Cover art for I of the Mourning by The Smashing Pumpkins
Feb. 29, 20001 viewer5.7K views

I of the Mourning Lyrics

[Chorus 1]
Radio, play my favorite song
Radio, radio
Radio, I’m alone
Radio
Radio, please don't go
Radio

[Verse 1]
I peer through curtains on empty streets
Behind a wall of caller ID
No one’s out there
To hear if I care
About the troubles in the air

[Pre-Chorus]
‘Cause I of the mourning now go
Pick up where my thoughts left off
‘Cause I’m home to die on my own


[Chorus 2]
As my radio plays my favorite song
Radio, radio
Radio, don’t you know
Radio, radio
Radio, I’m alone
[Guitar Solo]

[Verse 2]
I’ve blown the dust off my guitar
In the attic with the stars
I read your letters to feel better
My tears upon the faded ink

[Pre-Chorus]
‘Cause I of the mourning now go
Pick up where my thoughts left off
‘Cause I’m home to die on my own


[Chorus 3]
As my radio plays my favorite song
Radio, radio
Radio, I'm alone
Radio, radio
Radio, please don't go

[Bridge 1]
I sit in the dark light
To wait for ghost night
To bring the past to life
To make a toast to life
‘Cause I have survived
[Bridge 2]
What is it you want?
What is it you want to change?
What is it you want?
What is it you want to change?
What is it you want to change?

[Chorus 4]
Radio, radio, radio, radio
Radio, radio, radio, radio
Radio, radio, radio, radio

[Guitar Solo]

[Outro]
What is it you want?
What is it you want to change?
What is it you want?
What is it you want to change?
What is it you want to change?

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Q&A

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

What did The Smashing Pumpkins say about "I of the Mourning"?
Genius Answer

It is about the radio but it’s about things that are much grander than the radio. The radio is the analogy I used to put across other ideas.

We’re being bombarded by Beatles songs and unfortunately Celine Dion songs. There’s something very perverse about the idea that were constantly being assaulted by these waves. No one knows if they’re actually changing us. There’s a reason that when you look at photographs from 100 years ago the people look different. The air they breathed was different, the food they ate was different, it’s all the same DNA but the energy going into their bodies was different.

-Billy Corgan via radio interview

What did critics think of the song?
Genius Answer

Annie Zaleski of Spin noted the sonic similarities to New Order, a major influence of the Pumpkins:

Billy Corgan’s fervent New Order fandom permeates this high-end Machina deep cut, which pairs a Peter Hook [New Order bassist}-reminiscent humming bass line with a mess of tangled, despairing electric guitars.

NME lovingly declared “I of the Mourning” to be reminiscent of the darker side of The Cure.

Not all critics felt this way however. Brent DiCrescenzo of Pitchfork seemed to detest the Machina album to the point of blatant anger as if he had a personal vendetta against Billy Corgan. His comments, aimed personally at Corgan, included,

‘No, Billy, black leather trenchcoat-dresses do not flatter you, working with Flood will not make your records sound good’; and most importantly, ‘No, Billy, some of those songs are better left in the ProTools wastebasket’.

DiCrescenzo even throws a fit over the title of this track. Apparently, he would have been happier had the title been, “I of the Morning.”

Note the fucking ‘U’

The comment regarding critically acclaimed producer Flood is especially perplexing given Pitchfork declared a previous Pumpkins/Flood collaboration,

Stunning in both its stylistic range and overall excellence. While Machina as a whole wasn’t universally praised, DiCrescenzo’s over-the-top, hateful rant of an review does nothing but calls the author’s integrity into question.

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