Song Secrets

- Information on this page is a big mix of stuff from the SP FAQ, PumpkinWorld, and fan-submissions.This page was donated by the Vortex of Lost Souls since they are no longer updating it.
- Email me secrets you find that aren't already listed on this page. For future reference, many of these song secrets will be found
in the individual song files, but from now on, some will be excluded from those pages, such as things Billy allegedly sings when
a song is played backwards. People hear what they want to hear, or sometimes it just doesn't make sense :P. (7/26/06)

1979 (CD version)
-2:07 you may hear what sounds like a helicopter. a DJ says the echoing is a burp that is reversed and then screwed around with.
-The infamous drum beat at the beginning and the end.
-Also, at 1:03, you may hear a jingle of a bell or something.
-At 4:08 there's some beeping or something -SPKristy@aol.com
-There is a "whistling" noise in the background at 2:55-2:58 (left channel). -Benoit The Sad Wizard.
-At 2:05-2:08 you can hear different drum beat. -Mikey

1979 (Grammies '97)
-At the very end of the song when the crowd is cheering you can hear Billy play the intro for Today.

An Ode to No One
If you play the "and coil my tongue around a bumblebee mouth" backwards, it sounds like: "I am evil". -Jeff Khan.

-You can hear chimes 0:03 and 0:22, also 1:21-1:23 there is a wowowo sound.
-The guitars squeak before they stop at 2:19-2:21. 3:01.
-There is a crack in the background and another one at 3:18, 3:30-3:31.
-There is an errie echo in the background at 4:04, 4:06, and 4:08.
- In the left channel there is another click at 4:42.

Annie Dog -dUP
You can hear a shaking noise along w/ the piano all throughout the song.

Apathy's Last Kiss
At the end of the song, there is an "ooo eee ooo eee ooo eee" noise. could be some weird distorted guitar effect? -Chris Taylor.

Appels + Oranjes
-At 4:05 you can hear someone drop something or put a gutar down.

Beautiful
-Not really a secret sound, but if you listen carefully you'll notice that in the second verse, "wonderful, it's wonderful, to know that you're just like I", at the "just like I" on 'like' it goes too low for Billy, and he just speaks the word. However, D'arcy (who sings backup) is singing higher, and has no problem with the note. -Nellie Rash.
-You hear this best with headphones, but through out the entire song, theres a 'beatbox' that goes along with the drum beat, you know a 'beatbox' is when rappers make drum sounds with their mouths, like The Fat Boys did. So ya, i would guess Billy sampled some guy doing a 'beatbox' to the drum beat and and looped it for the entire song. It's there, when you hear it once, every time you hear the song after that, your ears will automatically focus on that sound. -Edwin Maldonado.
-sounds like d'arcy singing an extended "aahhh..." from 0:07-0:11 -Sunshiny27@aol.com

Blank
Before song, it sounds like Billy is setting up, opening a water bottle.

Bodies
during the second "love is suicide" verse, Billy mutters in the background: (list courtesy of Mark Gillies)
"destroy, despise, distrust, disobey, distrust, disarm, destroy, dispise, dissect, deny, destroy, despise, distrust"

Bullet with Butterfly Wings
- If you play the "rat in a cage" part backwards, it sounds like: "here are my abs!"
- There is a sound sort of like a distorted guitar or a synthesiser making wooooooAAAAAAhhhhhhooooooo sounds from 3:42 to 4:11. -pLaNkEr

Bury Me
Song opens with James saying something of continuous debate. Most popular ideas being "Boys, let's do it" and "Poised like an angel". Other ideas that have been sent to me are: "Boys, let me lead you", and "Boys, let's get in tune". My Personal belief is "Poised like an angel".

