Fuck You
"Fuck You" (or "An Ode to No One", as listed on original packaging) is a song from The Smashing Pumpkins' third studio album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. It is often cited as a fan favorite. The song is written by Billy Corgan and appears to be about his frustration with the unpleasant things in life (a messy relationship for example) and the desire to "disconnect" from it all and shut out the world. The song is one of the heavier songs on the first half of the album along with the singles "Zero" and "Bullet with Butterfly Wings".
A live version of the song was officially released on the Greatest Hits Video Collection, which was recorded at their last show before the 2000 breakup.
Background[edit | edit source]
In a Rolling Stone interview, Corgan was asked who "you" was in "Fuck You". He replied "The basic thing is just fuck everybody. It's that feeling where no one understands: 'Who the fuck are my friends? Fuck you. Fuck everybody. Fuck everything.'"[1]
The original title was "Fuck You". Realizing this could be a problem on the release, Corgan changed it to "Fuck You (An Ode to No One)" on the initial submission to the record label, leaving "An Ode to No One" as an alternative title should the original one become a bigger problem or if they wanted to release it as a single.[2]
Studio recording[edit | edit source]
In a 2016 interview with Tape-Op, Corgan said the recording of the rhythm guitar tracks was the first time he worked with co-producer Alan Moulder, while Flood had left town.[3] In the the first rhythm track, Corgan pulled on the neck of the guitar at the end. Consistent with how he always does double-tracking, he followed with an additional track without listening to the original. At the end of the second track, he pulled the neck again, looked to Moulder saying "Okay, watch this." Corgan and Moulder listened for discrepancies when both tracks were played backed together (without the drums) Moulder was in disbelief as to how Billy did the neck pull out of time, no less at exactly the same moment. "It's kind of a tribute to Alan, really, 'cause I did it to freak him out. I've double-tracked for so long now that I know all of my little idiosyncrasies. I knew from the 'feel' in my body when to do the pull."[3]
When particularly difficult songs like "Fuck You (An Ode to No One)" were played, Flood would have the band practice the song every day, first thing in the morning. Each workday included an hour of band practice, followed by two or three recorded takes of "Fuck You".[3]
| “ | For the solo in 'Fuck You (An Ode to No One),' I played until my fingers saw blood, You can't play a weak guitar solo in such a propulsive song. It's got to be attack-style." He explains this method by saying "... I put on the headphones and stand one foot away from the amp. I turn the amp up so loud that I literally have to play harder than the feedback, because if I stop playing even for an instant, the whole thing explodes. | ” |
| — Billy Corgan, Guitar Player, January 1996 | ||
Videos[edit | edit source]
Lyrics[edit | edit source]
i'm never coming back
i'm never giving in
i'll never be the shine in your spit
i disconnect the act
i disconnect the dots
i disconnect the me in me
and you're mistaken, it's you that's faking
living and breathing and dying too
this message is for anyone who dares to hear a fool
you can't bring me back, you can't bring me back
cause i give it all back to you
thru sacred alleys, the living wrecks
wreak their havoc upon this world
the disenchanted, the romantics,
the body and face and soul of you is gone down that deep black hole
destroy the mind-destroy the body-but you cannot destroy the heart
and you, you make me so i need to disconnect
and you make it so real
i don't need you love to disconnect
to runaround kids in get-go cars
with vaseline afterbirths and neon coughs
galaxies full of nobodies
giving us the farewell runarounds
i took a virgin mary axe to his sweet baby jane,
lost my innocence to a no good girl,
scratch my face with anvil hands,
and coil my tongue around a bumblebee mouth
and i give it all back to you
no way, i don't need it, i don't need your love to disconnect
and you make it, so real, i don't need your love to disconnect
no way to disconnect
and you make it so real
i don't need your love to disconnect
no way to disconnect
Availability
| Title | Notes | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Live At The Riviera | Bootleg • Live | |
| Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness | Disc one – Dawn to Dusk | Studio |
| The Aeroplane Flies High | 2013 Reissue CD 6: Live Inside the Dark Globe | Box set |
| Greatest Hits Video Collection (1991–2000) | Video |
Tour stats
- Total plays: 207 plays (206 full, 1 tease, 6 soundcheck)
- First performance: The Smashing Pumpkins 1995-02-20 at Double Door, Chicago, IL, US
- Last performance: The Smashing Pumpkins 2007-08-01 at The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA, US
Personnel[edit | edit source]
- Billy Corgan – guitar, vocals, production, recording, mixing
- James Iha – guitar, recording
- D'arcy Wretzky – bass
- Jimmy Chamberlin – drums
- Flood – production, recording, mixing
- Alan Moulder – production, recording, mixing
- Chris Shepard – recording
- Barry Goldberg – recording, mixing assistance
- Dave Kresl – recording assistance
- Claudine Pontier – recording assistance
- Howie Weinberg – mastering
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Fricke, David. "Billy Corgan: The Rolling Stone Interview". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
- ↑ Corgan, Billy. "The Canary Trainer". Thirty-Three (Podcast). Retrieved May 3, 2023.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Brown, Jake (October 2016). "Smashing Pumpkins: A studio history with Billy Corgan, Flood, Jimmy Chamberlin, Butch Vig, Alan Moulder, and Tommy Lee". Tape-Op. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
External links[edit | edit source]
- "Fuck You" at SPFC