Today Lyrics
Today is the greatest
Day I've ever known
Can't live for tomorrow
Tomorrow's much too long
I'll burn my eyes out
Before I get out
[Verse 1]
I wanted more
Than life could ever grant me
Bored by the chore
Of saving face
[Chorus 2]
Today is the greatest
Day I've ever known
Can't wait for tomorrow
I might not have that long
I'll tear my heart out
Before I get out
[Verse 2]
Pink ribbon scars
That never forget
I tried so hard
To cleanse these regrets
My angel wings
Were bruised and restrained
My belly stings
About
Most listeners are surprised to learn that “Today” was written sarcastically. When reading the verses however, it becomes quite apparent. In Billy Corgan’s own words, he “was completely obsessed with killing [him]self”.
While “Today” actually describes the worst day possible, the song is still one of hope as it tells a tale of perseverance. When Corgan looks back at this song now, he sees it “as a positive song in that it’s about survival.”
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Corgan gave fans a detailed story behind this song during VH1’s Storytellers:
It was written in a very difficult period of my life. We had put out our first album Gish in 1991. We did the tour for about 14 months, the longest we had been on tour before that was about 20 days. After the tour, I entered into the worst writing slump I’d ever had. Being in public brought out a lot of feelings that I had repressed from childhood…I found myself confronted with all these demons I thought I had locked away.
I entered into this really horrible part of my life. At one point, I ended up sleeping on D'arcy’s floor. I lived in a parking garage for awhile. I was completely obsessed with killing myself, it became my primary preoccupation. Out of the depths of this despair, I bottomed out and it literally came down to a simple decision: Either kill yourself or get used to it, work, live, and be happy. So I wrote this song….as you can see I chose another kind of death which is rock and roll….at this point in my life it’s a positive song in that it’s about survival.
Yes, in fact they do. Billy Corgan wrote the following liner notes himself:
The song that changed my life more than any other. The ultimate in irony: a chirpy song about my near-suicide that all the kids can sing along to. Probably would not have been a hit if I had offed myself in the gloaming before its release, but one can still ponder past the graveyard.
I stood in our dingy rehearsal space, amps a-buzzin', and said, “This song needs an opening bit.” I placed my hands on the guitar, stared down waiting, and without warning out came this chiming clock of anticipation.
I wasn’t sure why I needed to sing ‘I want to turn you on,’ but in hindsight it makes perfect sense locked in the dust of a new millennium. We are born, a generation dies soon enough.
Diffuser called it “the teen angst anthem”:
The song that started it all for the Smashing Pumpkins' ascension to arena rock status. With its distorted guitars, dreamy vocals and a music video that showed the band driving an ice cream truck, ‘Today’ is one of the core songs that defined youth in the ‘90s. Underneath the playful tones of the track were dark lyrics about suicide and depression, but many listeners never noticed.
Spin called it a “depressive yet shimmering Siamese Dream smash” full of “unapologetic grandiosity” and Rolling Stone referred to it as “True teenage angst.”
- 1.Cherub Rock
- 2.Quiet
- 3.Today
- 4.Hummer
- 5.Rocket
- 6.Disarm
- 7.Soma
- 8.Geek U.S.A.
- 9.Mayonaise
- 10.Spaceboy
- 11.Silverfuck
- 12.Sweet Sweet
- 13.Luna