The Smashing Pumpkins — Today

JUL 01 1993 · 12:00

The Smashing Pumpkins — Today (1993) Director: Stéphane Sednaoui Era: Alternative Rock Mainstream Breakthrough (1993) - The year grunge and post-grunge alt-rock conquered MTV airplay, with Siamese Dream cementing The Smashing Pumpkins as one of the defining acts of the decade's rock landscape. Tier-1 canonical MTV artifact representing a precise convergence of directorial vision, band mythology, and cultural moment. The video's confirmed production details, documented location, sourced conceptual inspirations, and measurable commercial impact make it a high-priority preservation asset. Its role in breaking the Smashing Pumpkins into the mainstream, combined with Sednaoui's auteur credentials, renders it essential reference material for any serious study of 1990s music video history. Context: Released in September 1993 as the second single from Siamese Dream — the Smashing Pumpkins' major-label debut on Virgin Records — 'Today' arrived at a pivotal moment when alternative rock was completing its transition from underground culture to mainstream dominance in the wake of Nirvana's Nevermind. The song's surface jubilance masked deeply personal, dark subject matter; Corgan wrote it during a period of severe depression and suicidal ideation, creating an ironic tension between sound and meaning that became a hallmark of the era's confessional rock. The video's sun-soaked absurdism and road-trip iconography offered a distinctly American, almost naively utopian visual counterpoint to the song's lyrical darkness, contributing to the track's accessibility while allowing the band to retain artistic credibility. MTV's heavy rotation of the video was a direct catalyst for Siamese Dream's commercial ascent. Director notes: The 'Today' music video was filmed on August 29, 1993, in Taft, California, with opening shots outside the Taft Hardware building at 331 Center Street. The concept originated from Billy Corgan's memory of an ice cream truck driver who, upon quitting his job, distributed his remaining stock to neighborhood children. Sednaoui merged this with his own sensibilities inspired by Michelangelo Antonioni's film Zabriskie Point. The video was shot on intentionally low-quality photographic equipment — a deliberate stylistic decision consistent with other early Smashing Pumpkins videos. It debuted in September 1993, receiving significant MTV rotation and directly contributing to the mainstream success of the Siamese Dream album. The video was nominated for MTV Video Music Awards. It was later edited into the band's 1991–2000 Greatest Hits Video Collection (2001). Producer was Line Postmyr; executive producer was Devin Sarno.