By Starlight
It sounds like running water in the background, most notable 0:26-30, and 0:35-1:11. These effects are caused by the flanger and reverb effects that Billy used on this song -Kelly

Bye June -Pat Laneri
-from :05 to :07 there is some fuzz interference in the background
-at :18 it sounds like someone chimed in singing with Billy
-at :25 Billy breathes into the mic when he sings "hope"
-at :46 in the background there is a 'zzz' kind of noise from the guitar
-at :53 there is a 'pop' sound in the background
-from :54 to 1:07 there is a 'wooo' hum from the amp
-from 1:13 to 1:20 there is the same hum, but higher in pitch
-at 1:28 someone says "hey" in the background
-at 1:38 there is a weird 'pop' sound, from the amplifier(?)
-at 1:42 it sounds like the high string the bass was just played

Cherry
At beginning, you can obviously hear some studio talk:
BC: "listen, just wanna start it?"
JC: "Ready Flood?"
F: "Yeah."
BC: "1, 2, 3, 4." (and then the song starts)

Crestfallen -dUP
-At 4:06 (practically the end of the song) you can hear a thump.
-The 'thump' is the cover of the piano keys being closed. Bogi

Cupid De Locke
-The shaking sound used for the drum part is actually an aspirin bottle.
-At 0:52-1:04, and 1:37-1:49 there is a weird chime in the right channel. At 2:30-2:34 there is talking in the background.
-At the end of Cupid de Locke, Billy Corgan (-JackieBlu1@aol.com) recites the following lines:
"..and in the land of star-crossed lovers and barren-hearted wanderers, forever lost in foresaked missives and satan's pull; we seek the unseekable and we speak the inspeakable, our hopes gathering dust to dust, in faith, in compassion, and in love." -Floowy

Daphne Descends
-At very end of the song before D'Arcy and Billy sangs last time verse "You Love Him" 4:34-4:35 you can hear a wolf howling sound or another strange voice. -Mikey

Daydream
At 1:10 you can hear a click from the cello player's bow hitting the wood of his cello. Also, at 1:20-21, you can hear jingly noises, probably someone's bracelet.

Destination Unknown
At about 3:16 you can here something like "I love my sister" coming from the right speaker.

Disarm
-If you play "send this smile..." backwards it clearly says "send this" -jason@texas.net
-At very end, you can hear opera singers (turn it up very loud).
-"After listening to "Disarm" over and over again, i noticed a faint scream at 3:04 in the song." -Zerohalo12@aol.com

East (alternate)
-You can hear towards the end after the final "if i had a way go id gather up my throwing stone" listen to the guitar parts you hear a squeak and Billy say something like "this song" or "please stop" or something youll hear it if you listen. -Lia

Eye
-Somewhere in the middle of eye played backwards it sounds like "James James.. why did you go"
-At second before entering another song there's a thumping sound which is familiar to Crestfallen's thumping sound at end. -Mikko

Farewell and Goodnight
-Jimmy Chamberlin, James Iha, and D'Arcy all sing in harmony at 2:14, then Billy joins in at 2:27, and they all sing 'the sun shines/but i dont/the silver rain/will wash away...' At about 2:40, just after they sing the last note, 'away,' you can hear a wave wash over, and Jimmy sings quiety, 'rain.' Either that, or he holds his note too long. -Hummer
-It sounds more like James and it sounds more like he says "wash away the pain" instead. -nirvfoo foonirv

Galapogos
Billy mutters the following in the background, from 3:16-27:
"Sorry I had to put you through this shit, I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry, wishes." -Listessa

Geek U.S.A.
-During the first drum part, you can hear a man talking (turn it up).

Gish
-On the earlier copies of gish, the liner notes have the songs listed under copyright control, since it was before billy had a publishing deal. -mk

Glass and the Ghost Children
-At the end of the song, the sound of a TV test pattern signal is heard.

Glynis
-At very beginning, there is a robot-like "hello", which comes from a Red Red Meat song.

God
-Played backwards, it says: "love is lost to you make it feel if we want to lost never try behind the scene ooh, i win your..." (never finishes)
-If you play the chorus backwards, you hear "I am helpless, I want to die."
-You can hear D'arcy say something, sounds like "help".
-You can hear guitar effects at 2:08, 2:09-2:10, 2:13, 2:15, 2:19-2:20. -Benoit The Sad Wizard.

-From 3:29 to 3:50, you can hear a kind of "sucking-wind" noise in the back. -Benoit The Sad Wizard.
-A siren in the background in the middle of a silent part and a heavy part. -Vince Horst

Honey Spider I
On some versions, you can hear Billy say at the very end: "aha, that's everything, haha!"

