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.
Speed Kills
The Smashing Pumpkins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Speed thrills, but beauty knows your name
I fell ill inside eternal winter, winter
And stood still beside eternal flame
And when I ride
With you tonight
We can move
With all I'd asked
And all I'd pray
The last rose of summer would stay
First time that I ever saw you
Crashing hard thru days of pain
You were one of god's children
Left to cry out in the rain
Waiting to be saved again
'Cause when I ride
With you tonight
We can move
At the speed of light
And all I'd ask
And all I pray
The last rose of summer
The last rose of summer
The last rose of summer is gone
Long gone, gone
The last rose of summer is gone
When I ride
With you tonight
We can move
At the speed of light
Forever young
Forever blind
Into the stars
We rock tonight
Last rose of summer is gone
The last rose of summer is gone
The last rose of summer is gone
The last rose of summer is gone
The last rose of summer
The last rose of summer
The last rose of summer is gone
The lyrics of Speed Kills by The Smashing Pumpkins explore the themes of beauty and speed, with a melancholic touch. The opening lines "Speed kills, but beauty lives forever" set the tone for the rest of the song, as a juxtaposition between two opposing concepts. It implies that speed may be exciting and thrilling, but beauty is timeless and eternal. The singer then talks about falling ill in eternal winter and standing still in eternal flame, which could mean being trapped and feeling stuck in the cycle of life.
The song's chorus talks about the potential of moving at the speed of light, which is not physically possible, but could imply the feeling of moving fast or recklessly with a loved one. The mention of the last rose of summer could be interpreted as the last beautiful thing to hold onto before it disappears, almost like a metaphor for a relationship or life itself. The last stanza speaks of a desire to remain blind to the harsh realities of life and to live forever young, with the idea of "rocking tonight" implying a sense of carefree abandon.
Line by Line Meaning
Speed kills, but beauty lives forever
Going too fast can be deadly, while beauty will always be around.
Speed thrills, but beauty knows your name
Going fast is exciting, but true beauty is personal and knows who you are.
I fell ill inside eternal winter, winter
I was consumed by the enduring suffering and darkness of winter.
And stood still beside eternal flame
I was motionless next to the unchanging fire of passion and intensity.
And when I ride
With you tonight
We can move
At the speed of light
When we're together, we can go as fast as we want and not care about the consequences.
With all I'd asked
And all I'd pray
The last rose of summer would stay
I wished and hoped that the last remnants of beauty and happiness would not be lost.
First time that I ever saw you
Crashing hard thru days of pain
You were one of god's children
Left to cry out in the rain
Waiting to be saved again
The first time I met you, you were struggling through hardship and suffering, just like a child of God left to deal with the consequences on their own.
'Cause when I ride
With you tonight
We can move
At the speed of light
And all I'd ask
And all I pray
The last rose of summer
The last rose of summer
The last rose of summer is gone
Long gone, gone
The last rose of summer is gone
Because we are together, we can rush headlong into danger and not worry about anything, but unfortunately, the last bit of beauty and joy is now gone forever.
When I ride
With you tonight
We can move
At the speed of light
Forever young
Forever blind
Into the stars
We rock tonight
Together we can escape the limitations of time and space to become ageless and oblivious to reality.
The last rose of summer is gone
The last rose of summer is gone
The last rose of summer is gone
The last rose of summer
The last rose of summer
The last rose of summer is gone
The last bit of natural beauty is no longer present in our world, and we will never be able to get it back.
Contributed by Nolan V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
GB
Corgans play on words tho:
The man created alternate realities thoughout his lyrics in particular this song.
eg. Last verse created multiple dimensions in a sense, "When I ride with you tonight...."
Could be understood in many contexts:
1. Being in so much love, literally feel you and your significant other transcend time and space. That "high" of being in love at that specific time.
2. You and a best friend or a soulmate have an amazing time together almost like reminiscing a pleasant experience ie first concert together, very first time you thought of them and it gave you butterflies, etc, and how time flew way too fast almost like a dream throughout those experiences.
3. How I personally took it. Corgan touches alot on his beliefs of God and his mother's mortality throughout Adore and Machina referenced relationships both the good and bad. God is referenced on several occassions in many albums along with a plethora of emotions. Rarely did he talk about Christ. I feel this verse symbolizes its Corgan's conscious soul experiencing nirvana as one's soul leaves earth and Christ is along with him. Almost like Corgan feels vindicated and was given a chance at an eternal life in heaven.
4. Could be a love that was extinguishing itself out and even though both lived through being spiteful toward the other, the love was very addictive until one day the, "last rose of summer was gone....long gone." The love had met its end of season.
Whatever if you don't like my analogies. Fight me......joking.
Music in its many forms binds us and allows us all to interpret feelings in many different manners. Almost like a chameleon blends into its environment. Its an enjoyable human experience and/or condition to relate or debate.
Miguel Camacho
Got to hear this one live back in 2008 during the 20th anniversary tour. Had a different intro but went into this version soon after. I was so blown away by it because I wasn't expecting it to be played.
Jay Sharp
You do know there's a faster version on Machina 2– yes?
I saw the 20 years of Sadness tour too and it's not like playing this track on 1.25 or 1.5 speed will make it sound like it did in your memory...
They were simply playing the other version, dude.
No offense mate, just wanted to educate.
Michael Pavlik
Me too brother on Halloween... was magical.
Bohemian Dream
I’m so jealous aaahhh
angie 812
That's the song that I would dance to/ sleep to/ write my thesis to. It's perfect to me - calm, regretful, poetic. Evokes autumn landscapes ("the last rose of summer is gone"), and at the same time gives me shivers because it's so sensual...I envisage making love (but truly making love, not just having sex) to this piece. Love it. I listened to it then when I was 20, now I found it 20 years after and I've got the same feelings about it. Amazing.
Bruno Oliveira
Isso deveria existir no Spotify!!!!! 😔
Felipe André
estava até uns anos atrás numa colecao de b-sides nao oficial da banda, feita pela Apple, que o Billy removeu aff
Macchi
Another pumpkins hidden masterpiece
Mr. Anderson
Only hidden to those still asleep... I unlocked this piece when it first came out..
Bohemian Dream
I could listen to this song on loop for hours upon hours