Is “Smashing Young Man” Actually A Song About Billy Corgan Of The Smashing Pumpkins?
This has kinda been highly debated. Ed Roland has, when asked, consistently denied both the meaning behind the song and any animosity towards Corgan, stating that “Smashing Young Man” was actually inspired by Englanders’ use of the word “smashing” while Collective Soul was in London, and that they haven’t a problem with the Pumpkins’ music. Even so, this hypothetical anti-Pumpkins verse would not have been without provocation. Frontman Billy Corgan has publicly and viciously insulted Collective Soul, most notably with his claim that Collective Soul’s “Shine” is a rip-off of the Pumpkins’ “Rhinocerous.” [Just for the record, Smashing Pumpkins’ Gish, on which “Rhinocerous” appears, was released in 1991; Collective Soul’s “Shine” was resurrected from an old tape made by Ed Roland in 1987.] I actually heard later that Ed admitted it was about Corgan…so? Why Did Collective Soul Split Back In 1993 Ed Roland, after struggling for nearly 12 years to land a recording contract, most recently w