Hummer
-At the very end, you can hear a few notes of classical music.
-In the quiet part of "Hummer" (the outro)...when he's saying "Ask yourself a question.." and so forth....if you play it backwards, it sounds like "You have no meaning"...and something after that, but I can't make out what he's saying. -Chris Gormer

I'm Going Crazy (after Daydream)
If you play the entire song of "I'm Going Crazy" backwards...he keeps saying something like "He is here...He is white" (not sure about the "He is white part" though) -Chris Gormer

In the Arms of Sleep
There is a "woo woo" noise at 2:06, 2:12-14, and at 2:30-40, where it sounds like someone sobbing. Also of course the weird breathing at the beginning.

Lily
-Note that sounds like a "synth horn" at 2:34.5
-At 1:53, real softly, billy goes "yeah" or something to that effect. -Lia

Love
-Whole song you can obiviously hear an twit-twit sound. -Mikko
-If you listen to "Love" (Mellon-Collie and the Infinate Sadness) a lot, then you have probably noticed that at 2:36 Billy says something that isn't printed in the lyrics booklet. Well, if you strain your ears, it sounds like Billy says,"When I lost my mind, I knew
I was in for the long...." -Floowy
-Love missing lyrics (Very distorted) -Pat Laneri

When I lost my mind I knew I was in (aah!)for a long night
Who are you to love?
Who, yeah, who?
You know you'll know in time

Marquis in Spades
In the beginning you can hear some studio talk:
Mole: "Rolling."
JC: "I was just on another planet for a sec."
BC: "Run it back Mole. (amp on) ... Fucker."

-At about 2:44 (where Billy sings "let's see where we can go..") he growls right before the "go". -Julia W.
-Guitar effect at 1:42 (right channel).
-At 3:13 there is a "click" sound.
-At the very end of the song (3:16), there is a "zap" sound. -last 3 by Benoit The Sad Wizard.

Mayonaise
- I remember watching the MTV VMA in 1996, and they did a small 1 minute clip of an old interview they had with Billy Corgan- they asked him what made that strange "wheezing" noise in the song, Billy said that the guitar he used in recording that song was a piece of junk, whenever, he would stop playing for a second, the guitar would make a loud noise, so when they played Mayonaise and he had to stop strumming for a second, it would make that loud noise, so eventually that noise got incorporated into the song! -StarlaDear
- At 3:42, in the background you can hear someone say "eh?" or something to that extent. -pLaNkEr
- When he says "pick a pocket full of sorrows..." and so on, if you play that backwards, it sounds like "i smell lovely". -dUP

Medillia of the Gray Skies
You can hear a high-pitched noise at 0:16 (right channel). -Benoit The Sad Wizard.

Meladori Magpie
At 0:02, you can hear the slide object touch the strings of the guitar

Mouths of Babes
-If you put the song on a vocal fader and during the distortion in the beginning you can hear billy or someone say something. -Lia

Muzzle
During the verse 'for thinking that i'd last forever', right when Billy sings the word 'last' you can hear D'arcy sing 'die' in the background, also on the last line, when 'and i knew the silence of the world' is sung, you can hear a really high pitched voice sing the 'and i knew' part along with Billy. (Edwin Maldonado) Also at the beginning, Billy takes a big breath.

My Blue Heaven
-At 0:17 in the right channel, you can hear a slide sound (probably the cello).
-At 3:16 there is a noise in the background. -Benoit The Sad Wizard.

Pastachio Medley
At 13:44-13:45, in the left channel, you can hear Billy who says "Yeah" and he also sings at 13:47 (I think the song at that time is Porkbelly). -Benoit The Sad Wizard.

Perfect -dUP
-At 0:07-0:08 you can hear Billy take a big breath.
-There is the sound that a truck or forklift makes baking up. -jon

Peel Sessions
-One of the harder to find items is of the first pressing of the peel session ep (back when it was very rare and expensive). you can tell if you have it because on the typewritten track listing on the side there is a misprint. track two says "GIRL NAMED SANOOZ" instead of "SANDOZ". -mk

Pisces Iscariot (album)
-You can see behind Pisces Iscariot where the song's are named an blue "flame". So, open your Pisces Iscariot, take CD out and you'll see picture of Smashing Pumpkins. Now, look that blue "flame" against the light and look who's picture appears into the "flame" -Mikko

Porcelina of the Vast Oceans
-At 0:09 there is a click.
-At these times: 4:37, 39, 41, 42, 44, 46, 54, 58, and 59, sounds like a weird raygun effect.
-Also at the beginning, the intro, from about 0:32-2:12, it sounds like steam being released from a tea kettle.
-Starting at 2:05 up until the loud guitar rift, in the right channel there is a very faint rippling effect. -GBalto@aol.com

Pulseczar
At the end, Billy whispers "I know what you mean" -GEFQ05A@prodigy.com.

