Everything about Tonight Tonight totally explained
» "Tonight Tonight" is also the name of a song by Finnish band The Rasmus from the album "Hell of a Tester."
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"
Tonight, Tonight" is a song by
The Smashing Pumpkins written by the band's frontman,
Billy Corgan. It was the fourth
single and second track from their third album,
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, and was released in April 1996. "Tonight, Tonight" was critically acclaimed and commercially well-received upon its release. Additionally, the music video accompanying the song was successful, and has won several awards.
A shorter acoustic version of the song, titled "Tonite Reprise," was included as a b-side to the single and on the triple LP version of
Mellon Collie. This single also later appeared in an extended form on the box set
The Aeroplane Flies High. Additionally, the song appears on the band's greatest hits release,
Rotten Apples.
Song history
Billy Corgan began writing for the follow-up to
Siamese Dream after the tour in support of that album; however, the recording of "Tonight, Tonight" first began while the Pumpkins were still on the
Siamese Dream tour when Corgan booked the band into a local
Chicago studio to record all of their song ideas on tape.
Composition and lyrics
"Tonight, Tonight" is written in the key of G, performed on instruments tuned down a
half-step so the actual pitch is G. In the original recording sessions, "Tonight, Tonight" was initially written in the key of C instead of G. Billy Corgan said that recording with a 30-piece string-section for the song "was probably one of the most exciting recording experiences I've ever had." The lyrics of the song have been called a "story of urgency and longing" and were compared to
Robert Herrick's
poem "
To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time."
Reception
"Tonight, Tonight" was met with positive critical acclaim.
All Music Guide reviewer Amy Hanson stated that the song "packs an emotional punch."
Time's reviewer Christopher John Farley called the song "an expansive rock anthem, complete with soaring guitars and a 30-piece string section."
Entertainment Weekly's reviewer David Browne praised the use of strings in the song, saying that it was "whipped into a frenzy by hurricane-like strings." On
Mellon Collie's entry on
Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, "Tonight, Tonight" was praised as "the Pumpkins at their finest."
While "Tonight, Tonight" never approached the chart success of "
1979," it was among the most successful singles from
Mellon Collie. Its highest position was at number four on
Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks. It also achieved a number five on the
Modern Rock Tracks and a number 36 on
The Billboard Hot 100. and peaking at number 21 on the
Australian Singles Chart on June 9, 1996.
Music video
The
music video was directed by
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and starred
Tom Kenny and
Jill Talley. The original idea for the music video was for a
Busby Berkeley-style video, complete with "people diving into champagne glasses." The band was set to begin production on the video, when they discovered that the
Red Hot Chili Peppers had done a similarly styled video for their song "
Aeroplane," which was almost identical to what they'd wanted to do. The third and final concept, inspired by
Georges Méliès's
silent film A Trip to the Moon, came from directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who got the idea for the video because the album cover for
Mellon Collie reminded them of early silent films. Hence, the video was filmed in the style of a turn-of-the-century silent film using theater-style backdrops and primitive
special effects.
Titanic director
James Cameron rented nearly every turn-of-the-century prop and costume in the city, leaving the "Tonight, Tonight" production crew little to work with.
The video, which debuted in May 1996, begins with a group of people celebrating the launch of a
zeppelin to the
moon. Tom Kenny's character kisses Jill Talley's character's hand as the two enter the zeppelin, which is lifted off the ground by people dressed as
sailors using
rope and a
pulley. The zeppelin approaches the Moon, which has a
face like the Moon's face in
A Trip to the Moon. Shots of the band performing in similar, turn-of-the-century attire using older, acoustic instruments are interspersed. The two characters jump off the zeppelin and fall on the Moon's surface. Suddenly, several hostile humanoid
aliens appear, surrounding the couple. Jill Talley's character defends herself by hitting a few of creatures with her
umbrella, which vaporizes them, but the two are trapped and tied. The two form a plan, and then break free of the ropes and attack the aliens with their umbrellas. The couple escapes on a rocket similar to the one in
A Trip to the Moon and land in the sea, where a
merman sends them back to the surface in a
bubble.
The music video received positive reactions, and even won several awards. Corgan remarked that "I don't think we've ever had people react [likethis]...it just seemed to touch a nerve." "Tonight, Tonight" was nominated for
Viewer's Choice and
Best Editing, It is still considered one of the greatest music videos of all time, ranking number 40 on
Stylus Magazine's list of the top 100 music videos of all time.
Single track listings
The
Tonight, Tonight single was released with two different versions containing different
b-sides, one as a standard single and the other as a CD included in the singles box set,
The Aeroplane Flies High. All songs written by
Billy Corgan.
US single release
"Tonight, Tonight" - 4:15
"Meladori Magpie" - 2:41
"Rotten Apples" - 3:02
"Medellia of the Gray Skies" - 3:11
The Aeroplane Flies High track listingPersonnel
All information taken from All Music Guide. Footnotes
Further Information
Get more info on 'Tonight Tonight'.
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