Billy Corgan Joins Charity Raffle for a Chance to Win Courtney Love’s Handwritten ‘Violet’ Lyrics

Billy Corgan Reflects on Hole’s Iconic “Violet” as Courtney Love Donates Handwritten Lyrics for Charity

Billy Corgan recently shared his thoughts on Violet, the classic Hole track often linked to his brief romance with Courtney Love in the early 1990s. The song, which opens Hole’s 1994 album Live Through This, was written three years earlier before the band’s tour promoting their debut album, Pretty on the Inside. While Love has long teased its inspiration, Corgan lightheartedly remarked, “I think it’s about a guy I know a little bit about,” during his comments about the charity raffle featuring the handwritten lyrics.

Speculation about Violet being inspired by Corgan has swirled for decades, fueled in part by Love’s own words. During a 1995 performance on Later… With Jools Holland, she introduced the song as “about a jerk” and jokingly added, “I hexed him, and now he’s losing his hair.” Her sharp wit at the time only added to the mystery, leaving fans eager to interpret the emotional weight behind the track.

In a recent statement to NME, Love clarified the song’s layered meaning while confirming that Corgan was part of its inspiration. “It’s not just about Billy Corgan, as many might assume,” she explained. “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 jeweled amethyst sky.” She continued, “Sometimes, I channel whatever comes. 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 also shared new insights into the other influences that shaped Violet. Drawing inspiration from Alexander Pope’s narrative poem The Dunciad and a piece by Emily Brontë, Love ultimately decided to remove Brontë’s influence, calling it “excessive” and “too much like imitation.” She explained, “The rhyme scheme was good, but it didn’t feel authentic. I was trying to be ‘method,’ but it ended up feeling forced.”

She also revealed a more personal thread in the song’s narrative, describing it as a reflection of being torn between two contrasting figures—a duality she connected to her own nature. “There’s a line about ‘Danny’s new number,’ which could refer to Danny Goldberg or a drug dealer nicknamed ‘Bobby Bones,’” she said. “Flea will remember. Yikes!”

Corgan, for his part, added a personal touch to his support of the charity raffle by sharing his own connection to Violet. In a short note accompanying his video endorsement, he revealed, “[Love] forgot to mention that I wrote one of the heart-rending couplets contained therein. But I will always love this song. Love you, Court.”

Love’s donation of the Violet lyrics offers fans a rare glimpse into the creative process behind one of Hole’s most celebrated tracks. Combining raw emotion, literary inspiration, and a touch of rock-and-roll mythology, Violet continues to resonate as a defining piece of ’90s music history.

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