Doomsday Clock

"Doomsday Clock"
Song by The Smashing Pumpkins
Album Lyrics Tabs
Recorded	2007
Genre	Stoner rock
Length	3:42
Label	Reprise Records
Songwriter(s)	Billy Corgan
Producer(s)	Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin
	Zeitgeist Doomsday Clock; 7 Shades of Black; Bleeding the Orchid; That's the Way (My Love Is); Tarantula; Starz; United States; Neverlost; Bring the Light; (Come On) Let's Go!; For God and Country; Pomp and Circumstances;

"Doomsday Clock" is a song by The Smashing Pumpkins, and is the opening track on their album Zeitgeist. Although not released as a single, the song charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Pop 100, due to digital sales.

It was released on iTunes for immediate download along with the pre-order for the album on June 19, 2007.

It is also included on the soundtrack for the 2007 Transformers movie. The song appears twice in the film: once as an instrumental-only version during a climactic action sequence, and the second time as a song over the closing credits. It's also heard in the second trailer for the 2008 Marvel Studios movie The Incredible Hulk.

The song's original arrangement was described by Jimmy Chamberlin as "folk/calypso" and was eventually slowed down and made much heavier for the recorded version.^[2]

In early 2008, "Doomsday Clock" was licensed to the professional wrestling outfit Ring of Honor for use as the theme song of the taped pay-per-view, ROH Undeniable.^[3]^[4] It is also now used in Monster Jam as the theme song for a truck called Wrecking Crew.

“

If you want to understand the Doomsday Clock inspiration, its simple...I'm an American. Being an American right now, that is my experience. I feel like I'm watching something ticking down...I don't know what's ticking down, I don't know why its ticking down, I don't know who is moving the hands on the clock....but I certainly feel like an observer.

”

— Billy Corgan, AT&T Blue Room, July 2007

Videos[edit | edit source]

Live AOL session, September 14, 2007

Lyrics[edit | edit source]

is everyone afraid?
is everyone ashamed?
they're running towards their holes, to find out
apocalyptic means are lost among our dead
a message to our friends to get out

there's wages on this fear
oh so clear
depends on what you'll pay to hear

they're bound to kill us all
in whitewashed halls
their jackals lick their paws

please don't stop
it's lonely at the top
these lonely days
when will they ever stop?
this doomsday clock ticking in my heart
not broken

i love life every day
in each and every way
kafka would be proud, to find out
i'm certain of the end
it's the means that has me spooked
it takes an unknown truth to get out

i'm guessing i'm born free, silly me
i was meant to beg from my knees

please don't stop
it's lonely at the top
these lonely days
when will they ever stop?
this doomsday clock ticking in my heart
these lonely days when will they ever stop?

we gotta dig in, gas masks on
wait in the sunshine, all bug-eyed
if this is living?
sakes alive!
well then they can't win
no one survives

is everyone afraid?
you should be ashamed
apocalyptic screams
mean nothing to the dead
kissing that 'ol sun
to know all there is
come on, last call
you should want it all

ah, it's lonely at the top
these lonely days
when will they ever stop
this doomsday clock ticking in my heart
these lonely days
when will they ever stop
this ticking in my heart

is everyone afraid?

Chart positions[edit | edit source]

Chart (2007)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	81
US Billboard Hot 100^[5]	97
UK Singles Downloads (OCC)^[6]	185

Availability

Title	Notes	Type
Transformers: The Album		Compilation
Zeitgeist	Original issue (Red cover)	Studio

Tour stats

Total plays: 68 plays (66 full, 2 abandoned, 3 soundcheck)
First performance: The Smashing Pumpkins 2007-05-05 at Congress Theater, Chicago, IL, US (soundcheck)
First full performance: The Smashing Pumpkins 2007-05-22 at Le Grand Rex, Paris, FR
Last performance: The Smashing Pumpkins 2008-03-22 at Vector Arena, Auckland, NZ

References[edit | edit source]

↑ Mitchum, Rob (July 9, 2007). "The Smashing Pumpkins Zeitgeist". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 20, 2012. Songs like "Doomsday Clock" and "Tarantula" wave the flag of stoner rock like Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult without embarrassment, and could likely pass for Queens of the Stone Age if it wasn't for that characteristic Corgan whine.
↑ Chamberlin, Jimmy and Billy Corgan. (Interview subjects) "Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist Track by Track Archived 2007-12-22 at the w:Wayback Machine" (video).
↑ "ROH & Smashing Pumpkins Reach Partnership". ROHwrestling.com. 2007-01-16. Archived from the original on 2008-01-20. Retrieved 2008-01-18.
↑ "SMASHING PUMPKINS' 'Doomsday Clock' To Be Featured On 'Undeniable' PPV Archived January 21, 2008, at the w:Wayback Machine". BlabberMouth.net. 2008-01-18.
↑ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
↑ "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.

External links[edit | edit source]

[1] Mitchum, Rob (July 9, 2007). "The Smashing Pumpkins Zeitgeist". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 20, 2012. Songs like "Doomsday Clock" and "Tarantula" wave the flag of stoner rock like Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult without embarrassment, and could likely pass for Queens of the Stone Age if it wasn't for that characteristic Corgan whine.

[2] Chamberlin, Jimmy and Billy Corgan. (Interview subjects) "Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist Track by Track Archived 2007-12-22 at the w:Wayback Machine" (video).

[sp-3] "ROH & Smashing Pumpkins Reach Partnership". ROHwrestling.com. 2007-01-16. Archived from the original on 2008-01-20. Retrieved 2008-01-18.

[4] "SMASHING PUMPKINS' 'Doomsday Clock' To Be Featured On 'Undeniable' PPV Archived January 21, 2008, at the w:Wayback Machine". BlabberMouth.net. 2008-01-18.

[sc_Billboardhot100_The_Smashing_Pumpkins-5] "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.

[sc_UKdownload_Smashing_Pumpkins-6] "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]