Thirty-Three (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Thirty-Three


Artist = The Smashing Pumpkins
from Album = Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Released = November 11, 1996
Format = CD
Recorded = 1995
Genre = Alternative rock
Length = 4:10
Label = Virgin Records
Writer = Billy Corgan
Producer = Flood, Alan Moulder and Billy Corgan
Chart position = * #2 (US Modern Rock Tracks)
* #18 (US Mainstream Rock Tracks)
* #21 (UK Singles Chart)
* #39 (US Billboard Hot 100)
Last single = "Muzzle"
(1996)
This single = "Thirty-Three"
(1996)
Next single = "The End Is the Beginning Is the End"
(1997)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Type = studio
prev_track = "Bodies"
prev_no = 16
this_track = "Thirty-Three"
track_no = 17
next_track = "In the Arms of Sleep"
next_no = 18

"Thirty-Three" is a song by The Smashing Pumpkins. It was the fifth and final single from their third album, "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness". It was also the first single released after the firing of Jimmy Chamberlin and death of Jonathan Melvoin. The song peaked at 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1996 and is the band's most recent top 40 hit.

ong

About the song, Billy Corgan said it was "A simple song in a country tuning" and was the first song written by Corgan after the "Siamese Dream" tour. The guitars recorded in the song are in the rather unorthodox tuning of EbGbDbGbBbEb (whereas normal tuning is EADGBE). The drum machine track is the exact same track Corgan recorded when he laid down the demo version of this song, because he 'couldn't remember how to recreate it' (Guitar World, 1997).

Corgan revealed on an August 24, 2000, taping of "VH1 Storytellers" he planned on making '33', '66', and '99', but only finished '33'.

When the band released their greatest hits collection in 2001, "Thirty-Three" made neither the international nor the US version. It was included, however, for the Greatest Hits Video Collection.

ingle release

At the time of its release, the plan to release the song as the album's final single was a point of disagreement for insiders. Sources close to the band claim that "Muzzle" was in fact due to be released as the final single, as is evidenced by the fact that a promotional single for the song was issued to radio stations worldwide. It is possible that the change was made because "Thirty-Three" is one of the few songs on the album that doesn't feature Jimmy Chamberlin's drums. Some have gone on to say that a music video was actually filmed for "Muzzle" with Chamberlin, but was never released. Billy Corgan has, however, denied this. [cite web
url=http://www.spfc.org/online/qualityposts.html?content_id=542
title= Listessa Interviews Billy Corgan
author=Daher, Karl
publisher=Listessa
date=1998-05-29
accessdate=2007-04-18] The band went on to perform "Muzzle" for their next television appearance on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" with replacement drummer, Matt Walker.

Music video

The music video for "Thirty-Three", directed both by Billy Corgan and girlfriend Yelena Yemchuk, is a series of images shot in stop-motion, ending with a re-enactment of the Mellon Collie album cover. Jimmy Chamberlin is notably absent from shots of the band. Because the group's videos so often avoid the literal interpretation of lyrics, the video for "Thirty-Three" was created with images closely related to the words of the song, as an intentional stylistic departure. [Commentary for "Thirty-Three" music video. "The Smashing Pumpkins 1991–2000: Greatest Hits Video Collection" (Virgin Records, 2001).]

Fans launched a large attack on the MTV show "Total Request Live" to have the song played on Billy Corgan's thirty third birthday in 2000. The project was not a success, failing to achieve enough requests, but was mentioned on air by host Carson Daly. Inside sources have, however, claimed that the video would have made the #3 spot, but MTV refused and claimed it as #11.Fact|date=July 2007

Meaning

The exact meaning of the song's lyrics are not certain. It has been speculated that the lyrics are a reference to Jesus Christ. The number thirty three being the age of Jesus's death and resurrection. Billy Corgan neither admitted nor denied this. [ [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3141 Thirty-Three by The Smashing Pumpkins Songfacts ] ]

B-sides

The b-side "The Last Song" features a guitar solo by Corgan's father, Billy Corgan Senior and was performed live only once, at the Pumpkins final show at Chicago's Cabaret Metro.

The b-side "My Blue Heaven" features piano by Keith Brown. Corgan has said that he found it hard to play someone else's song ("My Blue Heaven" was written in 1927 by George Whiting and Walter Donaldson), likely prompting him to call on Brown for help.

Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and Ivy fame contributed piano for the b-side "The Bells".

Formats and tracklisting

US Promo CD single (DPRO-11571) and UK Promo CD single (HUTCDP78)
#"Thirty Three" (Corgan) - 4:09

US Maxi-CD single (V25F-38574, 7243 8 38574 2 5) and UK CD single CD1 (7243 8 93909 2 6, HUTCD 78)
#"Thirty Three" (Corgan) - 4:09
#"The Last Song" (Corgan) – 3:55
#"The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right)" (Corgan) – 8:31
#"Transformer" (Corgan) – 3:25

UK CD single CD2 (7243 8 93910 2 2, HUTDX 78)
#"Thirty Three" (Corgan) - 4:09
#"The Bells" (James Iha) – 2:17
#"My Blue Heaven" (George Whiting/Walter Donaldson) – 3:20

CD single from The Aeroplane Flies High box set (7243 8 93915 2 7) and Japanese promo CD single (VJCP-15019)
#"Thirty Three" (Corgan) - 4:09
#"The Last Song" (Corgan) – 3:55
#"The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right)" (Corgan) – 8:31
#"Transformer" (Corgan) – 3:25
#"The Bells" (James Iha) – 2:17
#"My Blue Heaven" (George Whiting/Walter Donaldson) – 3:20

=Cover

Footnotes