Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (song)

For the album, see Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.

"Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness"
Instrumental song by The Smashing Pumpkins
Album Tabs Spotify
Released	October 23, 1995
Length	2:52
Songwriter(s)	Billy Corgan
Producer(s)	Billy Corgan, Flood, Alan Moulder
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness Tonight, Tonight Jellybelly Zero Here Is No Why Bullet with Butterfly Wings To Forgive Fuck You Love Cupid de Locke Galapogos Muzzle Porcelina of the Vast Oceans Take Me Down Where Boys Fear to Tread Bodies Thirty-Three In the Arms of Sleep 1979 Tales of a Scorched Earth Thru the Eyes of Ruby Stumbleine X.Y.U. We Only Come Out at Night Beautiful Lily (My One and Only) By Starlight Farewell and Goodnight

"Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" is the opening and title-track for The Smashing Pumpkins' third studio album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. It was nominated for Best Pop Instrumental Performance at the 1997 Grammy Awards.

The "Nighttime version 1" variant as featured on the 2012 Mellon Collie reissue is the same chord progression and melody as the final ~40 seconds or so of "Thru the Eyes of Ruby". An inverted form of the song appears at the end of the album's final track, "Farewell and Goodnight".

Background

The song title, and incidentally the album, was devised as Billy Corgan was walking around Coney Island in 1991. An earlier version of the song, now known as "Infinite Sadness", was an outtake from the Siamese Dream sessions. That version, which is in a different key and features a full band arrangement, was released on the vinyl release of Mellon Collie and later on the 2013 reissue of The Aeroplane Flies High. In 1994, Corgan created the piano arrangement at his Sadlands home.

An alternate arrangement was created by Corgan and performed live during 2018's Shiny and Oh So Bright tour. The band played it behind the giant video screen that showcased an animated montage of various references from the band's career before Corgan emerged to begin the main set with his solo rendition of "Disarm".

Videos

Billy Corgan, live at home, March 1995

"Mellon Collie" and "Disarm", October 18, 2018

Availability

Title	Notes	Type
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness	Disc one – Dawn to Dusk	Studio
MCIS Demos I		Bootleg
Celebrating *20* Years of Sadness		Live

Tour stats

• Total plays: 59 plays (57 full, 2 tease, 1 soundcheck, 154 prerecorded), 1 piano, 2 artists
• First performance: The Smashing Pumpkins 1996-01-02 at Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto, ON, CA (prerecorded)
• Last performance: The Smashing Pumpkins 2018-10-18 at Unipol Arena, Casalecchio di Reno, IT

Personnel

Refers to the version on the Mellon Collie album.

• Billy Corgan – piano, string arrangement, production, engineering, mixing
• Dave Kresl – strings, engineering assistance
• Flood – production
• Alan Moulder – production, engineering, mixing
• Barry Goldberg – mixing assistance
• Chris Shepard – recording, engineering
• Howie Weinberg – mastering

External links

• "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" at SPFC