The End Is the Beginning Is the End is a song by the Smashing Pumpkins. It was released on May 20, 1997 as a single in the aftermath of their 1995 album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, it was their first release with drummer Matt Walker, who would go on to contribute percussion to several tracks of Adore and all of James Iha‘s Let It Come Down. The song reached the top 10 in eight countries and won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. The single contained three other versions of the song, titled as different tracks. The Guns of Love Disastrous is an instrumental version based around the tracks’ various electronica-inspired elements, while the other instrumental, The Ethers Tragic, is composed solely of its guitar parts. The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning is a slower, less rock oriented version with different lyrics for the verses, while the chorus is the same. This version appears on the Batman & Robin soundtrack as well. The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning was used in a trailer for the 2009 superhero film Watchmen directed by Zack Snyder. Its appearance in that trailer helped the song break into the iTunes Top 100 during the summer of 2008, and the Smashing Pumpkins added this version to their tour roster in August. The band played The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning through the rest of their 2008 tour. Prior to its inclusion in the trailer, it was “a version of that song that never seemed to get any notice”, but as Corgan ultimately discovered, ” the massive jump in online sales seems to indicate it might be worth it for us and for the movie”. Corgan complimented its use in the trailer, but joked that his fans “seem to be confused when the outside world appreciates our work”.
Tracklist:
- The End Is the Beginning Is the End
- The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning
- The Ethers Tragic
- The Guns of Love Disastrous
The End Is the Beginning Is the End by The Smashing Pumpkins Lyrics
The sewers belch me up
The heavens spit me out
From ethers tragic I am born again
And now I’m with you now
Inside your world of woe
To move in desires made of deadly pretends
Until the end times begin
Is it bright where you are?
Have the people changed?
Does it make you happy you’re so strange?
And in your darkest hour
I hold secrets’ flame
You can watch the world devoured in its pain
Strange
Climb my ribcage to
The replays run for you
Unhook my lights to peek behind the flash
For I am crystal chrome
I am shatter dome
I am kremlin king of angels avenged
To destroy the end
Is it bright where you are?
Have the people changed?
Does it make you happy you’re so strange?
And in your darkest hour
I hold secrets’ flame
You can watch the world devoured in its pain
Strange
The zeppelins rain upon us
The guns of love disastrous
A shadow lies amongst you
To defy the future cast
Is it bright where you are?
Have the people changed?
Does it make you happy you’re so strange?
And in your darkest hour
I hold secrets’ flame
You can watch the world devoured in its pain
Strange
Songwriters: William Patrick Corgan
The music video was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, with Joel Schumacher‘s input. It features the members of the Pumpkins in Batman like costumes, floating in front of images from Batman & Robin. The video is notable for being only one of two Smashing Pumpkins videos to have a different drummer besides Jimmy Chamberlin (Kenny Aronoff is briefly visible during the Perfect video) and is the only video with Matt Walker on the drums before his departure.
The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning was used in a trailer for the 2009 superhero film Watchmen directed by Zack Snyder.
The Smashing Pumpkins
Billy Corgan: vocals, rhythm and lead guitar
James Iha: lead and rhythm guitar, vocals
D’arcy Wretzky: bass guitar, rhythm guitar
