The song lyrics were written about Marquis de Sade (1740-1814) who was a French aristocrat, revolutionary, politician and writer. He was a big supporter of extreme freedom, immorality and he was against any religion or Law. He was quite a scary person that sexually abused other people in order to exercise his total freedom! The term “sadism” is derived from his name...in other words he was a big pain in the butt! I hope you enjoy this song as much as I do...
Link to the song: Cannonball The Breeders
Lyrics: Cannonball Lyrics
What’s this song about?
Here is a comment from song meaning:
Kim: I've just never connected music with books. Wait, that's not entirely true. "Cannonball" was inspired by the writings of the Marquis de Sade.
Q: What? "I'll be the bong in your reggae song" was inspired by de Sade?
Kim: Well, not that line specifically. But the message of the song as a whole was making fun of de Sade and his libertarian views that if he was better off than someone, then they were just fodder for him. Playthings. It was saying,"Come on, life's not a contest."
Q: So you're pretty much anti-de Sade.
Kim: Well, I don't know. Later on I found out he used to suck the snot out of people's noses, and I thought that pretty much ruled.
Info about the band: Wikipedia - The Breeders
