This song has become of of those songs that just resonate viscerally, for me. Life lately has been a bit overwhelming and had Really Big Changes™--and when I heard this song on the radio a couple weeks ago (after not hearing it for years), something about it just struck a chord. Plus there's that I am, in fact, thirty-three.
In looking up the video for this song, I found this Storytellers version where Billy Corgan explains:
Billy Corgan: ...[P]eople have often asked why I call this song 'thirty-three'. I had actually hoped to write three songs: thirty-three, sixty-six, and ninety-nine. Um, I never wrote sixty-six and ninety-nine. So. That's for the internet. Um. The reason I was attracted to the number thirty-three at that particular time, um, I had a friend read my tarot cards and the person said "when you're thirty-three years old"--this is when I was twenty-seven--"when you're thirty-three years old, your life is going to completely change". So, um, as I sit here today at thirty-three years old, my life IS going to completely change. So, this song serves both as notice, prophecy, and as sort of 'a hope un-hoped' or...'un-wished'...yeah, maybe that's a better word. (pause) This is 'Thirty-three'..."Listen to the whole, much more detailed, explanation here
How about you?
Shakesville is run as a safe space. First-time commenters: Please read Shakesville's Commenting Policy and Feminism 101 Section before commenting. We also do lots of in-thread moderation, so we ask that everyone read the entirety of any thread before commenting, to ensure compliance with any in-thread moderation. Thank you.
blog comments powered by Disqus