Ramona

From SPCodex, The Smashing Pumpkins wiki
"Ramona"
Single by The Smashing Pumpkins
B-side"Wyttch"
ReleasedOctober 30, 2020
Studio sessions
GenreSynth rock, electronic rock
Length3:48
Songwriter(s)Billy Corgan
Producer(s)Billy Corgan
The Smashing Pumpkins singles chronology
"Anno Satana"
(2020)
"Ramona"
(2020)
"Purple Blood"
(2020)

"Ramona" is the fourth digital single from The Smashing Pumpkins' eleventh studio album, CYR, and the second radio single. It was first released on October 30, 2020 with "Wyttch" serving as an accompanying A-side. A music video directed by Linda Strawberry was released the same day. On March 22, 2021, the song was re-released by Sumerian Records to radio.[1]

Like the debut single, "Cyr", "Ramona" was the most-added song on Mediabase's Alternative Rock add board during the fist week of its release.[2]

Background[edit | edit source]

"Ramona" dates back to the initial sessions for Monuments to an Elegy. That version was described by Corgan as akin to a "goth band from the 80s."[3] It was not selected to go on that album, and instead was worked on during the September-October 2014 – Pumpkinland II sessions for the aborted Day For Night album. It wasn't until the CYR sessions that the song seemed to fit.[3]

Corgan has said the song has a bit of T. Rex influence.[3]

Music video[edit | edit source]

The music video was written by Billy Corgan and directed and edited by Linda Strawberry. It takes inspiration from the Wild Wild West and Spaghetti Westerns as a "surreal gothic-western inspired love-story".[4] All band members make appearances in the video. The entire shoot was done a single day over the course of about 8 hours.[5] The video stars burlesque performer and model, Mosh, who also starred in the "Cyr" music video as well as Shiny Vol. 1 vignettes.[6]

Official music video

Lyrics[edit | edit source]

i should wander
yet i shaln't gander far
beyond her spells enchant
as red made roses
as red made crimson morns
black makes my blood char
i know i'm ruthless
a'int the kind to see
i know i'm ruthless

ramona, ramona, ramona
storms with thee
ramona, a'int it just i dreamed?
ramona, ramona, ramona
you with me
ramona, let's not say we're bound
i know i'm ruthless
a'int the kind to free

i've been riding high
i've been riding stone alone
right out of my mind

ooh, the incantations of
the souls she’s torched to dust
by hex that had no stage
of all the evidence
of all i've ever been
was some innocence to where i belonged
by the elements i've been roaming too long

i know i'm ruthless
a'int the kind to plead

ramona, ramona, ramona
storms with thee
ramona, a'int it just like i dreamed?
ramona, ramona, ramona
you with me
ramona, let's not say we’re bound
ramona, ramona, ramona
deliver thee
ramona, a'int it like i dreamed?
ramona, ramona, ramona
you with me
ramona, ramona please

Track listing[edit | edit source]

All tracks are written by Billy Corgan.

No.TitleLength
1."Ramona"3:48
2."Wyttch"3:43

Release history[edit | edit source]

Released Label Catalog ID Format Country External sites
October 30, 2020 Sumerian Digital Worldwide Discogs [1]

Additional personnel[edit | edit source]

Music video

Availability

TitleType
RamonaSingle
CYRStudio
CYR SinglesBox set

Tour stats

References[edit | edit source]

  1. https://www.reddit.com/r/SmashingPumpkins/comments/mb0zrs/new_album_progress_update_new_cyr_single_ramona/
  2. Cantor, Brian. "All Time Low's "Once In A Lifetime," Smashing Pumpkins' "Ramona" Tie For Most Added At Alternative Radio". Headline Planet.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Corgan, Billy. "CYR deep dive: "Ramona"". Smashing Pumpkins YouTube channel.
  4. Schatz, Lake. "Smashing Pumpkins Drop New Songs "Wyttch" and "Ramona": Stream". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
  5. Linda Strawberry, November 3, 2020 Instagram Q&A
  6. Billy Corgan. October 31, 2020 Instagram Q&A