ThePumpkins.net

mmm....
i actually have to agree with blueczarina on this one.

widow make my mind was definianty unexpected.
i seriously thought it would be better
it has a more poppy, upbeat sound, something i dont like the pumpkins doing.
and yes blueczarina, it does make g.l.o.w and fol sound like masterpieces.

i really hope the next song will be better than this one....

whooops, widow Wake my mind :P

I kinda like it. v v

i don't think it's terrible, imo. Billy has penned worse songs since the year 2000...

wtf?
This isn't the pumpkins!!!!
that's a really bad song
and they say drugs are bad? Billy gety back to drugs!lol
billy corgan without depression or without drugs isn't billy corgan
Well on the other hand the next song has to be better than this one..
he can't make worse than this.. i hope

I still like it. I think it has a great sound to it, and musically it's very captivating. His voice is really great on this, especially the layering.

It's a great little tune!

Who would want every Pumpkins song to be depressing? That would be an extremely one-dimensional band.

Personally, I prefer Billy's happy songs since I'm not 17 anymore. You can be deep without being sad.

I'm not a huge fan of it so far. I think the "oh"s annoy me the most. They've always annoyed me, and I'd be willing to bet we'll get more of them before teargarden is all said and done.

That said, the production is kind of cool. The lyrics ARE a little repetitive too.

Personally, I don't see it as all that similar to Zwan yet.. I think I liked a lot of Zwan more than this song at this point.

song for a son is better in my opinion.

Also, as far as ASFAS and Stairway, if I recall nobody said that it was as good of a song as Stairway, they were just stating that with the STYLE of the song being what it was, it could have been Stairway's "sequel"(I think that's the terminology they used).

The oh-oh opening sounds like a Tinted Windows song

I think that WWMM, musically, conjures up imagery the same way that ASFAS does. It sounds like a triumph song -- like something that would be played at the end of a fairy tale (and, given the o-site's current layout, I don't believe "fairy tale" is too far from his intentions).

Something to ponder: by the time this project is over, we'll have 44 new song-title acronyms to use all over the place.

I never really thought "Widow Wake My Mind" was THAT good. There are definately better songs from the Spirts in the Sky shows, like "Circular Change" for instance. That being said, I think the song does sound a lot like Zwan, but I like Zwan, so that doesn't bother me. The song is good in my opinion, but it is nowhere near a masterpiece. I was actually expecting to get "Astral Planes" next, but oh well. I just wish he would record some of the really good songs that we know exist such as: "Freak", "As Rome Burns", or "The March Hare". Some of the residency songs would be nice too.

The only song that I really REALLY hope he records is The Trip. If he recorded that, I think it would be THE song to bring the Pumpkins back to the forefront. I mean, not that he cares about that, it's just a fun thought, and a fantastic song.

I really liked a lot of the SITS songs though, Circular Change was probably my favorite, then Emerald Green, Caroline... I really liked all of them really.

Actually, I wasn't that in to WWMM until this studio version came out. I'm totally in love with it now!

Inconspicuous, I agree completely. It's good to have a change in pace every now and again, it's gets too depressing after a while.

There's no dynamic to this song. And there's no real power to it either. For me personally, the best SP songs are the ones that are balls to the wall rock (marquis in spades, god, ode to no one, etc.) and the ones that cover enormous dynamic ranges within one song (soma, hummer, porcelina, etc.) This song is straight forward, basic pop rock. It's not interesting or captivating to me. It sounds like it could have come from any given band out there today whereas so many other SP songs sound like nothing else.

Also, I think what we are seeing in this thread is the fatal flaw of this distribution method. Songs released one at a time and spaced out over the course of months between each one allows all of us to overly analyze, dissect, and pick apart each and every song. If 4 songs were released in a group and WWMM was one of them, I doubt very many of us would have had much to say about it one way or another. Every single song is going to get criticism from somebody no matter what when they are released this way, and we're going to read more negative stuff about every one of them than we do positive stuff....unless he can buck the trend and put out something that's just a total mind-blower.