Quiet
-The zooming noises at the beginning of the song are inspired by a record Billy had as kid. The record
had the sounds of various race cars on it, and Billy would listen to it all the time. - Trail.of.roses
Billy is quoted about this near the beginning of the Siamese Dream guitar tab book.
-At about 2:40 in quiet you can hear Billy mumbling in the background. It sounds like he says "Word Up"
-Around 2:40-3:00, you can faintly hear Billy singing in the background in the right or left channel at
various times. The vocals are hard to decipher, as they are buried in the mix.
-At the beginning of the solo, Billy screams "Yeah!", which is obscured by the screeching guitars. Some
fans believe he is actually screaming "Kill!". According to the official Siamese Dream tab book, it's "Yeah!"
-At the very end, you can hear "cartoon noises" played sorta fast and warbly.

Rocket
When you play "i shall be free" backwards it sounds like "hail mutilation" -jason@texas.net

Set the Ray to Jerry
-At 2:36, you can hear what some are calling a "horn, or duck noise".
-There is a kind of bip noise at 0:35. There is muttering at 1:01-1:03 (left channel). -Benoit The Sad Wizard.

Siamese Dream (the cd)
-The first pressing of siamese dream has the really nice booklet with each picture with lyrics on a separate page while the booklet in the later pressings only have a fold out with tiny thumbnails for the pictures. -mk

Siamese Dream (the song)
At the beginning:
Jimmy: "Flush the toilet?"
Producer (Butch Vig?): "No, it's done by now. Go ahead."
(song starts)

Silverfuck
-At very end, Billy says "Alright, this take, don't give a fuck" and plays a few notes.
-If you listen to Silverfuck carefully (you can hear it best on headphones), you can tell (it's just as well) that anytime that Billy's voice is echoed (such as the 'bang, bang, you're dead..' part) the sound starts in the middle, goes to the left channel, and then ends in the right channel. -Floowy

Siva (Peel Sessions)
-At 4:09, D'arcy says "Wait, I just stepped on my ?" then Billy counts to four for the loud re-entry.
-On the Peel Sessions version of Siva near the end Billy screws up and says "I don't live, I unvade" like he started to say unveil and then realized his mistake and finished saying invade.

Slunk -Pat Laneri
-at :02.5 you can hear the amp turn on
-from :03 to :09 you can hear a "blowing wind sound" (close to speaker)
-from :08 to :09 Billy says, "why don't we just start from here?"
-at :12 there is a click from the drumsticks
-from :13 to :15 there is something jingling
-at :30 Billy says "yeah" in the background
-at :38 it sounds like someone says "huh?" in the background
-at :40 there is a 'blip' sound
-at :46 there is a 'bip' sound, and another one at 1:07
-at 1:08 and 1:53 there is a 'whoop' sound
-from 1:18 to 1:19 there is a guitar sound that sounds like whispering
-at 1:22 there is a 'whop' sound
-at 1:56 there is a 'whip' sound
-at 1:58 there is a 'wheeoop' sound
-at 2:08 there is a 'rurr' sound
-at 2:15 there is a 'beoop' sound
-at 2:22 there is a 'rurrr' guitar effect

Soothe
Lyrics clarification: this is old but its a response to something some guy had on his site saying it was hung me, but it really is hungry. If you stick your ear right next to the speaker you can hear the faintest trace of his tongue reverberating off the r.

Also you can hear "the 7 am buses slithering by" from the liner notes at 2:18-21.

Soma
-You can hear crickets at the beginning, and the weird TV voice at the end that says: "And you need to resist the devil, so that he will flee."

