Smashing Pumpkins: Today Meaning

Song Released: 1993

Today Lyrics

Today is the greatest
Day I've ever known
Can't live for tomorrow,
Tomorrow's much too long
I'll burn my eyes out
Before I get out

I wanted more
Than life could ever grant me
Bored by the chore
Of saving face

Today is the...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Apr 18th 2008 !⃝

   Today is the greatest
   Day I've ever known
   Can't live for tomorrow,
   Tomorrow's much too long
   I'll burn my eyes out
   Before I get out
   -He is not really happy but he is pretending to be. Its sarcasm.
   
   I wanted more
   Than life could ever grant me
   Bored by the chore
   Of saving face
   -He is bored with everything and is looking for something else and maybe the saving face means god?
   Perhaps he is losing faith?
   
   Pink ribbon scars
   That never forget
   -Scars that run deep and tell a story
   
   I tried so hard
   To cleanse these regrets
   My angel wings
   Were bruised and restrained
   My belly stings
   -He tried to be happy and forget everything that has upset him.
   My angel wings were bruised and restrained
   Maybe its the loss of innocence
   
   and then the end goes
   
   Today is the greatest
   Today is the greatest day
   Today is the greatest day
   That I have ever really known
   -this shows that he has been pretending all his life

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Aug 23rd 2007 !⃝

   Today is about when Billy had writers block after doing 'Gisha' He then became suicidal. If you read the lyrics there all depressing and say stuff like 'Can’t live for tomorrow, Tomorrow’s much too long' He wants to die.
   
   However the happy tune to it is supposed to symbolise how everyone can pretend they're happy on the surface but when you look underneath it may not be so.
3. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jul 24th 2020 !⃝

   The song is about how great a day can be when you know that it’s the last day of your life.
   It’s the day when you’ve made your mind. The day when you’ve finally made a decision to leave this world behind. You inhale and exhale. You feel free for now you know that today is the best day to commit a suicide. You’ve finally found the courage to stop the pain, to escape.
   It has suicidal thoughts, can’t agree more.
   
4. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Oct 10th 2011 !⃝

   He is suicidal and depressed. It's the greatest day he's ever known because he's going to kill himself that day. The angel wings metaphor means he knows he could have been a lot more than what he became and he knows it.
5. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   May 15th 2011 !⃝

   I thought it might have something to do with breast cancer.
   Pink Ribbon Scars ?

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
6. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Feb 8th 2011 !⃝

   the song is saying how he's suicidal and depressed but it's a good thing as ending his life will be the greatest day he's ever had. i think it's that anyway

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
7. Robsa

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Nov 3rd 2009 !⃝

   Obviously I'm not sure what Corgan was thinking when he wrote this song but I do not believe it's about suicide.
   "can't wait for tomorrow, I might not have that long" someone who is intending or even considering suicide would probably not use the word might there.
   As I said, I don't know what Corgan means by the song but to me it means that life today might not be everything you wanted or expected in life but you should enjoy it as if it were, not worry about others oppinions of how you choose to live (etc. because we're all human and ALL of our days are numbered, and who really knows how high that number is?...
   But, it may be yet another song about suicide, who knows... just doesn't quite sit right with me ;p take care!
8. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   May 31st 2009 !⃝

   "Can't live for tomorrow" I think means that he's (maybe) going to kill himself tomorrow. Several parts of the song (I'll burn my eyes out, I'll tear my heart out) hint at self-mutilation. Then maybe "Today is the greatest day I've ever known" means that he's enjoying his last day alive.
9. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Apr 21st 2009 !⃝

   It's about how your life is gone to hell but stilll it can't get any worse
10. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Jan 30th 2009 !⃝

    The song is about how today is the greatest day he's ever known because life can't get any worse.
    
    well, thats how i see it.
    Billy's just kind of fed up with whats around him, what hes made himself become.
11. xuh4983

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    Aug 25th 2008 !⃝

    This song I believe means the world is moving so fast and I meet new people and so do you but where I am is here and I always question where I am and think about it in a new way.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

Latest Articles

• 
  A new era for Millennial favorite, Linkin Park
• 
  Anime to watch for the soundtracks… and other reasons you’re undateable
• 
  Dolly, we need you
• 
  The Stranger Things Effect: How new media is drawing Gen Z and Alpha's attention to aging media
• 
  The most underrated soundtrack of the early 2000s
• 
  Buy the Soundtrack, Skip the Movie: Brainscan (1994)