Skip to Search Skip to Live Player Skip to Content Skip to Footer

Donielle Flynn

4 Smashing Pumpkins Songs To Love

By Donielle Flynn
Eligible since 2015 for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. the Smashing Pumpkins have been nominated for Grammy awards 11 times and won 2. Photo courtesy of Evan Agostini/Getty Images

The Smashing Pumpkins have always been a bit polarizing. They’re one of those bands that you love or hate but there’s not a lot “take ’em or leave ’em” Smashing Pumpkins people out there. Where do you think you fall in the Pumpkin spectrum? What are your favorite Smashing Pumpkins songs? Even if you don’t consider yourself a fan, read on and allow me to sway you a bit: please and thank you.

The First Smashing Pumpkins Video

I associate the Smashing Pumpkins with my days in Alternative radio. When the ’90s grunge movement kicked in, it was a real crush to hair bands (for the most part). I never like it when music is suddenly shunned (not even disco artists deserved that in my opinion). For my mindset, ’90s alt and grunge were lifechanging. MTV still played the occasional video and Billy Corgan in his ice cream man uniform made me look at “Today” differently than I ever had before.

Billy Corgan channels writers’ block and depression into relatable, sarcastic lyrics in “Today.”

Today is the greatest
Day I’ve ever known
Can’t wait for tomorrow
I might not have that long
I’ll tear my heart out
Before I get out

From the first time I heard “Today,” I knew Billy Corgan was dripping in sarcasm when he sang “Today is the greatest day I’ve ever known.” Part of what I still love about the grunge era was the not-so-sunny lyrics of bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and The Smashing Pumpkins songs.

Butch Vig - The man who produced several of the Smashing Pumpkins songs and albums including Siamese Dream.
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Butch Vig, who notably produced Smashing Pumpkins’ ‘Gish’ and ‘Siamese Dream’. Butch Vig is also the drummer for Garbage. Photo courtesy of Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

The Smashing Pumpkins Song Style

Billy Corgan has done a pretty amazing job of creating an expansive sound style for the Smashing Pumpkins from one album to another. The differences sonically between 1993’s Siamese Dream and 19995’s Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness is mind-blowing. In part, I would attribute this to a change in producers. Butch Vig produced Siamese Dream. Billy Corgan produced Mellon Collie with Flood and Alan Moulder, but I think credit is also due to the creativity and range of Billy Corgan.

If you aren’t terribly familiar with The Smashing Pumpkins, I would recommend their live show. Their latest tour has a great setlist. Here are a few more (but certainly not all) of the Smashing Pumpkins songs that I love:

  • "1979"

    A song about the transition from youth to adult, Billy chose “1979” as the title because it rhymed well with other lyrics. He’s hardly the first to do this. He wrote the song long before it was used on an album because he didn’t think the mood of the song fit other projects. “!979” was the last song written for Mellon Collie. Billy went to the producers and said he thought the song had a lot of potential. They gave him 24 hours to finish the song, which clearly, he did. The song ended up with two Grammy nominations: Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance. I love “1979” because it’s more delicate than the previous Smashing Pumpkins songs that I had been exposed to. A very different vibe but still telling a relatable story.

  • "Cherub Rock"

    In an interview with Creem Magazine, Billy Corgan said, “I wrote ‘Cherub Rock’ in half an hour. I heard it one day while I was driving up the road and it was one of the last songs I wrote before we did the album. The thing is, there’s parts of me that wonder what would have happened if I’d spent four hours writing it, and not done something else. How much better a song would it have been?” with the influx of CD’s, bands were pushed to create more content on each album since CD’s could hold more than cassettes or vinyl. What I love about this song: the build. Starting with a great guitar riff, the song builds as the drums kick in, then more guitar… so good!

  • "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"

    “The world is a vampire.” Not only is this song amazing, it’s also super fun to play in the month of October. One of the things I value most about Smashing Pumpkin songs is the lyrical content. Billy Corgan isn’t a hppy-go-lucky kinda guy. He’s a driven creative entity that has channeled his demons into song lyrics. again, I love this. Having said that, this song borderlines on joke (Billy has admitted this) due to the content mostly being about the rough life of a rock star.  All joking aside, the life of a rock star seems pretty hard to me. We see the glitz and rock stars do get a lot of perks, but I don’t think it’s an easy job or we’d all do it.

Sign Up For The 94.7 WCSX Classic Rock Insider Newsletter

Get the latest Classic Rock and local stories you need to know about, plus exclusive contests, games, and more!

*
By clicking "Subscribe" I agree to the website's terms of Service and Privacy Policy. I understand I can unsubscribe at any time.
Tags
,