Fuck You

"Fuck You" (or "An Ode to No One", as listed on original packaging) is a song from The Smashing Pumpkins' third studio album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. It is often cited as a fan favorite. The song is written by Billy Corgan and appears to be about his frustration with the unpleasant things in life (a messy relationship for example) and the desire to "disconnect" from it all and shut out the world. The song is one of the heavier songs on the first half of the album along with the singles "Zero" and "Bullet with Butterfly Wings".

In a Rolling Stone interview, Corgan was asked who "you" was in "Fuck You". He replied "The basic thing is just fuck everybody. It's that feeling where no one understands: 'Who the fuck are my friends? Fuck you. Fuck everybody. Fuck everything.'"

A live version of the song was officially released on the Greatest Hits Video Collection, which was recorded at their last show before the 2000 breakup.

Studio recording
In a 2016 interview with Tape-Op, Corgan said the recording of the rhythm guitar tracks was the first time he worked with co-producer Alan Moulder, while Flood had left town. In the the first rhythm track, Corgan pulled on the neck of the guitar at the end. Consistent with how he always does double-tracking, he followed with an additional track without listening to the original. At the end of the second track, he pulled the neck again, looked to Moulder saying "Okay, watch this." Corgan and Moulder listened for discrepancies when both tracks were played backed together (without the drums) Moulder was in disbelief as to how Billy did the neck pull out of time, no less at exactly the same moment. "It's kind of a tribute to Alan, really, 'cause I did it to freak him out. I've double-tracked for so long now that I know all of my little idiosyncrasies. I knew from the 'feel' in my body when to do the pull."

When particularly difficult songs like "Fuck You (An Ode to No One)" were played, Flood would have the band practice the song every day, first thing in the morning. Each workday included an hour of band practice, followed by two or three takes of "Fuck You".

For the solo in 'Fuck You (An Ode to No One),' I played until my fingers saw blood, You can't play a weak guitar solo in such a propulsive song. It's got to be attack-style." He explains this method by saying "... I put on the headphones and stand one foot away from the amp. I turn the amp up so loud that I literally have to play harder than the feedback, because if I stop playing even for an instant, the whole thing explodes.