Tonight, Tonight
Sylvia Chastity Ingram McAllen, Texas, US
I have so many wonderful memories from MCIS era. The one that
will always stand out to me is the very first one. I was 10 years old and in
5th grade. One day, a boy I had a crush on was wearing a Pumpkins shirt and
singing “Tonight, Tonight” in class. I asked him what he was singing
and he told me it was The Smashing Pumpkins. Shortly after, I saw the video on
MTV. I was definitely intrigued by the music video but I originally tried to
get into it to impress the boy. I ended up developing the greatest love for SP
after this song. I was so in love with the strings that I joined Orchestra the
following year when I got to Middle School. I listened to Tonight, Tonight over
and over again until I learned to play along with the recording on my Viola. I
had my dad buy me the cassette tapes and listened to them over and over until
they eventually wore out. I had posters on my wall, a Pumpkins shirt for every
day of the week, and would write songs and lyrics all over my school notebooks.
I had my mom buy me some vinyl pants and I would wear them with my long sleeve
zero shirt to school. About 1 year later, my parents got divorced. I got
severely depressed and nothing comforted me quite like MCIS from start to
finish did. I would listen in my room in the dark, every night until I fell
asleep. To this day, I will run into old classmates and the one thing that they
remember about me was my love for The Smashing Pumpkins. The attached picture
is of my 6th grade Orchestra teacher and me.
Youth and first travel alone
Nayeli Ramos Mexico City, Mexico City, MX
It was my first time traveling out of Mexico, I was alone, I was 15 and I was in Canada. I went to the local record store wearing just a sweater in the middle of April’s snow . I bought MCIS and arrived home. The first time I played the record was extraordinary, I finally felt accompanied and at ease with myself even though I was in a strange place. This record made me embrace myself in a time full of doubts, oh! It was youth and rock and roll.
Untitled
Taylor B Des Moines, IA, US
My father introduced me to “Pumpkins” as we call you. I was very young when my father used to play the album for holidays and we spent a lot of time trying to learn Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness on the piano by only listening. After our piano went out of tune, we would continue sharing this song by singing along. This song and album have always been our go-to. My father passed unexpectedly last year and every time I hear a song from this album, it brings me back to the days of laughing and singing in the living room or kitchen.
Because of this song and album, I’m able to remember my father in the best way.
Thank you ❤️
Gone Titles, Forever Memories
Brad white Oneonta, AL, US
The night before Mellon Collie and the Infinite Saddness came out, the band played Live at the Rivera in Chicago and the show was syndicated to a station here in Birmingham, Alabama. I stayed up on a school night and recorded the entire show on my boombox. The next day my sister asked me if I wanted to go buy the album with her. I was hoping she would ask me because I was itching to go and she had wheels to take us. After school we bought the cassettes so we could jam out to them in her glorious 80’s blue mustang on the way to school everyday. I opted for the CD’s but she insisted on the cassettes. Over time, these cassettes got played in my portable cassette player so much from long car rides, mowing grass, or falling asleep to them while playing, all the writing has diminished from them. After a while of saving lunch money, I bought the cd version of the album. To this day, I cannot find the original holders for the cassettes. But I do have the long box incasement for them that held them before they went to the smaller version.
“Just a Young Girl Raiding Her Sister’s Music Collection
Marissa Danielle Niles, IL, US
When I first discovered MCIS, I was 14, just a young girl raiding her sister’s music collection that was kept off limits! I’ll admit I would wait for her to leave, and listen to the album from start to finish, reading along the with the lyrics, and would be captivated by the beauty and artistry of everything with MCIS. It became my routine, every weekend on Fridays usually just me and the music, discovering MCIS with such excitement! As I listened more I grew to develop a deep love and appreciation of SP. I instantly was moved by Thirty-Three, Tonight, Tonight, and Cupid De Locke which would transport me into another dreamlike world that no other music has ever done (or at least since I discovered The Beatles). It was pure magic, and I will always remember MCIS this way!