Atum (song)

"Atum"
Song by The Smashing Pumpkins
Album Tabs Spotify
Released	2022-09-20
Length	3:32
Songwriter(s)	Billy Corgan
Producer(s)	Billy Corgan
ATUM Atum Butterfly Suite The Good In Goodbye Embracer With Ado I Do Hooligan Steps In Time Where Rain Must Fall Beyond The Vale Hooray! The Gold Mask Avalanche Empires Neophyte Moss Night Waves Space Age Every Morning To The Grays Beguiled The Culling Springtimes Sojourner That Which Animates The Spirit The Canary Trainer Pacer In Lieu Of Failure Cenotaph Harmageddon Fireflies Intergalatic Spellbinding Of Wings Simmatar Magdalena Saffron Zope Huzzah! Automaton MaryQ Burr Excelsior Necromance

"Atum" is an instrumental song and debut track off of The Smashing Pumpkins' twelfth studio album, ATUM. As the opening theme to a three act musical opera, "Atum" is intended to set the mood and setting of the story that the rest of album will convey.

“ It's both ominous and hopeful. It's churlish and it's got a bit of a wink to it, but that's The Smashing Pumpkins. ” — Billy Corgan, Thirty-Three with William Patrick Corgan podcast

It is believed by some to feature piano from Mike Garson, however the official personnel credits released in the liner notes do not mention any contributions from Garson.

Background

With the "Mellon Collie" theme, Billy Corgan tried to set a sentimental mood on the listener, and listening years later can bring you back into that same mood. For Machina/The Machines of God, Corgan felt the need for a more pronounced theme. That was "Le Deux Machina", which was used as a transition between the initial electric songs and an acoustic set during the U.S. leg of The Sacred and Profane tour, and frequently interpolated by Mike Garson during "Glass and the Ghost Children" on the later European leg. The song ultimately appeared on Machina II, though not as the intended intro song.

"Atum" is the opening track of the first act of the opera. As Corgan explained, it sets the scene for the whole 'movie': "It's both ominous and hopeful. It's churlish and it's got a bit of a wink to it, but that's The Smashing Pumpkins."

Synopsis

Main article: ATUM (synopsis)

(intro)

As this song has no lyrics, it merely sets the mood for the ATUM story. As Corgan describes it, the image is that we (the listener/viewer) see a small, yet beautifully designed spaceship floating in space above Earth. At this point you don't know what it is. The scene then cuts back down to Earth, where we discover it is full of mayhem, mass riots, "descent and unhappiness, and a lot of strife." Next we float back to space, zooming past the spacecraft we saw earlier and on to the "dark side of the moon" (an intentional Pink Floyd reference), where we see pyramids and crystal towers. At this point we are riddled with the sense that the world and everything we know about it isn't as real as we have been led to believe. We then float past Mars and we see the face on Mars as well as more pyramids. Finally, we float toward the Sun and realize it's not the sun we thought it was. This lays the ground for the rest of the story that is to follow.

Availability

Title	Notes	Type
ATUM	Act I	Studio

Tour stats

• Total plays: 0 plays (0 full, 71 prerecorded)
• First performance: The Smashing Pumpkins 2022-10-02 at American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX, US (prerecorded)
• Last performance: The Smashing Pumpkins 2023-09-09 at Ruoff Music Center, Noblesville, IN, US (prerecorded)

External links

• "Atum (song)" at SPFC