Jimmy Knutson

Released in 1996 as the second single from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, “1979” became the Smashing Pumpkins' biggest American hit, reaching No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on both the Modern Rock Tracks and Mainstream Rock Tracks charts. The album was eventually certified 10× Platinum in the United States. “1979” was almost left off the album: producer Flood gave Corgan a final deadline to complete the unfinished song or remove it from the record. Corgan went home, finished the lyrics that night, and returned the next day with a new demo that convinced Flood to keep it. Billy Corgan wrote the track as a nostalgic reflection on adolescence and the transition into adulthood. Although the title refers specifically to the year Corgan was 12, the song is less a literal autobiography than an idealised reflection on what it felt like to be young.