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About

Genius Annotation

The song’s title is reminiscent of Primo Levi’s Auschwitz memoir where, in response to the protagonist asking “Warum?” -“Why?”, a guard response “Hier ist kein warum” – “There is no why here.”

The title actually came from a tragedy and atrocity of equal proportion to that of Auschwitz. Corgan explains in his 2012 reissue liner notes:

This title was appropriated from an article
I’d read on an anniversary of the world’s
first nuclear attacks. A survivor, in survey-
ing a legacy of near-total devastation, had remarked in broken English that ‘Here is
no why.’

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did The Smashing Pumpkins say about "Here Is No Why"?
Genius Answer

This title was appropriated from an article I’d read on an anniversary of the world’s first nuclear attacks. A survivor, in surveying a legacy of near-total devastation, had remarked in broken English that ‘Here is no why.’ Looking at the twisted remnants of my own childhood memories, I felt a similar sense of loss amidst my confusion. To hide some of my sorrow I couched those thoughts into this glammed up tart that rings neither happy nor sad. In some respects this song doesn’t really fit in well amongst the others; being too maudlin for its own good and too strident to take full advantage of its T-Rexian strut. But like its author ‘The Death Rock Boy’, its most glaring defects are part of its lingering charm.

-Billy Corgan, 2012 Reissue Liner Notes

Credits
Written By
Recording Assistants
Mixing Assistant
Arranged By
Mastered by
Recorded At
Chicago Recording Company
Release Date
October 23, 1995
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