November 1992 – Broadway Rehearsal Studios

## November 1992 – Broadway Rehearsal Studios, Chicago

* **Quiet**
* **Hello Kitty Kat**
* **Cherub Rock**
* **Suicide Kiss (Geek USA)**
* **Today**
* **Disarm**
* **Rocket**
* **Spaceboy**
* **Set the Ray to Jerry**
* **Soma**
* **Whirl (Whir)**
* **Doorstep (Meladori Magpie)**
* **Pissant**
* **Tulips (Barb Wire)**
* **Blew Away**
* **French Movie Theme**
* **Hummer**
* **Frail & Bedazzled**
* **Glynis**
* **She Says**
* **Sweet Sweet**
* **Mayonaise**

This is a
tape of Siamese Dream demos submitted to the Library of Congress on December
22, 1992, called "Quiet and 20 Other Songs”.  A 15-track copy of this tape was submitted to
Virgin records as well.  It was most
likely recorded to 8-track at the band’s rehearsal space, just before leaving
to Atlanta to record Siamese Dream.

**Billy Corgan**: After reaching a saturation point with new ideas, our primary focus now
becomes trying to finish the songs we have in hand…once we go into this
state of completion, there is a sort of moratorium ban placed on
bringing in new ideas, the general intention being to sort out the best
from the best in what we have and get on with the business of finalizing
 arrangements, lyrics, and tweaking each individual part…sadly, I have
been avoiding the issue of finishing the lyrics for some time, choosing
instead to hide behind the focus on arranging and re-arranging what were
 already head spinning configurations of numbers, key changes, breaks,
and implied emotional nuances…writing music is easy for me, but it is a
new form of truth that I wish to find in these lyrics that I am having
the hardest time with…I don’t want to obscure what I am truly feeling in
 my heart (like I did on our first record), by covering up much of my
real sentiments with vague psychedelic babble…putting off the lyrics
also has an impact on the day to day songwriting, as we are essentially
arranging to implied emotions that are not in reality supported by
actual finished lines (by the time we go on to Atlanta, I only have
about 25% of the lyrics written)…as we know that we will keep cutting
arrangements up until the final hour of recording, this isn’t a big
issue of concern…and most of the individual parts are close enough that
they can be further developed in the studio…but the lack of a lyrical
focus hangs over the album like a dull cloud…

Each remaining song
 is addressed moment by moment with a laundry list of problems, and we
set about tackling each one to everyone’s satisfaction…a laundry list on
 a particular idea might go something like this: “the intro sucks, the
2nd verse is too long, the lift into the solo is weak, the last bit goes
 on a little too long, and do you think we should change keys just
before the end?”…we don’t vote per se, but rather talk or play thru the
suggestions that are tossed in the air, and everyone’s overall body
language usually dictates when a concept is or isn’t working…the floor
is always open to all possibilities, and we dive into each and every
issue with an understanding that all details are important to the
overall strength of the album…I choose not to linger or get bogged down
for too long on any one idea, because there are so many songs, and
therefore, by math, too many problems…the basic thinking goes ‘what you
don’t get untangled today you will possibly find a solution for
tomorrow’…the only visible downside to this way of working is everyone
must remember each days changes as they happen, and also retain the
previous days option, say, if the next time we play a new part and go,
“oops, that isn’t working”, be able to recall the old change at will…

One
 last, almost finished idea that has been sitting fairly untouched for a
 long while is a song simply called “today”…the song is given this name
not for any existential reason, but rather out of my laziness, because
the first line of the song starts with the word “today”, and calling it
that makes it easily recognizable to all (laziness also dictates the
title is never changed)…I suggest trying to come up with an interesting
intro, and all agree that the blunt start (with the band just blasting
in at the top) is boring and obvious…as is often the case of a good
intellectual concept, musical silence ensues, shoes are stared at, and
all I get in response to my suggestion is the buzz of the
amps…frustrated, I look down at my guitar, and without hesitation, place
 my left hand on the 11th fret, high up on the top two strings…the first
 thing I feel immediately clicks, a dumb schoolhouse take on
“la-dee-dah, la-dee-dah”…I look up, and no one says much, but then
again, no one says no…without comment, I play it again, and at the
appointed moment, the band kicks in full power…problem solved in 60
seconds…“next!”…

The pecking order on influence to the songs
usually falls in this order: Billy, Jimmy, James, D’arcy…although D’arcy
 contributes very little in the arranging department, she is the person I
 watch most while we work, because like a child, she is incapable of
hiding or masking any displeasure, and it shows readily on her
face…James general interest is directly proportionate to whether or not a
 song is “his”, and following that, whether or not he personally likes a
 particular tune…he is fully capable of offering a brilliant suggestion
at any given moment, and then turning right around and looking
completely bored as if there were a million places he would rather be
than here…Jimmy stands as the auteur of our power, so great is his
unconscious understanding of how to lift the songs to the highest
heights…his suggestions tend to be more emotional as opposed to
musical…he readily reads my mind, and I read his, and much of our work
is eye to eye, soul to soul, and goes on mostly unseen by the other
two…my role is one of floor leader and cheerleader, as most of the songs
 are mine…we have a general rule, which is: ‘your song, your call’…this
means that whomever is the writer on a particular song has final call on
 any decision, including a veto on what other members might play part
wise…if a song is a co-write, then both people share this
vote/veto…songs like “soma” and “mayonnaise” are true musical
collaborations, as I sort thru the issues, making sure the other writer
(in this case James) is in full agreement on all aspects of the song,
and it’s execution…

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1. ↑ Billy Corgan, "The Texas Two-Step", livejournal, April 27th, 2005