Tales of a Scorched Earth

"Tales of a Scorched Earth" is a song from The Smashing Pumpkins' third studio album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. It's one of the most experimental tracks on the album, and almost didn't make the cut.

I just took a driving trip, and listened to the whole album for the first time in a couple of months, and stuff jumped out at me that's hadn't before. Like "Tales of a Scorched Earth," which is just a bit about teenage nihilism. When I recorded the song, I had mixed feelings about putting it on the album, but when I just got away from the intellectualizing and just listened to it, I enjoyed it. It's total bombast. Within the context of the whole record, it fits nicely. It's a nice opposing ice cream flavor.