Day 14: The Beginning is the End is the Beginning - Smashing Pumpkins

Song: The Beginning is the End is the Beginning

Artist: The Smashing Pumpkins
Jan 14

I've spent the better part of the day clenching my jaw in severe annoyance. Murphy and his law was out in full force wreaking havoc on any who breathed. My sister and I used to listen to today's song back when we were working retail together, as a precursor as to what was about to unfold in the hellish abyss that is low level customer service. Ironically both my sister and I have had equally horrible days and it was only fitting that I revisit a song of our dark past.

Smashing Pumpkins are a heavy alt rock band formed in 1988. The band messily broke up in 2000 and reformed in 2006.

Our intro is deep and dark with the heavy pulse of the drum and a sonar-like effect. It sounds equally like destruction and creation (if that makes any sense). There is an eerie tinkling of a piano for a brief moment. High in pitch and contrasting beautiful to the dark tone that has been established. Billy Corgan's vocal slithers about carrying a slightly distorted effect, barely noticeable. The beauty of this effect lies in the creation of this skin crawling unease that something isn't natural. The percussion is absolutely stunning in the story it tells. Between the deep blasts that remind me of cinematic bombs being dropped and the continuous tinkering we hear, like hammers and steel clanking in a factory. The addition of the distorted strings and angelic choral vocals in the back propel the aforementioned discomfort further giving a feeling that whatever is happening is catastrophic, almost apocalyptic.

I have a vivid story that floats through my brain as this track plays. We find faceless silhouettes standing on the precipice of war.  The silhouette's movements are repetitive, angular, and stiff; reminiscent of the hands of a clock. The faceless stand around a sonar tracking device, of a submarine, silently watching for movement. Slowly the the crew man their stations as our war begins. A high ranking officer walks past the silhouettes loading missile chambers until with a flash the first missile rockets through the ocean. An additional seven following suit. Between each launch there is a clear face shouting "Fire". An eerie stillness takes over the crew as they await the inevitable beginning of the end. We move to a war room setting coordinates and in much the same fashion we see the missile silos opening one by one and launching. Back in the water the first missile hits an enemy sub setting off a domino effect. Our focus is shifted to the sky as the missiles get closer and closer to their target until blue and white flame blind and obliterate, at first up close until we pan out and see the destruction across the horizon. The world now consumed by flames we hear before we see, a terminal hit on the sub that launched the first attack.

The lyrics reaffirm the apocalyptic tone of the music. Personally, I feel that the song serves as a warning of devastation that would be caused by nuclear warfare. You could argue and really tear through the allegorical text to find deeper, more personal, meaning (and I am sure it is there), however, I find the broadness of both the music and the lyrics to really emulate the effects of something catastrophic to mankind as a whole.

"For now we stand alone
The world is lost and blown
And we are flesh and blood disintegrate"

"And now the kingdom comes
Crashing down undone"

"Time has stopped before us
The sky cannot ignore us"

"Is it bright where you are
Have the people changed"

"We can watch the world devoured in its pain"

Lyric that attacked me:
"There's no more need to pretend
Cause now I can begin again"

Song Color: Cold Deep Blue

Mood: Angry