Uploaded October 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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Nolan Randall playing the guitar solo of the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Cherub Rock” from their 1993 album Siamese Dream for Virgin Records.
Words and music by Billy Corgan
Freak out and give in
Doesn't matter what you believe in
Stay cool and be somebody's fool this year
'Cause they know who is righteous
What is bold, so I'm told
Who wants honey
As long as there's some money
Who wants that honey?
Hipsters unite
Come align for the big fight to rock for you
But beware, all those angels with their wings glued on
'Cause deep down they are frightened and they're scared
If you don't stare
Who wants honey
As long as there's some money
Who wants that honey?
Let me out, yeah, let me out, yeah
Let me out, yeah, let me out
Tell me all of your secrets
Cannot help but believe this is true
Tell me all of your secrets
I know, I know, I know
Should have listened when I was told
Who wants that honey
As long as there is some money
Who wants that honey?
Let me out, yeah, let me out, yeah
Let me out, yeah, let me out
*Song Facts*
Corgan insisted that the song be released as the first single from the album, against the wishes of record executives who believed that "Today" would be a stronger opening single. Although Corgan's wishes were honored, the single was indeed received with much less enthusiasm than "Today", although it remains a fan favourite. An acoustic version of the song is performed on Vieuphoria and its CD companion, Earphoria.
According to various interviews with lead singer Billy Corgan, this song's lyric is an ironic attack on the "Indie" credibility in Chicago's music scene that had him frustrated - the old complaint about bands going to major labels becoming sell-outs. In Rolling Stone, Corgan said: "I won't play some one else's game anymore. This album was really a strong affirmation to myself: 'F--k you, I don't care. I'm going to do this.' The funny part about it is that it's working. Which says to me I should have trusted myself all along."
The Siamese Dream album contains 13 tracks and runs over an hour; their previous album Gish was 10 songs with a running time of about 45 minutes. Since CDs were now the format of choice and could hold more music, the band was pushed by Virgin Records to fill more of it, which put pressure on the band and affected their workflow.
According to Billy Corgan, this pressure to produce kept him from refining this song. Speaking with Creem magazine, he said: "I wrote 'Cherub Rock' in half an hour. I heard it one day while I was driving up the road and it was one of the last songs I wrote before we did the album. The thing is, there's parts of me that wonder what would have happened if I'd spent four hours writing it, and not done something else. How much better a song would it have been?"
Smashing Pumpkins played this song when they were the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, October 30, 1993.
Kevin Kerslake directed the music video, which he shot with a Super-8 camera. He also used a Super-8 on Nirvana's video for "Sliver" and Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You" to create a low-fi look.
Corgan was in a dark place around the time he wrote the song. "I was suicidal, and I'd been plotting my own death for about two months," he told NME in 2011. "If you've ever read anything about the warning signs of suicide one of them is you give away all your stuff, and I'd given away all my stuff, I gave away all my records, I started giving away my guitars. I was fantasizing about my own death, I started thinking what my funeral would be like and what music would be played, I was at that level of insanity."
"Cherub Rock" was one of the last songs written for the album, and the lyrics relate to Corgan's relationship with his perception of the indie rock community and larger media. The song was performed in standard tuning with an E octave played at the 7th fret, a technique which the band used on other songs, such as "Drown", "Tristessa", and "Starla". The prominent effect on the solo was achieved by recording the guitar solo to two different tapes which were then run simultaneously, with the speed of one tape slightly altered. "Cherub Rock" contains various overdubs influenced by the genres of shoegazing as well as 1970s classic arena rock. The guitar solo is a face melter!
Following the 2011 re-issue of Siamese Dream, Consequence of Sound commented that the single "seemed tailor-made to feed the emerging modern rock radio format."
The video features footage of the band performing the song live in a forest setting. It was shot outside San Francisco entirely on Super8 film at a very modest budget. The director, Kevin Kerslake, employed various destructive techniques when developing the film to give the video a broken and dirty look. Corgan was reportedly extremely unhappy with the shooting experience, and the band never worked with Kerslake again.
