"Shame" is a song from The Smashing Pumpkins' fourth studio album, Adore. The recording features a drum machine but it was actually recorded live.
| "Shame" | |
|---|---|
| Song by The Smashing Pumpkins | |
| Released | June 2, 1998 |
| Studio sessions | November 1997-March 1998 – Sunset Sound |
| Length | 6:40 |
| Songwriter(s) | Billy Corgan |
| Producer(s) | Flood, Billy Corgan |
| “ | I was feeling really sad one morning. I got up, wrote the song. We went in that day and did it in three hours. What you're hearing is what I felt that day. | ” |
| — Billy Corgan, The Soft Parade, Rolling Stone, March 1998 | ||
Background
Billy Corgan wrote the entire song in roughly 20 minutes on one morning, and the final take was recorded later that day in the studio. While the song came to him quickly, Corgan believes the energy he was feeling was accurately captured in the recording. This was not from a place of pain as it may lyrically come across, but rather a state of contemplation of how to respond to his mother's recent death in the aftermath of the success of Mellon Collie, as was the case for much of the songs on Adore.[1]
Given by now Jimmy Chamberlin had left the band and a drum machine was instead used on the song, Corgan considers "Shame" as one of the final recordings of the "original band", referring to the time when they used a drum machine prior to Chamberlin joining. Just as they recorded in those early days, Corgan, James Iha and D'arcy Wretzky sat in a semi-circle to record the song. Corgan considers the song a "way of saying goodbye" to that version of the band.[1]
Videos
Lyrics
you're gonna walk on home
you're gonna walk alone
you're gonna see this through
don't let them get to you
shame
love is good and love is kind
love is drunk and love is blind
love is good and love is mine
love is drunk all the time
shame
you're gonna walk on home
you're gonna walk alone
you're gonna walk so far
you're gonna wonder who you are
shame
love is good and love is kind
love is drunk and love is blind
love is good and love is mine
love is good all the time
hello goodbye
you know you made us cry
Availability
| Title | Notes | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Adore | Main release | Studio |
| Live at the Viper Room 1.15.98 | Billy Corgan acoustic set | Live |
Tour stats
- Total plays: 103 plays (102 full, 1 tease, 3 soundcheck), 16 acoustic, 2 artists
- First performance: Billy Corgan 1998-01-15 at The Viper Room, West Hollywood, CA, US
- Last performance: The Smashing Pumpkins 2021-09-19 at Sea.Hear.Now Festival, Asbury Park, NJ, US
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Corgan, Billy. "The Culling (with William Patrick Corgan)". Thirty-Three (Podcast). Retrieved February 26, 2023.