Smash Mouth And Smashing Pumpkins Are Beefing About ‘Shrek’ And The World Is Cooked
Hey now, what the hell is going on?
Open your file of Ridiculous Beefs and place this one right at the top: we’ve landed at the most needless feud of 2018.
As all stupid beefs do, this one starts with Billy Corgan — so let’s dive right in. A few days ago, the Smashing Pumpkins frontman was in the middle of an Instagram Q&A when he revealed that his band was initially approached to be a part of the now-iconic Shrek soundtrack.
More specifically, the band was apparently asked to contribute a song that would play during the end credits of the movie. If you’ve seen the movie, you’d know that meme-rockers Smash Mouth ultimately performed the song in the final scene — their cover of The Monkees’ ‘I’m A Believer’.
“SP fact: we were offered the end credit song for Shrek 1 but the offer was withdrawn and given to Smashmouth [sic] who had hit with Monkees song,” Corgan wrote on Instagram. He added that the song they would have chosen was their 2001 track ‘Untitled’.
However, Smash Mouth had quite a different version of events to Corgan. The ska band responded quickly on Twitter, writing that Dreamworks had consistently chased them to be in the soundtrack.
“Actually we said no and Michael Austin from Dreamworks kept calling,” the band wrote. “That went on for over a month. We assume multiple bands we’re asked. If it feeds Billy’s ego to think they we’re [sic] first let him think that. Def would have been a darker approach.”
Actually we said no and Michael Austin from Dreamworks kept calling. That went on for over a month. We assume multiple bands we’re asked. If it feeds Billy’s ego to think they we’re first let him think that. Def would have been a darker approach. @THE_EELS are on it & others.
— Smash Mouth (@smashmouth) August 16, 2018
They added (probably because they knew what was coming) that they had “no beef” with Corgan. But because Corgan is Corgan, it was only a matter of time before the beef began.
“Facts are facts,” he wrote on Instagram in answer to a fan’s question about the whole debacle. “And the fact that we were pushed aside for what became a big hit for them is hardly a diss on the other side. And I told the band this story 16 years ago.”
At the time of writing, Smash Mouth have yet to respond.
I never thought I’d say this, but thank god Smash Mouth beat Smashing Pumpkins to the table. Here’s what the ending of Shrek would have sounded like if Pumpkins had gotten in:
Thank god for Smash Mouth.