The Smashing Pumpkins is an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Th… Read Full Bio ↴The Smashing Pumpkins is an American alternative rock band from Chicago. The band was formed in 1988 by Billy Corgan and James Iha, with bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin joining shortly after. Despite going through many lineup changes, the current lineup is identical to the original, with the exception of Wretzky, who would end up leaving the band just before their initial breakup in 2000.

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.

Cherry
The Smashing Pumpkins Lyrics

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(listen-want to just start it?...ready, flood?
Yeah...one, two, three, four)
Stay with me, I'll set you free
'Cause I can tell you once were pretty
Rose so sad you've lost your petals
And lost the luster of your tattle tales
I need a love to help me find my way
I need a strength that I cannot betray

I need a word to say what I can't say
I need a lover, lover
I need a lover, lover
What are we waiting for?
What are we waiting for?
Time has lost its hold on me
Hatred sleeps inside my bones
In the stillness of cool air
All the boys have been left for dead
'Cause we know where they fear to tread
The beautiful ones, the ones we'll remember
The precious ones, our greatest pretenders
I need a love to help me find my way
I need a strength that I cannot betray
I need a word to say what I can't say
I need a lover, lover
I need a lover, lover
And if you lose yourself
Could you take me, too?

Could you rest inside the sleep?
Stay with me, I'll set you free from you

Overall Meaning

The Smashing Pumpkins's song "Cherry" is an emotional journey about the search for love and the need for inner strength. The song's opening lines, "Stay with me, I'll set you free/Cause I can tell you once were pretty," seem to be addressed to someone who has lost their way and needs help finding themselves. This is followed by an image of a rose that has lost its petals and its former beauty, which may represent the person's lost sense of self.

The chorus of "I need a lover, lover/What are we waiting for?" speaks to the urgency and desperation of finding someone to help guide the singer through their struggles. The following lines describe a sense of detachment and dissatisfaction with the world, with time having lost its hold on the singer and hatred sleeping inside their bones.

The second verse includes an image of abandoned boys, perhaps referencing those who have given up on the search for love or have been left behind. The "beautiful ones" are contrasted with the "precious ones," which may represent the difference between those who are truly genuine and those who are only pretending to be what they think others want them to be.

CherryThe Smashing Pumpkins Lyrics

Cherry
The Smashing Pumpkins Lyrics