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Snail

"Snail's one of those songs, maybe in a different era would've been probably more of a pretty acoustic song. But we were hell-bent on sort of making really loud music. So it's this kind of, it's very influenced obviously by 60s psychedelia, the lyrics & all this flower, & snails, & sunshine & all this stuff. But we're trying to find this way of playing at a really high volume, so it's almost like playing electrified folk music or something. The other thing I would point out is, the drums were done in one take. And, the direction would've been something like this to Jimmy: "OK, y'know, at the end, just go off." And so every time Jimmy would quote-unquote "go off", he would play something completely different, so whatever he does on that one particular take is so stunning- I mean, he plays such an incredible drum take at the end, that when we got to the end, we were like, "OK, that's it, you're not gonna do any bettern." And so, that's kinda the world we lived in. I mean, now, it'd almost be unfathomable in the Pro-Tool world, you'd have to do it 47 times and chop it all up. But there you have this perfectly imperfect take of Jimmy just- again, before the consciousness, before the indie world descends on us, before we're held up into the light of the mainstream world & the New York press- there's us, just making this kind of raw, power music. Which is not heavy metal, it's not really alternative music of the time, what is it? It's this kind of sunshine-fueled power music, or something." -BC, Matt Pinfield interview, Nov. 2011

"7 dreams. 7 and 7 is? 7. A girl I've named 'Flower.' She puts the sun on her tongue, tastes the stars like snowflakes. The height of who we would have been if we didn't always need to have more, and more, and then some more. The last of the innocents here. The drums are cut in one take, in a flurry of savant madness. His nose is broken, busted open in chivalry of cause. A siren calls to a snail who moves far too slow. But no one can catch him, so he moves fast enough I suppose. An electric guitar is held in front of the amp on fire until the glue shakes loose from the wood, and the tubes light up into phosphorescent blue. Hearts explode into diamonds, spades, clubs, and hollow rings." -BC, Gish 2011 re-issue liner notes

 

Lyrics

all your seven dreams
are closer than you believe
as your things come undone
see you are the only one

flower, seize the hour the day away
waiting, waiting for your way away

when you wake up your own way
throwing your life away
softly siren coming home
siren snail
it's what you wait for

flower, the pain will wash away, away
when the sun shines
and climbs through your window
into your bed

when you wake up your own way
throwing your life away
softly siren coming home
siren snail
yeah, that's my home

flower, save the hours
flower, away

it's what you wait for
flower, chase the sunshine
flower, chase the sunshine
flower

  Studio

Dec 1990 - Mar 1991 - Smart Studios (Gish recordings)

Availability

Gish (x3)   (buy [amazon.com])
Gish (promo)
Vieuphoria   (buy [amazon.com])
Live at Kawasaki 2.24.92

4/12/1994 + candles set
The Aeroplane Flies Underground
Daydream Kisses
Fishing Blue (x2)
From the Mixing Desk
Man of Light
Mashed Potatoes
Melodies
Out of Focus
Party All Night
Rawk
Retrospective
Shine (x2)
Smashed (x2)
Spaceboy (cover with baby and pumpkin)
Spaceboys (cover with baby and pumpkin)
Tribute to Blue Oyster Cult (BOC) - (Live Storm)
Tribute to Blue Oyster Cult (BOC) - (Sugarcane)
Virgins

total: 28 (6 on official releases, 22 boots)

Extra Links

iTunes

 

BMI Number
1361218

Writing Credits
Billy Corgan



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