Soma (Smashing Pumpkins song)

"Soma", originally called "Coma"^[1], is a track on the album Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins. One of the few songs on Siamese Dream co-written with James Iha, it remains a fan favorite, though it was not released as a single. The song starts and ends very quietly, building to a powerful crescendo featuring a rather chaotic and virtuoso guitar solo. One of the longer songs to appear on a Smashing Pumpkins album, it is said to have included up to 40 guitar tracks over the course of the song. A Rolling Stone poll rated the guitar solo as the 24th best of all time.^[2] Lyrically, the song appears to reference Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, whence it is likely the song was named. The lyrics were written by Billy Corgan in reference to his break-up with then-girlfriend Chris Fabian. The song is an exercise in expressing both perspectives of a failed relationship, rather than taking the typical solipsistic approach found in many break-up related songs. The song itself expresses this through ambisexual vocal stylings and musical arrangements, shifting from a soft, relaxed style to crushingly heavy distortion towards the end, finally arriving again at the initial relaxed arrangement to close the song. Corgan says the song "is based on the idea that a love relationship is almost the same as opium: it slowly puts you to sleep, it soothes you, and gives you the illusion of sureness and security." ^[3] The song features a prominent piano figure by Mike Mills of R.E.M..

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