Disarm Lyrics
Disarm you with a smile
And cut you like you want me to
Cut that little child
Inside of me and such a part of you
Ooh, the years burn
Ooh, the years burn
[Chorus]
I used to be a little boy
So old in my shoes
And what I choose is my choice
What's a boy supposed to do?
The killer in me is the killer in you, my love
I send this smile over to you
[Verse 2]
Disarm you with a smile
And leave you like they left me here
To wither in denial
The bitterness of one who's left alone
Ooh, the years burn
Ooh, the years burn, burn, burn
[Chorus]
I used to be a little boy
So old in my shoes
And what I choose is my voice
What's a boy supposed to do?
The killer in me is the killer in you, my love
I send this smile over to you
About
The lyrics of “Disarm” touch upon the subject of child abuse as Billy Corgan directly addresses his parents in the first person as an abused son. However, during a performance in 2019, Corgan revealed “Disarm” is really about a time he contemplated suicide. He also revealed he wrote the song on the same day as “Today”, which he called his “suicidal anthem.” Thankfully, Corgan said he didn’t have the courage to kill himself and wrote the two songs instead.
Although Corgan is very capable of delivering angry vocals, “Disarm” has none, deliberately so. Corgan told Rage in 1993:
I didn’t have the guts to kill my parents, so I thought I’d get back at them through song. And rather than have an angry, angry, angry violent song I’d thought I’d write something beautiful and make them realize what tender feelings I have in my heart, and make them feel really bad for treating me like shit
The instrumentation is dramatic, cinematic, and somewhat dark. An acoustic guitar is strummed throughout but is often eclipsed by hopeful orchestral swells.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
A song once banned by the BBC for the use of the lyric ‘cut that little child’. No one wanted to hear that it was all a stoic euphemism for the deepest cuts within. I was offered a hurry-up chance to re-record the line with a replacement that would pass the censors. The song could become a hit! I flatly refused; I wasn’t going to honor the dead by dishonoring my own death.
I knew the troubles this song would cause in my family. The ripple of the message got through. The string arrangement was invented on the spot, line by line. Beautifully played and stated, and understated by the men involved. There are moments where it works precisely because you trust it will, and when it does work so effortlessly you wonder again why they all can’t have such lucky stars.
- 1.Cherub Rock
- 2.Quiet
- 3.Today
- 4.Hummer
- 5.Rocket
- 6.Disarm
- 7.Soma
- 8.Geek U.S.A.
- 9.Mayonaise
- 10.Spaceboy
- 11.Silverfuck
- 12.Sweet Sweet
- 13.Luna