The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
“1979” is an homage to youth and all the pain, angst, and happiness that goes along with it. With a fusion of alternative rock, new wave, and electronics, the Pumpkins stumbled upon an atmospheric sound that seemed to define a generation. At the time of the release, this track sounded much differe...
[Verse 1]
Shakedown 1979
Cool kids never have the time
On a live wire right up off the street
You and I should meet
[Verse 2]
Junebug skippin' like a stone
With the headlights pointed at the dawn
We were sure we'd never see an end to it all
[Chorus 1]
And I don't even care
To shake these zipper blues
And we don't know
Just where our bones will rest
To dust I guess
Forgotten and absorbed into the earth
Below
[Verse 3]
Double-cross the vacant and the bored
They're not sure just what we have in store
Morphine city slippin' dues, down to see
[Chorus 2]
That we don't even care
As restless as we are
We feel the pull
In the land of a thousand guilts
And poured cement
[Bridge]
Lamented and assured
To the lights and towns below
Faster than the speed of sound
Faster than we thought we'd go
Beneath the sound of hope
[Verse 4]
Justine never knew the rules
Hung down with the freaks and ghouls
No apologies ever need be made
I know you better than you fake it, to see
[Chorus 1]
That we don't even care
To shake these zipper blues
And we don't know
Just where our bones will rest
To dust I guess
Forgotten and absorbed into the earth
Below
[Outro]
The street heats the urgency of now
As you see there's no one around
1979 was written by Billy Corgan.
1979 was produced by Flood & Alan Moulder & Billy Corgan.
The Smashing Pumpkins released 1979 on Tue Jan 23 1996.
In 1996, Billy Corgan spoke about the making of “1979” to Guitar School:
It was the last song [written for the album]… I demoed out the basic music for “1979,” and we practiced it a few times. Flood wanted to take the tune off the board so we wouldn’t spend more time on it, but I said, “Let me have...
He’s actually just humming and making random sounds that were then electronically processed. He was asked this question in a magazine interview shortly after the song was released:
The most frequently asked question about “1979” is, “What is the `ooh-ahh-ahh' sound at the end of every phrase?” Flo...
Jimmy Chamberlin did play live drums during the recording of “1979,” but not in the traditional way a drummer may be used to. He explained the process to Modern Drummer magazine in 1996:
Another different song for me was “1979,” which is a drum loop with me playing over the top of it. That’s the f...
Billy Corgan doesn’t make a habit of explaining his lyrics. He prefers not to as he believes it takes away from the song. He would rather us all interpret his words the way we wish, tailoring them to suit our own situations. Has has however made some vague comments regarding the lyrics:
Somehow...
It seems very wrong to reduce an important band’s highest-charting single to one sound, but sorry, that whooshing progression that repeats through “1979” is amazing enough to hang a whole career on. That floating guitar figure seems to hold all the wistfulness, sadness, hope, and redemption that the...