So in the spirit of trying to blog more I figured I’d chronicle my Facebook 30 Day Song Challenge here.  I started it today, and day one is your favorite song.  Which, what?!  Who actually has one favorite song.  I have lots of songs that, depending on the day, I’d call awesome, or amazing, or fantastic, but probably not my favorite.  Still, the first song that came into my head was the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight,” off their album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.

I started listening to the Smashing Pumpkins when I was a sophomore in high school, which is right around the time when I began developing my current taste in music.  I listened to a lot of Radiohead, Tori Amos, R.E.M., etc., but when I was riding the bus or doing homework or alone at night in my room with the lights off (yes I did this, yes I thought I was so deep) I listened to the Smashing Pumpkins.

A friend of mine put the appeal of “Tonight, Tonight” very nicely, describing it as grand and sweeping yet also personal and intimate.  I think this describes a lot of classic Smashing Pumpkins, but this is the song to which I always return.  Also, it doesn’t hurt that the musical video is absolutely incredible–Steampunk before Steampunk ever existed, and still a timeless example of music video artistry.  It probably wouldn’t surprise any of you if I told you that the Smashing Pumpkins were a formative part in the development of certain aesthetics I like to costume in from time to time (ie: elegant Goth, Steampunk, black eyeliner, lots of it).  Also, it looks like Lady Gaga took a few tips from this video–“Bad Romance” anybody?  Anyways, enjoy!