"Well, originally it was, it was 'Shiva' with an h, and that's the god of, like... destruction and- sex... and uh, then I kinda read about it and I realized that was not what I wanted for the song, I didn't want it to be identified with a specific god, it has more to do with, like, you know there's yin and yang and there's shiva and shaki, and so it's like the male aspect of Hinduism. And that's not really what the song's -about-, but... it's hard to explain." -BC (120 minutes)

"Siva's probably the first Smashing Pumpkins song where I felt, "OK, I'm on to something." I wrote the riff one day sitting in my used record store job- I used to just sit there & play acoustic all day, I wrote it on an acoustic guitar- and all I had was the "neneneneneh, neh neh, neeh." And finally I felt like, OK, I've got the heaviness I'm looking for, but it doesn't sound like heavy metal. And that was the sort of turning point for the Smashing Pumpkins, 'cause we were able to play heavy metal style, which I'd grown up in, but it didn't come across as heavy metal- it was a little bit sexier & a little bit darker." -BC, Matt Pinfield interview, Nov. 2011

"A misspell on Shiva the inhaler, the loving destroyer. A riff born whilst working away at the used record store on Broadway, watching humanity walk by dying. A prototyped blueprint of many that would follow. A breakthrough; finding the perfect light, capturing our essence that matches street power against eternal grace. Laced with LSD visions of making love by the glow of the streetlight blasting into my room on the second floor, illuminating the night. Christmas lights strung along where the pictures should be." -BC, Gish 2011 re-issue liner notes

i spin off and lose my head
throwing stray a spark instead
gather strength down in my heel
and dig in the world i peel

way down deep beneath my heart
lies a soul that's torn apart
tell me, tell me what you're after
i just want to get there faster

i don't live, i inhale
i don't give, i unveil
don't wanna live in your misery
i don't live, i inhale

sprinkle all my kisses on your head
stars full of wishes fill our beds
she said, "i'm dead"

all this pain smothers me
like a bomb that you can't see
tell me, tell me what you're after
i just want to get there faster

i don't live, i inhale
i don't give, i unveil
i don't live, i inhale
i don't live

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

Gish (x2)   (buy )
Siva
Peel Sessions   (buy )
Siamese Dream   (buy )
Greatest Hits (Rotten Apples)   (buy )
Rarities and B-Sides   (buy )
Gish (promo)
Rhinoceros (promo)
Peel Sessions (promo)
La Saga Racontee Par Max, De Fun Radio (promo)
(Promotional Music Video Tapes) (promo)
The Smashing Pumpkins 1991-1998 (promo)
23 Minutes
Vieuphoria   (buy )
Greatest Hits Video Collection: 1991-2000 (x2)   (buy )
Flyin' Through Sunday
Strange Fruit: Hut Recordings/Peel Sessions
VARIOUS ARTISTS: Indie Top 20 (Volume 13)
Live at Kawasaki 2.24.92
The Rubano Tapes Vol. 1
Guitar Tribute to the Smashing Pumpkins   (buy )
Ghost Children: A Tribute To The Smashing Pumpkins

1997
4/12/1994 + candles set
The Aeroplane Flies Underground (x2)
A La Mode Vol. 2
Astoria '94
The Black Sessions (Sangatte)
Black Sessions (Alley Kat) (x2)
Bury Me
The Cutting Edge
Daydream Kisses
Disarm the Pumpkins
Disconnect
Do The Riot Thing
Drown
Europe 1994
Exit Under Burning Skies
Feeling Like a Smashed Pumpkin
Fishing Blue
From the Mixing Desk
The GM Place
Halloween Party
Halloween Tools
Hot Lolla!
I'm All Alone
In The Belly Of The Beast (x2)
Live At Reading '95
London 1994
Man of Light
Mashed Potatoes
Mayonaise Dream
Melodies
Not Plugged In
Out of Focus
Party All Night
Pisces Iscariot + Friends
Pluggelectric
Rawk
Reading Festival 1995
Redrum
Retrospective (x2)
Rhinocerous
The Second To Last Gig Ever!
Shine
The Singles and More
SlapHead's Revenge
Smashed
Smashing Pumpkins - Live
Smashing the Puppets
Soul Sacrifice
Spaceboy
Spaceboy (cover with baby and pumpkin)
Spaceboys
Spaceboys (cover with baby and pumpkin)
Tribute to Blue Oyster Cult (BOC) - (Live Storm)
Tribute to Blue Oyster Cult (BOC) - (Sugarcane)
Turpentine Kisses
Unbereable
Unplugged (100% Pure Acoustic Performances)
Virgins
Waiting For the Past
Wanna Go For A Ride
We Are From Another Planet
We Can Work It Out
Whatever
Wrapped Up In The Pleasures Of The World

total: 93 (24 on official releases, 69 boots)

iTunes

1351044

Billy Corgan

On the Peel Sessions version, you can hear conversation starting at 4:09- D'Arcy says she stepped on something, then Billy counts up to 4 for the re-entry.