cool kids never have the time
on a live wire right up off the street
you and I should meet
junebug skipping like a stone
with the headlights pointed at the dawn
we were sure we'd never see an end to it all
and I don't even care
to shake these zipper blues
and we don't know
just where our bones will rest
to dust I guess
forgotten and absorbed into the earth below
double cross the vacant and the bored
they're not sure just what we have in the store
morphine city slippin dues down to see
that we don't even care
as restless as we are
we feel the pull
in the land of a thousand guilts
and poured cement
lamented and assured
to the lights
and towns below
faster than
the speed of sound
faster than
we thought
we'd go
beneath the sound of hope
Justine never knew the rules
hung down with the freaks and the ghouls
no apologies ever need be made
I know you better than you fake it
to see
that we don't even care
to shake these zipper blues
and we don't know
just where our bones will rest
to dust I guess
forgotten and absorbed
into the earth below
the street heats the urgency of now
as you can see there's no one around
BMI Work # 002107458
length- 4:28
This was the last song written for MCIS.
The second single from MCIS.
The Video production cost $350,000, and was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who also directed [Rocket], [Tonight Tonight] and [Perfect].
Awards:
- BMI Award Winning Song
- MTV 1996 VideoMusicAwards - Best Alternative VIdeo
D'arcy: (about the 1979 ep cover)
- "No that's not me. That was what's
her name from Fleetwood Mac - it was Stevie Nicks."
It is unknown who the blonde female actually is on the cover of the single.
Billy Corgan: (Guitar School 1996)
-
"It was the last song [written for the album]... I demoed out the basic music for "1979," and we practiced it a few
times. Flood wanted to take the tune off the board so we wouldn't spend
more time on it, but I said, "Let me have one more day." I went home and
wrote the whole song that night, words and everything. The next day I came
in, played the new demo for him, and he
said "That's it! It's done!" That demo is still floating around somewhere,
and it's pretty damned weird.
"1979" has a real immediacy to it; there's just something about the riff and the vocal. The singles are always like that, though. They come to you pretty fast. It's funny, because that melody is the very first melody I sang against the riff. Sometimes I have to "mine" the melody; you have to dig around until you find something good and solid, like "Today" and "Disarm" [from Siamese Dream]. Those were the first melodies I ever sang against the chords. And when you find melodies like that, everything seems to just fall into place effortlessly. It's as though the song is already written, and you're just trying to find the thread. It's a weird feeling when you hit upon that. "
Billy Corgan: (from Guitar World)
- "The most frequently asked
question about "1979" is, "What is the
`ooh-ahh-ahh' sound at the end of every phrase?" Flood
and I were tracking
the song, and I started humming the "oohs" like a
melody line. I sang them
to tape, we sampled the pertinent ones, electronically
manipulated them, and
looped them against the drum beat. One of my favorite
songs from the
album."
Jimmy Chamberlin: (Modern Drummer 1996)
-
"Another different song for me was "1979," which is a drum loop
with me playing over the top of it. That's the first time I've ever done
anything like that."
Billy Corgan: (Request 1998)
-
"We saw "1979" as a real jumping-off point for what the next record might sound like."
This song was also covered by Pavement
Official Releases:
- Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness,
- 1979
- 1979 Mixes
- Vocal Mix - remixed by Roli Mosimann (5:08)
- Instrumental Mix - remixed by Roli Mosimann (5:17)
- Moby Mix - remixed by Moby (6:39)
- Cement Mix - remixed by Roli Mosimann (4:40)
- The Aeroplane Flies High
- 1997 Grammy Nominees
- Rotten Apples
Promo Release:
- Smashing Pumpkins 1991-1998