Being Beige

"Being Beige"
Song

"Being Beige" is the first single from The Smashing Pumpkins's tenth album Monuments to an Elegy. The track was released through SoundCloud on October 20, 2014.

Background and recording

The song was first mentioned on the Smashing Pumpkins' website under the working title "World's On Fire," and later under the title "Being Beige (World's On Fire)."

Speaking of the song with Rolling Stone, Corgan said "People always ask me to explain songs, and honestly I can't. But if there's honesty in this lyric, it's that there's something amiss in our cosmos. Yet still, we must love."

Reception

The song has received fairly positive feedback. Rolling Stone said that though the song "has a simple title... its acoustic guitar and drum machine intro builds toward an urgent, memorable chorus."

Chicago Reader said "Corgan seems remarkably placid on this new cut. It sounds like Monuments... won't be a retread of the Pumpkins' "rat in a cage" days. Corgan's putting his rage behind him in favor of a slow, piano-accented build toward the heights of songs like "Perfect" or the more energetic selections from his early-aughts stint with Zwan."

The 405 said "...the track features some pretty acoustic guitar arpeggios over mist-like drum machine sounds in its quieter moments, livening up to a crashing wave kineticism with sweeps of distorted guitar and aching melodies, as the vocals paint a stumbling melody over these sounds, layering towards the end in a maintained crescendo."

Personnel

• Billy Corgan – vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards and synthesizers
• Jeff Schroeder – guitar
• Tommy Lee – drums