#SmashingPumpkins #CherubRock #AlternativeRock
🎸 plaidonflannel.com
🎤 plaidonflannelshop.com
Nolan Randall playing the guitar solo of the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Cherub Rock” from their 1993 album Siamese Dream for Virgin Records.
Words and music by Billy Corgan
Freak out and give in
Doesn't matter what you believe in
Stay cool and be somebody's fool this year
'Cause they know who is righteous
What is bold, so I'm told
Who wants honey
As long as there's some money
Who wants that honey?
Hipsters unite
Come align for the big fight to rock for you
But beware, all those angels with their wings glued on
'Cause deep down they are frightened and they're scared
If you don't stare
Who wants honey
As long as there's some money
Who wants that honey?
Let me out, yeah, let me out, yeah
Let me out, yeah, let me out
Tell me all of your secrets
Cannot help but believe this is true
Tell me all of your secrets
I know, I know, I know
Should have listened when I was told
Who wants that honey
As long as there is some money
Who wants that honey?
Let me out, yeah, let me out, yeah
Let me out, yeah, let me out
*Song Facts*
Corgan insisted that the song be released as the first single from the album, against the wishes of record executives who believed that "Today" would be a stronger opening single. Although Corgan's wishes were honored, the single was indeed received with much less enthusiasm than "Today", although it remains a fan favourite. An acoustic version of the song is performed on Vieuphoria and its CD companion, Earphoria.
According to various interviews with lead singer Billy Corgan, this song's lyric is an ironic attack on the "Indie" credibility in Chicago's music scene that had him frustrated - the old complaint about bands going to major labels becoming sell-outs. In Rolling Stone, Corgan said: "I won't play some one else's game anymore. This album was really a strong affirmation to myself: 'F--k you, I don't care. I'm going to do this.' The funny part about it is that it's working. Which says to me I should have trusted myself all along."
The Siamese Dream album contains 13 tracks and runs over an hour; their previous album Gish was 10 songs with a running time of about 45 minutes. Since CDs were now the format of choice and could hold more music, the band was pushed by Virgin Records to fill more of it, which put pressure on the band and affected their workflow.
According to Billy Corgan, this pressure to produce kept him from refining this song. Speaking with Creem magazine, he said: "I wrote 'Cherub Rock' in half an hour. I heard it one day while I was driving up the road and it was one of the last songs I wrote before we did the album. The thing is, there's parts of me that wonder what would have happened if I'd spent four hours writing it, and not done something else. How much better a song would it have been?"
Smashing Pumpkins played this song when they were the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, October 30, 1993.
Kevin Kerslake directed the music video, which he shot with a Super-8 camera. He also used a Super-8 on Nirvana's video for "Sliver" and Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You" to create a low-fi look.
Corgan was in a dark place around the time he wrote the song. "I was suicidal, and I'd been plotting my own death for about two months," he told NME in 2011. "If you've ever read anything about the warning signs of suicide one of them is you give away all your stuff, and I'd given away all my stuff, I gave away all my records, I started giving away my guitars. I was fantasizing about my own death, I started thinking what my funeral would be like and what music would be played, I was at that level of insanity."
"Cherub Rock" was one of the last songs written for the album, and the lyrics relate to Corgan's relationship with his perception of the indie rock community and larger media. The song was performed in standard tuning with an E octave played at the 7th fret, a technique which the band used on other songs, such as "Drown", "Tristessa", and "Starla". The prominent effect on the solo was achieved by recording the guitar solo to two different tapes which were then run simultaneously, with the speed of one tape slightly altered. "Cherub Rock" contains various overdubs influenced by the genres of shoegazing as well as 1970s classic arena rock. The guitar solo is a face melter!
Following the 2011 re-issue of Siamese Dream, Consequence of Sound commented that the single "seemed tailor-made to feed the emerging modern rock radio format."
The video features footage of the band performing the song live in a forest setting. It was shot outside San Francisco entirely on Super8 film at a very modest budget. The director, Kevin Kerslake, employed various destructive techniques when developing the film to give the video a broken and dirty look. Corgan was reportedly extremely unhappy with the shooting experience, and the band never worked with Kerslake again.
#SmashingPumpkins #CherubRock #AlternativeRock
