Siva

"Siva" is the first single from The Smashing Pumpkins' debut album Gish, and was written by Billy Corgan. "Siva" was also the first music video filmed by the band.

During live shows in the early 90s, the band would typically preface "Siva" by saying it's a song about killing your parents and taking drugs.

Background
In an early interview with Billy Corgan, he admitted that he had thought of the name for the song before he had written it, had labeled dozens of tapes with its name, and even considered naming the band "Siva" instead of "Smashing Pumpkins".

Corgan has stated the riff was conceived on an Ovation acoustic guitar while working at a record store in Chicago sometime in 1991 – the same guitar used to write "Disarm". The main riff came to him uncontrolled, including the noted microtonality, or what the band calls "string pulling". Corgan has also said the aggressive string-pulling of the song has caused damage to his fretting hand over the years.

Corgan considered "Siva" the band's first true rock song that defined their sound, and led him to believe that The Smashing Pumpkins "are going to work". In that regard he believes it to be the most important song in the band's early catalog. He debated making it the first track on Gish, but felt "I Am One" was the more powerful opener. Lyrically, Corgan considered "Siva" as one of the first songs that served as a personal manifesto.

Corgan originally titled the song "Shiva", referring to the Tantric concepts of Shiva – the inhaler and destroyer of worlds – and Shakti as opposing masculine and feminine forces. A book Corgan was reading had it spelled "Siva", hence he went with that spelling, but the band nonetheless still pronounces the song "Shiva".

Historically, "Siva" is a jam song with varying arrangements. In the studio, producer Butch Vig helped the band trim down the song into a more pop composition. The guitar solo features the band's first use of the Big Muff pedal that was famously used on Siamese Dream.

Release
The song was only released as a single in the UK and Australia, as well as appearing on the Peel Sessions EP. On January 29, 2008, it was also made available as a downloadable track for the video game Rock Band.