Lyric discussion by saturnine_drown 

Cover art for I of the Mourning lyrics by Smashing Pumpkins, The

I'm surprised nobody else thought of this. The way Isee it is that this song is about the acceptance of his Mom's passing away. Look at the way the title os spelled...it's not Morning its Mourning. As in mourning the loss of someone. I of the Mourning is like Billy saying that he is one of the mourning now. He knows what it is to mourn. So now the lyrics:

"I peer thru curtains on empty streets Behind a wall of caller i.d. No one's out there To hear if I care About the troubles in the air" - He feels alone, he doesn't have his mother to listen to his thoughts and ideas anymore.

"As I of the morning now come Pick up where my thoughts left off Cause i'm home to die on my own" - Mourning is now just morning, as in a regular day, he's picking up where his thoughts left off before his Mom's passing, and now he realises she's gone and he's by himself.

"I blow the dust off my guitars In the attic with the stars I read your letters to feel better My tears upon the fading ink" - By blowing the dust of his guitars, he's going back to something that brings him happyness...music. The letters he's reading are from his Mother, he reads them to remind himself of her, but it makes him sad because she's gone. The fading ink means he's kept the letters all this time, he really loved her.

"I sit in the dark light To wait for ghost night To bring the past alive To make a toast to life Cause I have survived" - He's waiting for the day he dies(ghost night), so he can be reunited with his Mother(to bring the past alive). But they day he dies, he'll make a toast to his life, because he survived...he got through his Mom's death and found happyness again.

"What is it you want? What is it you want to change? What is it you want? What is it you want to change? What is it you want to change?" - Would he have changed anything about the past?

"Radio" appearing so much throughout the chorus and other lyrics are just referencing the only good thing left in his life, music. He's talking to his Radio because its the only thing he has. He's using the radio as a means to vent his anger and sadness.

This song is easily my favourite from Machina. Machina as a whole is an amazing album. One of the best the Pumpkins ever released. It's a very sad song, but as it goes on, the feeling picks up, eventually making you feel good. Billy Corgan is an amazing poet with his lyrics, and this song really shows that. Hope you guys like my review!