Siva (song)

1991 single by The Smashing Pumpkins

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"Siva"

Single by The Smashing Pumpkins
from the album  Gish
B-side| "Window Paine"
Released| August 19, 1991[1]
Recorded| 1991
Genre| Alternative rock
Length| 4:23
Label| Caroline/Virgin
Songwriter(s)| Billy Corgan
Producer(s)| Butch Vig, Billy Corgan
The Smashing Pumpkins singles chronology
| "Tristessa"
(1990)  | "Siva"
(1991)  | "Rhinoceros"
(1991)

|
|

"Siva" is a song by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. It was the first single released after their debut album Gish, and was written by Billy Corgan. "Siva" was also the first music video filmed by the band.

## Background

[edit]

In an early interview with Billy Corgan, he admitted that he had thought of the name for the song before he had written it, had labeled dozens of tapes with its name, and even considered naming the band "Siva" instead of "Smashing Pumpkins". Corgan has stated the riff was conceived on an acoustic guitar while working at a record store in Chicago.[2] The song was one of three played at the band's 1991 session with John Peel, released on Peel Sessions. The guitar solo in "Siva" is the band's first usage of the Big Muff pedal, which later would famously mark the band's alternative rock style on Siamese Dream.

Corgan originally titled the song "Shiva", referring to the Tantric concepts of Shiva and Shakti as opposing masculine and feminine forces, ignorant of any further implications of the name. Upon realizing that the name was more readily connected with the Hindu god Shiva, he removed the letter "h" from the title to lessen this association.[3] Corgan considered "Siva" as the band's first real rock song that described their sound, leading him to believe that the Smashing Pumpkins were "going to work", later feeling that "Siva" is the band's most important song from the beginnings of the band.[4] Though he considered making "Siva" the first song on Gish, he decided that "I Am One" was a stronger opener.[5]

The song was only released as a single in the UK (on vinyl), New Zealand and Australia (on CD), as well as appearing on the Peel Sessions EP. On January 29, 2008, it was also made available as a downloadable track for the video game Rock Band.

## Track listing

[edit]

All songs written by Billy Corgan

No.| Title| Length

|
|

1.| "Siva"| 4:20
2.| "Window Paine"| 5:49

## Charts

[edit]

Chart (1993)  | Peak
position

|

New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[6] | 45

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ "New Singles". Music Week. August 17, 1991.
2. ^ Corgan, Billy. "Guitar Geek U.S.A." Guitar World, August 1995.
3. ^ Smashing Pumpkins band commentary, "Siva." Greatest Hits Video Collection.
4. ^ "With Ado I Do (with Willow Smith) | Thirty-Three with William Patrick Corgan Podcast". Everand. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
5. ^ Smashing Pumpkins (June 3, 2020). "Siva" GISH Deep Dive. Retrieved January 7, 2025 - via YouTube.
6. ^ "The Smashing Pumpkins – Siva". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved November 23, 2016.

## External links

[edit]

* "Siva" Official music video on YouTube
* "Siva" at AllMusic

* v
* t
* e

The Smashing Pumpkins

* Jimmy Chamberlin
* Billy Corgan
* James Iha

* D'arcy Wretzky
* Melissa Auf der Maur
* Lisa Harriton
* Ginger Pooley
* Jeff Schroeder
* Mike Byrne
* Nicole Fiorentino

Studio albums|

* Gish
* Siamese Dream
* Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
* Adore
* Machina/The Machines of God
* Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music
* Zeitgeist
* Oceania
* Monuments to an Elegy
* Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun.
* Cyr
* Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts
* Aghori Mhori Mei

Extended plays|

* Lull
* Peel Sessions
* American Gothic
* Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, Vol. 1: Songs for a Sailor
* Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, Vol. 2: The Solstice Bare

Live albums|

* Earphoria

Compilation albums|

* Pisces Iscariot
* Rotten Apples

Box sets|

* The Aeroplane Flies High

Singles|

* "I Am One"
* "Tristessa"
* "Siva"
* "Cherub Rock"
* "Today"
* "Disarm"
* "Rocket"
* "Bullet with Butterfly Wings"
* "1979"
* "Zero"
* "Tonight, Tonight"
* "Thirty-Three"
* "The End Is the Beginning Is the End"
* "Ava Adore"
* "Perfect"
* "The Everlasting Gaze"
* "Stand Inside Your Love"
* "Try, Try, Try"
* "Untitled"
* "Tarantula"
* "That's the Way (My Love Is)"
* "G.L.O.W."
* "Freak"
* "The Celestials"
* "Panopticon"
* "Being Beige"
* "One and All"
* "Drum + Fife"
* "Run2me"
* "Solara"
* "Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts)"
* "Cyr/The Colour of Love"
* "Beguiled"
* "Spellbinding"
* "Mayonaise"
* "Sighommi"

Promotional singles|

* "Rhinoceros"
* "Drown"
* "Muzzle"
* "Eye"
* "Crestfallen"
* "Doomsday Clock"
* "Widow Wake My Mind"
* "Owata"

Other songs|

* "Soma"
* "Landslide"
* "Let Me Give the World to You"
* "FOL"
* "A Song for a Son"
* "Quasar"

Promotional releases|

* The Smashing Pumpkins 1991–1998

Videos|

* Vieuphoria
* Greatest Hits Video Collection (1991–2000)
* If All Goes Wrong

Tours|

* The End Times Tour
* Shiny and Oh So Bright Tour
* 2024 UK and Ireland tour with Weezer

Touring personnel|

* Kenny Aronoff
* Katie Cole
* Dennis Flemion
* Mike Garson
* Stephen Hodges
* Jonathan Melvoin
* Mark Stoermer
* Sierra Swan
* Mark Tulin
* Matt Walker
* Kiki Wong

Related articles|

| Bands|

* Catherine
* The Frogs
* Starchildren
* Zwan
* A Perfect Circle

|

Albums|

* Let It Come Down
* Life Begins Again
* TheFutureEmbrace
* Teargarden by Kaleidyscope
* Look to the Sky
* Ogilala
* The Parable
* Cotillions

Other|

* Discography
* Songs
* Band members
* Awards and nominations
* Constantinople Records

* Category

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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