The Story Behind The Smashing Pumpkins’ Confrontational Breakthrough Hit “Cherub Rock”

Much of The Smashing Pumpkins’ identity is tied up in being part of the early 1990s Chicago indie rock scene. The band stands out among a group of successful artists, including Liz Phair, Veruca Salt, Urge Overkill, and Material Issue as one of the most visible acts to come out of the scene. Yet their breakthrough hit, “Cherub Rock,” was all about frontman Billy Corgan’s distaste for the very scene that would help to catapult the band to international stardom.

Corgan criticizes the indie scene with his lyrics, while simultaneously paying homage to an earlier era of rock with his songwriting and playing. To those hearing “Cherub Rock” for the first time in the summer of 1993, what likely stood out was the fierceness of the band’s playing and Corgan’s vocals. Upon closer inspection, the song has a lot to say about rock music of that moment in the ‘90s and of a not-so-distant past.

The Beef is Mutual

To understand Corgan’s vitriolic perspective on “Cherub Rock,” it helps to put The Smashing Pumpkins’ approach in contrast with those who preceded them in Chicago’s indie scene. Chicago-based music journalist Greg Kot told AV Club in 2017 “the difference between a Smashing Pumpkins and a great band like Eleventh Dream Day is that Corgan knew how to play the game. He knew how to deliver singles.”

The Smashing Pumpkins had a radio hit on their debut album Gish, as “Rhinoceros” went to No. 27 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart.  Gish made it onto the Billboard 200, reaching No. 146, and it became the best-selling album to be released on an independent label (Caroline Records) at that time.

The success of Gish and Corgan’s ambition to make music that would be commercially viable did not sit well with others in the Chicago indie scene. Of the prevailing attitude among the other bands, Kot said, “They weren’t looking to be commercial hits; they just assumed they would be playing clubs, and it was kind of a surprise that they were signed to a label. Whereas Billy Corgan—that was his ambition all along and he made no bones about it and [he] was pilloried for it.”

With “Cherub Rock”—the opening track to The Smashing Pumpkins’ sophomore album Siamese Dream—Corgan clapped back at the indie purists. In a 1995 interview with Us magazine, he said, “‘Cherub Rock’ is about my relationship to the indie world and the media.” The second verse of “Cherub Rock” makes especially clear how unhealthy that relationship was.

Hipsters unite
Come align for the big fight to rock
But beware
All those angels with their wings glued on
‘Cause deep down
They are frightened and they’re scared
If you don’t stare

A Tribute to a Pair of Corgan’s Favorite Bands

Corgan may not have intended to use “Cherub Rock” to create a contrast between the “hipsters” of his local scene and some classic rockers he admired. Given that he wrote homages into the song to rock bands who were at their commercial peak roughly a dozen years earlier, we could certainly hear it that way.

The opening guitar riff and drum pattern are—in Corgan’s words—”a straight ripoff of Rush.” If you go to the 3:54 mark of Rush’s “By-Tor and the Snow Dog” from their Fly by Night album, you will hear exactly what Corgan is talking about. Speaking at the unveiling ceremony for Rush’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star, Corgan talked extensively about his Rush fandom, mentioning his first band was a Rush cover band. He also said he had an immediate connection with Smashing Pumpkins’ drummer Jimmy Chamberlin “because he knew every fill to every Rush record.”

Rush isn’t the only band that was big in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s that gets a nod from “Cherub Rock.” Corgan was a fan of Cheap Trick since his pre-teen years, and it’s not a coincidence the chorus of “Cherub Rock” bears a resemblance to that of “Oo La La La.” When the band from Rockford, Illinois was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2016, Corgan took to The Smashing Pumpkins’ Facebook page to voice his admiration and respect. He wrote, “To Chicagoans, Robin, Rick, Tom and Bun E. will always be our Fab Four. Finally, the dang secret is out! Their place among the greats secure, their influence on the generations patently obvious, and no longer up for tiresome debate at some bar or blog.”

Finding Even Greater Commercial Success

Corgan wanted to make sure his statement on “Cherub Rock” was heard, insisting on it being released as the first single from Siamese Dream. His message was underscored by the fact it would be The Smashing Pumpkins’ first single to be released on a major label (Virgin Records). It also became the band’s first Top-10 song on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart (No. 7) and their first entry on the Mainstream Rock chart, peaking at No. 23. While the follow-up singles “Today” and “Disarm” proved to be even more popular, “Cherub Rock” likely primed many music fans to pay attention to future Smashing Pumpkins releases.

The separation of the Smashing Pumpkins from their hometown DIY scene was heightened when “Cherub Rock” was nominated for the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance alongside AOR stalwarts Robert Plant and AC/DC and the celebrated quartet Living Colour. There is some irony in Smashing Pumpkins losing out to Stone Temple Pilots (for “Plush”), given that both bands were dismissively name-checked in Pavement’s 1994 song “Range Life.”

Corgan and the Pumpkins didn’t make “Cherub Rock” to win over their indie scene compatriots, and they likely made some enemies in the process. The Rush- and Cheap Trick-influenced melodies did create a wave of new fans, and “Cherub Rock” was just the first of a string of Top-10 alternative hits that would last into the mid-2000s.

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Photo by Jason Merritt/FilmMagic