| "So Much" | ||||
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| Single byPeter Gabriel | ||||
| from the albumI/O | ||||
| Released |
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| Length | 4:50 | |||
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| Songwriter | Peter Gabriel | |||
| Producer | Peter Gabriel | |||
| Peter Gabriel singles chronology | ||||
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"So Much" is a song by English musicianPeter Gabriel, released in July 2023 as the seventh single in promotion of his tenth studio albumI/O. Similar to other singles from the album, "So Much" was released to coincide with a full moon, starting with the Dark-Side Mix produced byTchad Blake. Later in the month, two additional mixes created byMark 'Spike' Stent and Hans-Martin Buff were released.[1]
He started the song between 2015 and 2016 with the intention of writing something with a simple chorus that "still had a bit of character to it".[2] He first revealed the song's title in 2020 when he responded to an article byPhillip Collins inThe Times. In his response, Gabriel described "So Much" as a "getting old song".[3] Gabriel said that the song was about mortality and aging. He selected the title of "So Much" due to his "addiction to new ideas and all sorts of projects."[4]
I get excited by things and want to jump around and do different things. I love being in a mess of so much! And yet it also means there's just so much time, or whatever it is, available. Balancing them both is what the song is about.[4]
Gabriel claimed in his Full Moon Update that the song was a bit polarizing, that "it will split an audience" "about 50/50" with those who love it and those who don't care for it.[5] According to Gabriel,Tchad Blake called it "the best thing that he has ever done."[5]
In addition to Blake's Dark-Side mix, a Bright-Side mix and In-Side mix, created byMark 'Spike' Stent and Hans-Martin Buff respectively, were released on 17 July 2023. The Bright-Side mix included more prominent cello, bass, and guitar during the intro.[2] Another mix of the song, dubbed the "Guitar Version), was oriented around electric guitararpeggios played byDavid Rhodes and also featured extrareverb and keyboards. Gabriel explained that he attempted to take the song in a different direction due to his belief thati/o "had enough piano". He later decided that the piano version felt more personal, so he reverted back to that arrangement.[2]
Henry Hudson created the cover artwork, titledSomewhere Over Mercia.[1] The artwork features a yellow horizontal line imposed over an indigo sky. Gabriel gravitated towards Hudson's work withexpressionist artwork surrounding horizons and said that Hudson wanted to undercut the horizon with a yellow streak so that it would seep into the rest of the painting. He believed that the cover artwork possessed "good symbolism" with how it conveyed an "infinite horizon" with a boundary.[6]
| Chart (2023) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| German Downloads (Offizielle Download Top 100)[7] | 85 |
| UK Singles Downloads (OCC)[8] | 69 |