That TV voice was used at the 6/18/94 Starchilderen show and looped throughout the song "War Jam" which they played live. -Lia
- There is a sort of high pitched squeek which is wobbly-(echoed?) from 2:05 to 2:27 -pLaNkEr

Spaceboy
There's an odd conversation at the end of Spaceboy... On some CDs, it appears at the beginning of Silverfuck,
although the Siamese Dream tab book makes it clear that it belongs at the end of Spaceboy...

     "Now it's, uh, kind of strange, and, uh, kinda hard for me to talk about, but I thought maybe you could
     help- um, when we start getting physical, rather than having intercourse, he ends up just masturbating
     himself, and I end up feeling very alienated and unsatisfied, and it's really come between us"

Well, that's a rather candid monologue... [!] This seems to be from some talk show or something- in the tab
book, Billy said it was from an anonymous source, and that he couldn't say where it was from, for fear of being
sued. I hear from Wendy, that this dialogue came from HBO's Real Sex program.

-In this interview I recorded from 107.7 The End in Seattle, Billy said that the conversation at the end of Spaceboy...well here I'll just write it word for word: (-Don Palmer)
Guy:asks what it is
Billy:(Chuckles) Um,it's just this weird thing I found.It's just this woman talking about her husband masturbating himself...I thought it was funny. (Laughs, audience laughs) Its really that simple

Starla
5:27-5:30 "listen for the police car go by" as mentioned in the liner notes.

Stars Falling
At the end of the song, Billy says "Okay". -Chris "Chill" Hill.

Stumbeline
-At 0:03 Billy licks his lips or something.
-I believe that at the end of Stumbeline, if you turn it up very loud and put your ear up to the speaker, you can hear people moving insterments, and Billy begin to say something, but then it skips to the next track.
-Everytime billy makes an "S" sound, the noise is amplified many times louder in the left speaker. try listening to it on earphones, you'll see. -jon

Tales of a Scorched Earth
-At 0:17 there is an "uh"
-At 3:36, the "Dragon Noise" is actually another sound effect from DooM, the effect when the player is hurt. -Bruce McDiarmid
-The "missing lyrics" are: "'cause everyone's lost just waiting to be found, everyone's a thought just waiting to fade." ... or are they? check the next secret.
-There are some miss lyrics in TOASE, but they are not "cause everyones...fade" those are listed in the book...I can't tell you what
the real "missing" ones are, but those are NOT them... -Shannon
-Tales of a Scorched Earth missing lyrics (very distorted, this part sounds sort of different from the rest of the song)

I'm scared
Don't leave me on my own behalf
It shouldn't be
Could it ever be?
It shouldn't be me
So now I'm gone
In time is everything that I don't know!!!

Also, after "I die just to feel", "Why do the same old things keep on happening", and "Cause beyond my hopes there are no feelings" Billy says "yeah". -Pat Laneri

Tear
-"OK, this is a tricky one. Here in Finland, there's an band called CMX and their singer is called A.W.Yrjänä. (Note those capital letters *AWY* ) Look about part "i saw you there". OK, that's ok? No. Let's write it again with same letters and same order. "Is AWY out here". Understood? Hehe...My friend said that CMX and SP got an conspiracy or something.=)" -Mikko

The Aeroplane Flies High -George Klosko.
First spoken part:
-I really don't wanna look stupid when I'm sleeping. I never really liked sunny days. The black wings just reach out to me over a distance... and i can feel the wind from the wings... I see the clouds, i feel the ocean with my feet, and I'm home again. It requires an ability to judge distance. The aeroplane flies high, turns left, looks right.

Second spoken part:
-If i knew where I was going, I would already be there (laugh). I wish I had more time--- judicious, beautiful, augmented, whatever. I've always been afraid to die, but I think now I'm more afraid to live.

End:
-And in my heart i know you're there. And in my heart i know you're here. And in my heart i know you're gone.

-During some chorus, you can hear a very loud noise in the background: 2:31-2:36 and 4:14-4:17.
-During the "I've always been afraid to die..." you can hear strange voices in the background.
-There is a little bip noise at 3:16 (be close)
-You can hear Billy talking in the background from 4:54 to 4:57 (be very close).
-At 7:32-7:35, there is a strange "ooooohhhhh!" sound.
-At 8:28-8:29 you can hear voices in the back. -i think last 6 from Benoit The Sad Wizard.

