The Smashing Pumpkins » Tracks
1979 (4:24)
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“1979” is a song by the American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. Released in 1996 as the second single from their third studio album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, “1979” was written by frontman Billy Corgan, and features loops and samples that were uncharacteristic of previous Smashing Pumpkins songs. The song was popular with critics and fans; Allmusic’s Amy Hanson called it a “somewhat surprising hit”. The song was nominated for the Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the Grammy Awards, and won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative Video.
“1979” was the Smashing Pumpkins’ highest-charting single, reaching number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and on the Modern Rock Tracks charts. It peaked at number fifty-four on the U.S. Hot Digital Songs in 2005, nine years after first being released. The song was nominated for the Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the Grammy Awards.
In a 1996 Spin interview, Corgan indicated that “1979” was probably the only indication he had for what the next Pumpkins album would sound like, “something that combines technology, and a rock sensibility, and pop, and whatever, and hopefully clicks. Between [“Bullet with Butterfly Wings”] and “1979” you have the bookends of . You’ve literally the end of the rock thing, and the beginning of the new thing”.
“1979” was the Smashing Pumpkins’ highest-charting single, reaching number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and on the Modern Rock Tracks charts. It peaked at number fifty-four on the U.S. Hot Digital Songs in 2005, nine years after first being released. The song was nominated for the Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the Grammy Awards.
In a 1996 Spin interview, Corgan indicated that “1979” was probably the only indication he had for what the next Pumpkins album would sound like, “something that combines technology, and a rock sensibility, and pop, and whatever, and hopefully clicks. Between [“Bullet with Butterfly Wings”] and “1979” you have the bookends of . You’ve literally the end of the rock thing, and the beginning of the new thing”.
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The Smashing Pumpkins Live in Den Bosch 18.02.2008
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Shouts
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Chestar wrote:
Shakedown, nineteen seventy-nine.
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kanithks wrote:
one of the best
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onlyblood wrote:
the best song of all time
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jeffham wrote:
this song completely expresses the feeling of nostalgia
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barsam2 wrote:
just like 'thirty-three', this is for sure one of the songs I will still listen to in 30 years...
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rosebudz wrote:
mmm....
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axiomastill wrote:
very good song!
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MartianDude wrote:
this song will never get old
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chilloutlad wrote:
1979 !
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jundaloop wrote:
one of the most poisonous riff ever created...
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chewy124 wrote:
i miss those days
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FalloutRadius wrote:
Classic.
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BigBam2012 wrote:
This stuff brings some great memories of living in Seattle '91-'98....What a great timne to be in Seattle--it was so cool, and this song is part of the soundtrack.
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johnnycat242 wrote:
...THaTs uS,,,
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Frenchtoast1814 wrote:
I agree! Some of my favorite songs by them are their b-sides. This was the first band I ever got REALLY deep into and their albums are so great because the older I get the more I appreciate them and the more they mean to me. I wish the ORIGINAL members would get back together and tour :-(
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NigelE8992 wrote:
i know what you mean man, and it's definitely not their best song, but one day something will probably make it click for you. i've never had a song convey the feeling of nostalgia better, and it's such a good/bad/strong feeling. every day that goes past, and i've known SP that much longer, the song gets better.
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ghostchild1979 wrote:
I'm a hopeless freak for this band. Easily my all time favorite group. I'm obsessed with all things SP. Yet somehow, I have never understood the attraction to this song. Yes, it tells a story...nostalgia, blah blah blah. Yes, it's incredibly catchy.... But I just don't get it. They have at least a hundred songs that are better in my opinion.
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muteoff wrote:
In the mid 90's, when I was 12 or so, I hadn't really started to pay attention to music beyond what my friends and family played. Some gangsta rap from some friends at school, some Billy Joel from my family, and a random assortment of whatever was on the charts. But there were those few popular rock songs that caught my ear that were really special; that I'll forever identify with that time and place growing up in 95/96 and "1979" is one of them. Atmospheric and lush, with what seems like a nostalgic-yearning, this song may have been written looking back a certain point in Corgan's life, but it's come to be a reference point of mine for the time and place when this song came out, for a snapshot of the memory and experiences that went along with growing up, all with this song in the backdrop serving as a soundtrack.
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Sunlak17 wrote:
my favourite song ever. [2]
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Symbolismistic wrote:
<3 you
The Smashing Pumpkins
1979
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