Siva
Interviewer: Do you ever start with a song title?
Billy: Absolutely. To be totally honest, I carried “Siva” around in my mind for like 5 years. That I knew one day I would write a song called “Siva” I just knew. I have tapes from 5 years ago with “Siva” written on them you know. You know trying to put that title to a song you know.
Interviewer: Blank tapes. You’d just be ready.
Billy: I even thought about calling the band “Siva” actually.
Interviewer: Wow. And it finally came out.
Billy: It finally came out.
1991
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GS: Let's get back to Gish for a minute. What does the title of the song "Siva" refer to?
CORGAN: One of the three Hindu figurehead gods. It's really just an example of my typical free association.
GS: That song is reminiscent in some ways of Cream, in particular the song "Swlabr" from Disraeli Gears.
CORGAN: No one's every pointed that out, but I see what you mean totally. The guitar tone on the breaks is like early Cream. I couldn't even tell you what guitar I was using, but that's probably the only spot on Gish where I used the Big Muff, and six months later I was using it on everything. I love that liquid tone. "Siva" always secretly reminded me of a tune I don't want to mention, because I don't want to get sued. Someday I'll come up with a riff that doesn't remind me of anything! [laughs] To make yet another reference to the Who, lately we've been going for more of a stripped down tone, guitar-wise. The sound isn't as saturated, but it may be even meatier in kind of a different way.
1994 Guitar School
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"Siva", from our first album, Gish, had one of those riffs that let me know immediately that I had a song, even though I had yet to work out all the parts. James Iha adds to the riff by playing a contrasting sequence. That riff sounded like my band--it had instant identity--and it got my blood going right away. There was something about it that was so distinctive that it made a lot of other songs I'd written seem wimpy and weak by comparison. Since then, I've always tried to find that weird marriage of a great riff. The "Siva" riff crystallized everything I was trying to do with the band. It had power and immediacy, and the song seemed to write itself around the riff.
When I wrote "Siva," I was working in a record shop, and I used to bring an acoustic guitar with me to work. When no one was in the store, I'd just sit behind the counter and play. So, this was a riff that I wrote on acoustic, keeping in mind that I would transfer it to loud, heavily distorted guitar later. It was buzzin' in my head!
1997-Guitar World