Disavowing the punk rock roots of many of their alt-rock contemporaries, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and, in later recordings, electronica. Corgan is the group's primary songwriter; his musical ambitions and cathartic lyrics have shaped the band's albums and songs, which have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land".
The Smashing Pumpkins broke into the musical mainstream with their second album, 1993's Siamese Dream. The group built its audience with extensive touring and their 1995 follow-up, the double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. 1998's Adore would just barely miss out, peaking at number two. With 30 million albums sold worldwide, the Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 1990s. However, internal fighting, drug use, and diminishing record sales led to a 2000 break-up.
In 2006, Corgan and Chamberlin reconvened to record a new Smashing Pumpkins album, Zeitgeist. After touring throughout 2007 and 2008 with a lineup including new guitarist Jeff Schroeder, Chamberlin left the band in early 2009. Later that year, Corgan began a new recording series with a rotating lineup of musicians entitled Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, which encompassed the release of stand-alone singles, compilation EP releases, and two full albums that also fell under the project's scope—Oceania in 2012 and Monuments to an Elegy in 2014. Chamberlin and Iha officially rejoined the band in February 2018. The reunited lineup has released three albums so far—Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. in November 2018, Cyr in November 2020, and ATUM in 2023.
1979
The Smashing Pumpkins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On a live wire right up off the street
You and I should meet
June bug skipping like a stone
With the headlights pointed at the dawn
We were sure we'd never see an end to it all
And I don't even care to shake these zipper blues
To dust I guess
Forgotten and absorbed into the earth below
Double cross the vacant and the bored
They're not sure just what we have in store
Morphine city slippin' dues, down to see
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, 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
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
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
The street heats the urgency of now
As you see there's no one around
"1979" is a song by The Smashing Pumpkins, released in 1996. The track is an ode to the aimless boredom of suburban youth, a love letter to the innocent confusion that comes with being a teenager or young adult in modern America. The first verse of the song, "Shakedown 1979, cool kids never have the time On a live wire right up off the street You and I should meet," describes a sense of restlessness and boredom felt by many young people who grow up in the suburbs. The "cool kids" are too busy being cool to care about anything else, while the rest of the youth are left unsatisfied with a lack of meaning and direction.
Later in the song, the lyrics "And I don't even care to shake these zipper blues And we don't know just where our bones will rest," articulate a sense of aimless wandering that is emblematic of youthful ennui. The song paints a picture of life in the suburbs as an empty, unfulfilling experience for many, a world of picket fences, dead-end jobs, and small town tedium.
Overall, "1979" is an important cultural artifact of the 1990s, a time when many young people were feeling adrift and unanchored. The lyrics of the song beautifully capture the sentiment of youth in a time of social, economic, and cultural upheaval.
Line by Line Meaning
Shakedown 1979, cool kids never have the time
The year is 1979 and the cool kids don't have time for anything.
On a live wire right up off the street
We are living life on the edge like a live wire just above the street.
You and I should meet
We should get together.
June bug skipping like a stone
We are carefree and skipping around like a beetle skipping across water.
With the headlights pointed at the dawn
We are driving towards the rising sun in the early morning.
We were sure we'd never see an end to it all
We thought we would never reach the end of our journey.
And I don't even care to shake these zipper blues
I don't care about my problems and worries.
And we don't know just where our bones will rest
We don't know where we will end up after we die.
To dust I guess
We will turn to dust when we die.
Forgotten and absorbed into the earth below
We will be forgotten and become part of the earth after we die.
Double cross the vacant and the bored
We are deceiving those who are unoccupied and uninterested.
They're not sure just what we have in store
They are uncertain about our plans.
Morphine city slippin' dues, down to see
We are in a city that is drugged up and we are going down to check things out.
That we don't even care, as restless as we are
We are so restless that we don't even care about anything.
We feel the pull in the land of a thousand guilts
We can sense the influence of guilt in the world around us.
And poured cement, lamented and assured
We are stuck and saddened, but we know this is how it is.
To the lights and towns below
We are going down to the cities and towns below us.
Faster than the speed of sound
We are moving so fast that it's faster than the speed of sound.
Faster than we thought we'd go, beneath the sound of hope
We are moving faster than we could have ever imagined and it's below the sound of hope.
Justine never knew the rules
Justine was not one to follow the rules.
Hung down with the freaks and ghouls
Justine would hang out with the strange and unusual people.
No apologies ever need be made
There is no need for apologies to be made for being oneself.
I know you better than you fake it, to see
I know the real you better than the fake version of you that you present to others.
The street heats the urgency of now
The street makes us feel the sense of urgency in the present moment.
As you see there's no one around
As you look around, you see that there is no one else here with us.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: William Patrick Corgan
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Hayyden
I used to listen to this on repeat while walking 2 miles every day to school.
I met a girl one day on one of those walks. She went to a different school.
Sometimes we’d share an earpiece, walking shoulder to shoulder listening to this song together.
One day I stopped seeing her on my walk and 20 years later I’m still wondering but remembering her grace.
Much love Hannah ❤
@katherinepalmado6366
"1979"
Shakedown 1979, cool kids never have the time
On a live wire right up off the street
You and I should meet
Junebug skipping like a stone
With the headlights pointed at the dawn
We were sure we'd never see an end to it all
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
Double cross the vacant and the bored
They're not sure just what we have in store
Morphine city slipping dues down to see
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, 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
Justine never knew the rules,
Hung down with the freaks and the ghouls
No apologies ever need be made, I know you better than you fake it
To see 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
The street heats the urgency of now
As you see there's no one around
@thirien59
Crazy we are nostalgic about a song from 20 years ago which talks about nostalgia from 20 years ago
@deedeeramone8641
25 years ago i guess😥
@davidblackwell6914
🎯🎯
@martineshamzin7535
Yeah, people have always been nostalgic. Its different now, though. People REALLY HATE THIS TIME!
@blacknight2149
Ha! Good point
@AndiSetiyono
yeahhh, its fuckin awesome that time
@VandelayIndustries61
I'm 59. In 1979, I WAS these kids.
What a beautiful, haunting song.
@thjonez
..when we didnt need to think
@Nartano
I'm 42, I was 1 in 1979, still I totally relate to this song
@johnlsullivan7941
Heard that brother