Noel Gallagher discusses Oasis’ most nonsensical song: “What the fuck is all that about?”
In 1994, Oasis shook a generation with the release of their debut album, Definitely Maybe. The record launched the group into stardom and offered financial repair for Alan McGee’s Creation Records after the debts ensued during the expensive and meticulous recording of My Bloody Valentine’s less commercially successful masterpiece, Loveless, released on the label three years before.
From day one, the Gallagher brothers had struck a chord not only with their beloved Manchester scene but the whole of the UK, thanks to their fresh and accessible take on the early 1990s’ return to guitar-driven rock music. As they began work on their second album, they set their sights higher with ambitions of conquering the global arena.
(What’s the Story) Morning Glory? arrived in 1995 as a more refined set of rock anthems and ballads that honed in on the successful “huge” chorus formula that elevated tracks like ‘Live Forever’ and ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ in the debut album. The rapturous and emotional sound of such tracks is a surefire way to get arms swaying and hearts throbbing in sold-out arena tours, but do the lyrics mean anything? Rarely, but Noel would argue that this doesn’t matter.
Of all of Noel’s nonsensical yet evocative lyrical formations – and there are many – ‘Champagne Supernova’ is perhaps the prime suspect. As a child, I remember enjoying the song but wondering how someone could amble down a hall but still outpace a cannonball. For that matter, how can one be caught beneath a landslide in the sky? The only answer I could conjure was drugs, lots and lots of drugs.
Speaking to SiriusXM’s ’90s alternative station Lithium to celebrate the 25th anniversary of (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?, Noel recalled playing ‘Champagne Supernova’ during a recent gig and wondering what the hell his younger self was broadcasting in such ludicrous lyrics.
“I was on my last tour, and I was playing ‘Champagne Supernova’,” he said. “That song is so long, and I often find myself drifting off enjoying the song and thinking, ‘What fucking does it mean?’ You know, ‘Walking down the hall faster than a cannonball.’ What the fuck is all that about? And I should know, ’cause I wrote it, and I haven’t got a clue. And it was somewhere in the north of England that I happened to glance up at the crowd”.
He continued: “It was just a sea of teenagers, all young lads, all with their tops off on each other’s shoulders, singing the words of a nonsensical song by a band that were broke up when — they were two years old when the band fucking broke up. So I think to myself sometimes, you know, ‘That’s what it means.’ Because we recorded it, and it was written while we were still relatively young. It still appeals to young people, and it’s gone through three or four generations now.”
Listen to Oasis’ nonsensical 1995 anthem ‘Champagne Supernova’ below.
