Today
"Today" was an intuitive song. There's other songs where I really have to spend time to make it all glue together. "
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Interviewer: What’s Today about?
Billy: Suicide, suicidal tendencies.
Interviewer: Do you still have them?
Billy: Not at the moment, no.
-94 Great Pumpkin That Never Arrived
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I finally got over all the hangups about what I should or shouldn't be doing. Now I just do whatever comes to me. I wouldn't have to put a song like "Today" on Gish - never would have allowed such a cheesy popsong. But now I let myself revel in that cheesiness and somehow make it mine. When you get stuck in those self-image bear traps, that's your problem - nobody imposes that on you. Also, you should always have a guitar laying around. See what comes out on it before you even have a chance to think about it. That way, it's the real you playing the song. I find that something interesting usually comes about before I have a chance to think about it. Ultimately the conscious part of your mind completely ruins everything.
1994 - Guitar Player
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When Siamese Dream was finished, the people of the record company immediately wanted to talk about the first-single choice. I wanted Cherub Rock as first single, they wanted Today. I mean, I created a monstrous emotional piece of art of an hour and the only thing people wanted to talk about was a song I wrote in 10 minutes.
- Dec. 1993
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"There are songs that are born of their day, that just come to you, but I can count them on one hand. They tend to be my better-known songs because they're so immediately catchy - "Today" and "Disarm," for example."
1994 - Guitar Player
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Almost a reverse-case scenario occurred with the song "Today," from Siamese Dream. I had all of the chords and the melody, but no opening hook. At that point, we just started the song with the verse chord progression, which in and of itself is pretty catchy because of the melody. I knew I had to come up with some sort of opening riff. Then, out of the blue, I heard the opening lick note for note in my head. That's the state of mind I've trained myself to be in: I'm always looking for the guitar hook. When I added the opening riff, it completely changed the character of the song. Suddenly, I had a song that was starting out quiet and then got very loud. I could start to hear the shifts in the song as it progressed. I knew that I was going to bring that riff back in for emphasis, and I knew where I could do that.
1997-Guitar World
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Thus Today was written when he was "suicidally unhappy", centers on the line Today is the greatest day I've ever known, " he says, "with such irony, because I felt so low, it's like there is nowhere to go but up."
1993
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"I was really suicidal, " Corgan says. "I just thought it was funny to write a sing that said today is the greatest day of your life because it can't get any worse."
1993- Rolling Stone
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"We were working on the album, and there were all these people from Virgin coming round, th find out how things were going. So to get them off our backs, I decided to give them one song, 'Today'. And they loved it. The next thing we knew. all these people were shooting their mouths off about how great the album was oging to be, what it was going to sound like, and all on the strengh of this one song. We're sitting in this studio in Atlanta, and all we're hearing is that the album's a killer!"
1994 Cream Magazine
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"I'd reached a point where there was a direct conflict between what I was trying to be and who I really was," Corgan says, recalling the song's genesis. "I was trying to be this person who is cool, eternally rocking. Yet here I was, writing a dumb song like 'Today.' I'd reached a fork in the road. Do I throw this in the garbage and try to pursue some kind of ideal that I can't live up to or accept what I am, which is a corny boy from fucking Chicago?
"In a weird way, accepting myself on that level has made my life all that more powerful." Corgan says "The song resonates from a place of truth."
"I was on another planet, from total isolation-tank environment to the other extreme [makes big rock-show crowd noise] -- "To-o-oday!" What a weird fucking vibe. It was like going from zero to 60 in a day. Crazy. But fun."
1995-Rolling Stone
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"Siamese Dream is much more personal, " says Corgan. "Almost every song is about a relationship. 'Cherub Rock' is about my relationship to the indie-world and the media, 'Today' is about my relationship with myself, and 'Quiet' is about my relationship with my parents. Everything was me verses them or me verses me. This album is more about cultural issues: youth, hate."
-1995 US
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"Fan: I keep hearing from my fellow Smashing Pumpkins fans that the song Today, while you were recording here it was inspired by Marietta Georgia, is that true?"
Billy: "um....No"
*crowd laughs*
Billy: "I mean...Cobb County could give a songwriter a lot to be inspired by..."
*crowd cheers*
Interviewer: "He knows our city well"
Billy "But i did write the song in Chicago, when i was living with this hippie...named Bob."
Feb. 17 2000 - 99x Interview
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