"Fortunes of a man are the debts of a son."
 

Always liked that line from "Methuselah."

But I have to wonder, did Corgan write it, or is he referencing an existing saying? Because I know that Corgan was a good lyricist at the time, but this line seems pithy and sharp even for him. It sounds like it would be an old proverb (and indeed, evidence does suggest that family fortunes are often lost in a few generations), but Google the phrase doesn't return anything like that.

Seriously, this song is some Lenny Cohen-level shit.

Great song. I like the line something about “father never grew up he just grew old”. Heavy shit

One of my favorites, and it's very fun to play as well. Though I don't play it like billy does in that clip. I agree it's some of his best lyrics, regardless. And DK I think you are taking that line WAY too literally. The feeling I get from it is that what his father did hurt him and stays with him. Father's abuse/neglect of a child stay with them as emotional deficits.

Always loved this song. The lyrics are indeed great, now we got the "...is the secret of the Irishman" lol

The phrase "sins of the fathers" derives from biblical references to the sins or iniquities of one generation passing to another.

I know he's a fan of Nietzsche this quote from Zarathustra is similar: "What was silent in the father speaks in the son; and I often found in the son the unveiled secret of the father"