Formada en Chicago en 1988, The Smashing Pumpkins surgió como una de las bandas más influyentes del rock alternativo de la década de 1990. Billy Corgan (voz y guitarra), James Iha (guitarra), D'arcy Wretzky (bajo) y Jimmy Chamberlin (batería) fueron los miembros originales, y juntos crearon un sonido que mezclaba elementos de rock gótico, heavy metal y dream pop.
En 1991, lanzaron su álbum debut, Gish. Aunque no fue un éxito inmediato, estableció a la banda como una fuerza emergente en el rock alternativo. Pero fue su segundo álbum, Siamese Dream (1993), el que los catapultó a la fama. Canciones como "Today" y "Disarm" se convirtieron en éxitos masivos, ayudando a que el álbum vendiera más de cuatro millones de copias en los Estados Unidos.
El lanzamiento en 1995 de Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, un álbum doble, consolidó la reputación de la banda como innovadores musicales. Este trabajo incluyó éxitos como "1979", "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" y "Tonight, Tonight". Ganó múltiples premios y vendió más de diez millones de copias en todo el mundo.
peace and love up there
when you're stuck out there
standing on your own
trying to catch your wave
even though i will
even if i wont
even when i signal i will get back home
ask me what to say
i'll point to the sky
ask me what i'd need to tell you a lie
ask me what i'd need to tell you all a lie
there's a crowd outside
gone for our lies
peace and love will hear
living in an old school bus
ask me where i think
i say i have to go
is it this in me that strikes your sign so bold
ask me for tonight
i'll pat you on your back
and find a way to pay you all so right back
and find a way to pay you all so right back
peace and love up there
when you're caught on fire
a bird nest in my hand
fourteen missiles in my gun
so ask me what i think
i'll tell you i don't know one
leave without another peep or a sound
waving to the crowd
it's calling for my neck
to tell you what i need
to tell you all the truth
to tell you what i need
to tell you all the truth
in the redwood pines
laced all out my spine
in this town called zen
i'm asking where it went
the joke about the fall
the one about your dog
the one about where we all seemed to get along
lifted from the mines and sifted from my mouth
and a blessing so you'll never have to dig back down
and a blessing so you'll never have to dig back down
supposing i am in defeat
a fear in what comes next
at my master's feet
on the mouth of lazarus
so ask me what to do
i'll just point to you
and ask you what i need to tell you all the truth
take a second look
imagine what's been robbed
imagine if we won and we'd all get along
imagine if we won and we'd all get along