![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/The-Smashing-Pumpkins-Siamese-Dream-1993-Virgin-Records-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Virgin Records)<\/p>\n
Fri 15 August 2025 3:00, UK <\/p>\n
Yes, I know, a Smashing Pumpkins <\/a>song is \u201csecretly\u201d depressing. Next thing you know, I\u2019ll be telling you a Madness song is \u201csecretly\u201d silly, or an AC\/DC song is \u201csecretly\u201d loud. <\/p>\n I am aware of the reputation Smashing Pumpkins have, and it\u2019s one that they\u2019ve earned with aplomb. They came to prominence in the famously gloomy grunge scene of the early 1990s, and were arguably the gloomiest of the lot, having none of Nirvana\u2019s glowering anger, Pearl Jam\u2019s well-earned hope or Hole\u2019s scathing defiance. <\/p>\n What the Pumpkins had was sheer, desolate nihilism. Seriously, the only band of that era that rivalled them for the sheer depths of despair their music could take a listener was Nine Inch Nails, and that\u2019s absolutely a toss-up. Arguably, the thing that saved both bands from being nothing more than navel-gazing bores is the scope and energy of their music. Just as Nine Inch Nails <\/a>pushed the boundaries of industrial rock, Billy Corgan\u2019s misfit mob showed the sense of scale that could be achieved with the grunge scene. <\/p>\n With all that in mind, \u2018Today\u2019 seemed to be a space to breathe within their extensive back catalogue. Floating in on a sprightly guitar figure, the second single from their 1993 masterpiece Siamese Dream is, on the surface, a delicious slice of guitar pop candy-floss. Effortlessly catchy, built on one of the most recognisable pop chord sequences ever made and with a swooning vocal hook about how \u201ctoday is the greatest day I\u2019ve ever known\u201d. <\/p>\n Tucked into a back catalogue mainly built around examinations of Corgan\u2019s barely concealed sociopathy, this is something of a nice change of pace. After all, a band can\u2019t live on songs about how awful it is to be alive all the time. \u2018Today\u2019 could be a beam of sunlight finally breaking through storm clouds when you need it most, convincing you that, sure, life is hard sometimes, but it\u2019s worth it for the good times, right? Right?! <\/p>\n What is the sting in the tail of \u2018Today\u2019 by Smashing Pumpkins? <\/p>\n Not only is the reveal of \u2018Today\u2019 extremely typical of Smashing Pumpkins as a band, it\u2019s extremely typical of the 1990s era it came from. 1993 was a time when eye-rolling irony was at an even bigger peak than it is today, and almost as a direct response to that, \u2018Today\u2019 is, sing it with me now, sarcastic! It\u2019s not even hidden that deep, but Corgan\u2019s voice has always been a difficult one to make out the consonants of. Once you get past the \u201ctoday is the greatest day\u201d hook, it all sort of blends into one. <\/p>\n However, sitting down with the lyric sheet, you can find that the lead singer isn\u2019t exactly hiding his sarcasm that much. The more you listen to the song, the more you realise that when he talks about tomorrow, he\u2019s talking about a day he might not see. After all, as he says in the second verse, \u201cI can\u2019t wait for tomorrow \/ I might not have that long\u201d. He\u2019s speaking very literally because the song was written at a time when Corgan was at his lowest. <\/p>\n