Here Is No Why

"Here Is No Why"
Song by The Smashing Pumpkins
Album Lyrics Tabs Spotify
Released	October 23, 1995
Studio sessions	Fall-Winter 1994 – Sadlands Fall 1994 – Pumpkinland March-August 1995 – Pumpkinland and Chicago Recording Company May 31, 1995 – Chicago Recording Company August 1995 – The Village Recorder
Length	3:45
Songwriter(s)	Billy Corgan
Producer(s)	Flood, Alan Moulder, Billy Corgan
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness Tonight, Tonight Jellybelly Zero Here Is No Why Bullet with Butterfly Wings To Forgive Fuck You Love Cupid de Locke Galapogos Muzzle Porcelina of the Vast Oceans Take Me Down Where Boys Fear to Tread Bodies Thirty-Three In the Arms of Sleep 1979 Tales of a Scorched Earth Thru the Eyes of Ruby Stumbleine X.Y.U. We Only Come Out at Night Beautiful Lily (My One and Only) By Starlight Farewell and Goodnight

"Here Is No Why" is a song from The Smashing Pumpkins' third studio album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.

When asked about the "the death-rock boy" lyrics, Billy Corgan told Rolling Stone, "There’s a lot of me in that lyric. There’s certainly an acknowledgment of that self-absorbed woe-is-me thing. The chorus says a lot: 'In your sad machines you’ll forever stay.' It’s a wink back at the overly dramatic 18-year-old me."

The song was first performed live by Corgan's side project Starchildren at a single show on June 18, 1994. This version has different lyrics and was sometimes known as "Just Between".

Song title

Some believe the title is a nod to the phrase "There is no why" from The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. The phrase, and the song, describes the mindset of people who simply live their lives without questioning their existence.

The title is also reminiscent of Primo Levi's If This Is a Man, about Levi's time as a prisoner in Auschwitz. In the book there is an incident where Levi is thirsty, and breaks off an icicle dangling on the windowsill. A Nazi guard then aims his gun at him. Levi asks him 'Why?' and the guard replies, 'Here there is no why' ('Hier ist kein warum').

In the 2012 reissue of Mellon Collie, Corgan clarified that the "title was appropriated from an article I'd read on an anniversary of the world's first nuclear attacks. A survivor, in surveying a legacy of near-total devastation, had remarked in broken English that 'Here is no why.'"

Videos

Live at Brixton Academy, London, on May 15, 1996

Lyrics

Studio version

the useless drag of another day
the endless drags of a death rock boy
mascara sure and lipstick lost
glitter burned by restless thoughts
of being forgotten
and in your sad machines
you'll forever stay
desperate and displeased-with whoever you are
and you're a star
somewhere-he pulls his hair down-over a frowning smile
a hidden diamond you cannot find
a secret star that cannot shine over to you
may the king of gloom, be forever doomed
and in your sad machines
you'll forever stay
burning up in speed
lost inside the dreams, of teen machines
the useless drags, the empty days
the lonely towers of long mistakes
to forgotten faces and faded loves
sitting still was never enough
and if you're giving in, then you're giving up
cause in your sad machines
you'll forever stay
burning up in speed
lost inside the dreams, of teen machines

"Just Between" (Starchildren version)

somewhere, we'll still wait for you
got mine, wasting my time around
for you

forty days away
forty days to wait
forty days away
forty days to wait for you, so long

new soles, worn on the shoes for you
got it, got a pain for you
for you to sell

forty days away
forty days to wait
forty days away
forty days to wait for you

forty days away
forty days to wait
forty days away
forty days to wait for you

Early lyrics

the useless drag of another day
the endless drags of a death rock boy
mascara sure and lipstick lost
glitter burned by restless thoughts
of being forgotten
and in your sad machine
you'll forever stay
desperate and displeased
with whoever you are
somewhere-he pulls his hair down-over a
frowning smile
a hidden diamond you cannot find
the secret star that cannot shine over
(thru) to you
may the king of gloom
be forever doomed
and in your sad machine
(you're so far away)
burning up in speed
locked inside a dreams
of teenage scenes
and if you're giving in
then your giving up

Pumpkinland demo

the useless drag of another day
the endless drags of a death rock boy
mascara sure and lipstick lost
glitter burned by restless thoughts
of being forgotten

and in your sad machines
you'll forever stay
desperate and displeased with whoever you are
a star

somewhere, he pulls his hair down over a frowning smile
a hidden diamond you cannot find
the secret star that cannot shine over to you

may the king of gloom be forever doomed
and in your sad machines
you'll forever stay
burning up in speed
locked inside the dreams of teen exceed

and if you're giving in, then you're giving up
and if you're giving in, then you're giving up
and if you're giving in, then you're giving up
much more than love

Availability

Title	Notes	Type
Chicago Tapes and Unreleased Demos		Bootleg
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness	Disc one – Dawn to Dusk	Studio
MCIS Demos I		Bootleg
The Aeroplane Flies High	2013 Reissue CD 3: Zero	Box set
MCIS Demos II		Bootleg
MCIS Demos III

Tour stats

• Total plays: 38 plays (35 full, 3 tease), 2 acoustic, 2 artists
• First performance: Starchildren 1994-06-18 at Double Door, Chicago, IL, US
• Last performance: The Smashing Pumpkins 1997-01-28 at Mullins Center, Amherst, MA, US

Presonnel

• Billy Corgan – guitar, vocals, production, recording, mixing
• James Iha – guitar
• D'arcy Wretzky – bass
• Jimmy Chamberlin – drums
• Flood – production, recording, mixing
• Alan Moulder – production, recording
• Chris Shepard – recording
• Claudine Pontier – recording assistance
• Dave Kresl – recording assistance
• Barry Goldberg – mixing assistance
• Howie Weinberg – mastering

External links

• "Here Is No Why" at SPFC