The Beginning is the End is the Beginning
-At end before "the final boom" Billy says few times "Strange" and then he growls or says something I can't understand. -Mikko

The Boy
At 2:57-59 (pratically the end of the song), the producer (maybe even billy) is talking in the background. Sounds like:
'person': "you really love her don't you? [something something] (starts laughing)" -Lia

The Ethers Tragic
-At 2.37-2.47 there is some weird noise. Maybe it's from guitar or maybe not. -Mikko

Thirty-three
-That's not really a secret thing but throughout the whole song, the main melody is oddly echoed in the background. -Benoit The Sad Wizard.
-There really isn't any percussion in 33, but at 1:09, you can hear someone start to do/shake something that sounds really familar to the "asprin bottle effect" from Cupid de Locke. (This noise continues throughout the rest of the song). -Floowy

To Forgive
At 0:59 there is a wail in the background. The "stormy" ending to the song is due to a broken amp.

To Sheila -dUP
- There is a weird high-pitched noise in "To Sheila" most noteable in the beginning, but it goes throughout the whole song.
- also, you can hear Billy breath or take a breath at 0:03.
- and at the end of the song, 4:38, you can hear a thumping sound, like a guitar being put down or something.

Today
-In Today there is a "sucking" sound coming from the left speaker at 2:39. -Jake Riley.
-If you listen very closely, you can hear the sound start in the right speaker at about 2:37, and gradually grow a bit louder and fade to the left speaker. -Will Shaw

Tonight, Tonight
If you listen to the song backwards, this is what you may hear:

"ask master vegsley (all i could get) what am i my little aeromaid oh i been dreaming sleepily slash the rope that ties yes we win the battle be home if we sell against been believe in me it'll be yes who are you now are you i aint much dare to survive me aeromaid ahhh yeah i just need it was eeee (and on) ahh yeah i was... honey i still love you while you sit ill be there now you believe me too much i love you never lie to (your) baby that ill be this never said all the world believe believe in me (run together) it'll be will you marry me says not if i eat fashion arms'll be with me i'll just be yeah it was i deny this i deservei just necessary (sounds like necessie) guards the men that i just wanna believe you forget (?) yeah when i i want all of my i want you for all my life it just wont save me your decision wont defy i just wont defy cause i believe in me believe in me i dont want this stand behind this i lose it hurts night"

Transformer
-You can hear guitar slides effects at 0:14-0:15, 1:35-1:36, 2:40-2:41, 2:56-2:57.
-At 1:42-43 in the left channel, it sounds like "baby" sounds. -both by Benoit The Sad Wizard.

We Only Come Out at Night
-There is a high-pitched noise in the background throughout the whole song.
-Bats can be heard flapping near the end im notsure if its the high pitch or not. -Chris

Where Boys Fear to Tread
-You can hear an explosion from the computer game DooM mentioned in the liner notes at 1:20, 1:55, 2:29, 3:01, 3:44
-1:58, 2:03, 2:07, 3:06, 3:10, 3:14 there is some backup vocals by either James or D'arcy?? At 3:03 Billy groans. At 3:15 Billy says "uh". At 4:17 there is a very loud high-pitched noise in the right channel that probably makes your ears hurt!
-There is a laser sort of sound at 00:45 and one at 4:19 and a high pitched squeek at 00:49-00:50 -pLaNkEr

Window Paine
-In the acapella part of "WindowPaine"...when he's saying "Do what you gotta do", and all that....played backwards, he says "God is not safe", and some other stuff that I'm not sure of....my girlfriend and I thought he was saying "I wish I was pissing in a shower"...but that isn't it =) -Chris Gormer

x.y.u.
-There is a siren that sounds like it's at 6:50 till the end. -Keith Jarrel
-Another sound effect from DooM is the prolonged roar of a demon which can be heard on X.Y.U from 4:46-50. -Bruce McDiarmid

"i always knew(lose) if ever all my life shed the burners (something "burn".not quite sure) it would not save me god says this not send me life send me life send me love send me love or descend me high descend me high descend me low descend me low"

-At some parts it sounds like "she is god."
-During the "emptiness..." part, when the instruments pause, you can hear them ring. there is a "rocket" sound from 2:26 to 2:28 (right channel). -Benoit The Sad Wizard.

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