgan Enters Auction for Courtney Love’s Handwritten “Violet” Lyrics

With tongue firmly planted in cheek, Billy Corgan has announced he has entered an auction for the chance to win Courtney Love’s handwritten lyrics for Hole’s song “Violet,” which was famously written about him.

The Smashing Pumpkins co-founder made the “very special announcement” with a video post on Instagram. “I just bought my ticket for the Ellis Park Wildlife Sanctuary auction for the lyrics for ‘Violet’ written by Courtney Love,” he said.

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“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 and you can enter the auction as well but you gotta buy a ticket. I got three tickets for 20 bucks, so I am in it to win it.”

As part of a fundraiser being held by the wildlife sanctuary Ellis Park, all proceeds from the auction will go to the Jakarta Animal Aid Network, which supports the care of rescued animals in Sumatra, Indonesia. Enter the auction or donate here.

With “Violet” back in the press, Love recently told NME that the song was “not just” about her relationship with Corgan: “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.”

Corgan addressed her statement in the video, captioning a screenshot of the article with the following: “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.”

“Violet” was the opening track on Hole’s sophomore album, Live Through This (pick up a vinyl copy here), and was penned by Love during the band’s tour ahead of their 1991 debut album, Pretty on the Inside.

Back in 1995, Love said the song was “about a jerk, I hexed him and now he’s losing his hair” during an appearance on Later…with Jools Holland.

Smashing Pumpkins are coming off a major stadium tour with Green Day. They have a pair of concerts next month: Q101’s Twisted Xmas in Chicago on December 12th and KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas on December 14th. Get your tickets here.