Being Beige

"Being Beige"
Single by The Smashing Pumpkins
Album Lyrics Tabs Spotify
Released	October 20, 2014
Studio sessions	March-April 2014 – Pumpkinland II May 2014 – The Village Recorder and Pumpkinland II June-July 2014 – Pumpkinland II
Genre	Pop rock
Length	3:39
Label	BMG Martha's Music
Songwriter(s)	Billy Corgan
Producer(s)	Billy Corgan, Jeff Schroeder, Howard Willing
The Smashing Pumpkins singles chronology
"Panopticon" (2012) "Being Beige" (2014) "One and All (We Are)" (2014)
Monuments to an Elegy Tiberius Being Beige Anaise! One and All Run2me Drum + Fife Monuments Dorian Anti-Hero

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

“ A hot rocker that [producer] Howard [Willing] professed love for. "Ok," I said from beneath thick grandma wraparounds. "We'll try it." And like all those riff songs, they go around and around till the thrill is gone and then someone suggests (might have been me), "shouldn't there be, like, a chorus?" Eventually I'd tack one on, and it was good. Let there be light. ” — Billy Corgan, SP Nexus, April 1, 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, band leader Billy 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."

Music video

Official music video

As early as November, Billy Corgan alluded to a new Smashing Pumpkins music video, posting several pictures from a shoot on the Smashing Pumpkins' Instagram account. On January 16, the Smashing Pumpkins announced via Twitter that the music video was made for "Being Beige" and that it would premiere on January 19.

Directed by Brian and Brad Palmer, the video magnifies the surreal, dreamlike space of lost love experienced through the moment of an embrace, as twin bodies merge into one. It explores transcendence of oneself - into a new, limitless body of existence.

Lyrics

I don't love you
For what it's worth
So if you're leaving, can you hurt
Cherry blossom, this is goodbye
Come here lately and you'll fly
When they say what it's worth
The world tells you first
Then you know where to hurt
The world's on fire, so
The world's on fire, so
The world's on fire, so
Have you heard?

Lover let me please
Fall on down your knees
Lover let me please be the one
Know the prayers to make
For lovers made to fade
And when you swore to wait and only burst
The world's on fire, so
The world's on fire, so
The world's on fire, so
Have you heard?

Yes, I loved you
As a matter of fact
Your furs are wrapped up
And that's that

Lover let me please
Fall on down your knees
You once made me smile when you'd stray
The world's on fire, so
The world's on fire, so
The world's on fire, so
Have you heard?
The world's on fire
The world's on fire
The world's on fire
Have you heard?

Lover have you breached
To make for your release?
So I'll no longer err by your side
What's to hide?

The world's on fire
The world's on fire
Until I'm ready on Monday
The world's on fire
Until I'm ready on Tuesday
The world's on fire
Until I'm ready on Wednesday
The world's on fire
Until I'm ready on Thursday
The world's on fire
Until I'm ready on Friday
The world's on fire
Until I'm ready on Saturday
The world's on fire
Until I'm ready on Sunday

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."

Track listing

Promotional CD and download

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Being Beige"	Billy Corgan	3:39

Release history

Released	Label	Catalog ID	Format	Country	External sites
October 20, 2014	Martha's Music • BMG	PROMOBMG1085	CD	US	Discogs	MusicBrainz	[1]
2014	Martha's Music • BMG	PROMOBMG 1085	CD	UK	Discogs		[1]
October 21, 2014	BMG		Digital	US	Discogs	MusicBrainz	[1]

More releases: Discogs • MusicBrainz

Personnel

The Smashing Pumpkins

• Billy Corgan – vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, synthesizers
• Jeff Schroeder – guitar

Additional musicians

• Tommy Lee – drums

Availability

Title	Notes	Type
Being Beige	Promotional CD and download	Single
Monuments to an Elegy		Studio
London By Day		Live

Tour stats

• Total plays: 58 plays, 33 acoustic, 2 artists
• First performance: The Smashing Pumpkins 2014-11-26 at Thalia Hall, Chicago, IL, US
• Last performance: Billy Corgan 2016-05-13 at Madame ZuZu's, Highland Park, IL, US

External links

• "Being Beige" at SPFC