I am super excited that Billy is releasing new pumpkin tunes. I thought "song for a son" was awesome. I actually heard it for the first time yesterday and then realized that there was another new song released yesterday as well. Unfortunately I was disappointed with Widow Wake My Mind. Its not horrible or anything, but its not the type of pumpkins sound Im really into. I think I was so stoked about "song for a son" that I went into widow wake my mind thinking it would have the same vibe. It didnt. Either way I think its fantastic that he's putting out all this new work. Cant always please everyone right ?

Inconspicuous wrote:
I agree completely. Obviously Billy is taking the Pumpkins in a new direction right now, one that is much more mature and happier than it used to be. That said, it is hard to see exactly where that direction is heading with only two songs out, but I am excited and, with the second song out, much more patient to take the rest of the journey with Billy!

As for WWMM, I feel it is invigorating and fresh, while still having somewhat of a familiar, classic vibe to it. Compared to Song for a Son, I actually feel that this is a better direction, because this song simply picks me up and carries me through itself. I cannot help but sing along. And, even though the lyrics may be somewhat simple, I think they carry a profound and very relevant message (which I might elaborate on if I have more time later). Cannot wait for the next song!

I think Easternmind mentioned earlier that Billy is at a peak now in terms of his musicianship if not his vocal delivery; I completely agree with this!

I think it's because Billy has explored various genres of music from guitar-heavy sounds of Gish, Siamese Dream and MCIS to the piano based style of Adore, and all the way through pop rock (Zwan), synth (TFE) and radio rock (Zeitgeist).

I think that he has come through these periods of his life with great results and its making every song from TBK exciting because we dont know what kind of style will be next!
This excites me.

I think it's a good song, but not a great one. At least that's my initial impression. Although I admit I liked it better the second time I heard it better than the first. But I liked "Song for A Son" a lot more than this, and felt it more encapsulated the range of the Pumpkins. Maybe part of that was previous familiarity with the song--I never heard the live version of "Widow Wake My Mind". But I think it's more than that. I'm not really into the whole 70s feel. Maybe the song will come more into focus as the part of the larger work. But this probably won't be one of my favorites.

Inconspicuous wrote:
Of course you can have deep lyrics that aren't sad... I really hope you don't think the lyrics to WMMM are deep though...

And why would you think only 17 year olds would be depressed or connect with "sad" songs? I guess your life is going just peachy, but don't be so ignorant to think everyone else's is.


Having said that, I don't mind WMMM at all. A decent song. If it was released as a song on an album I don't think it would receive such negative remarks. But releasing a song one at a time like this is obviously more likely to result in this kind of feedback. Everyone wants each song to blow them away, but at the end of the day how many times does a solitary song do that? Very, very rarely, to me at least.

So many people are saying that if the songs were released in an album format they would receive less criticism. Well, then, what you're also saying is that half of the "problem" with the song is in our perception of it, and not with the song itself, am I correct?

If people saw this song as being truly flawed, then the method for how it was released would not change your perception of it.

I propose that people try to listen to these songs WITHOUT the purpose of comparison to others. After all, isn't that the whole point of this release method, to take every song ON ITS OWN, in its own light?

These are my thoughts on this today. =)

EasternMind wrote:
Well, that's exactly what I'm saying, yes.

If each song was released one at a time from any album, any song deemed to not be a "classic", not amazing, would then seem all the more disappointing as you then feel let down and have to wait a month (or whatever) for the next song to be released.

That's what I think is happening anyway, as in my mind WWMM is not a bad song at all - although a bit too chirpy for me at times, it's full of creativity and some wonderful musical moments.
And A Song For A Son can stand alongside the Pumpkins' best work, in my opinion.

Good points Epitome. I've actually had a change in opinion about this after a comment someone made on the official board.

I think the album dynamic is quite important, I know it is for me. I guess for me, then, I'm okay with the release of individual songs, but I can understand how it might warp the perception for others.

A Song for a Son is really great!