The Oasis song all about not being political: “It’s not about us”
Oasis are hardly a political band, and they never have been. They’re not exactly the sort you would imagine using their platform to make some sort of political statement, that’s not saying that that’s because they lack the worldliness, intelligence or eloquence to do so, but it probably simply boils down to them simply not giving a fuck. Talking about politics and global affairs isn’t their bag, and they’ll proudly tell you that.
Today, that may well be frowned upon, especially given the current state of world affairs. Being given a platform to speak out about atrocities being committed not only across the world, but on home soil as well, means you should take the opportunity to use your voice and project it to the world for good, but when they released debut album Definitely Maybe in 1994, things were a little different. All anyone wanted was some feel-good rock anthems, and Oasis were there to provide just that.
That’s not to say that Noel Gallagher didn’t pen plenty of songs where the lyrics touched on themes of spiritualism, heartbreak and introspection, but it never teetered into providing a voice that speaks out about politics. At the end of the day, they didn’t believe that was in their remit, nor did they feel that there was any urgent requirement to use their voice to do so.
In fact, there was one song on their debut that actively tried to speak out against taking this stance entirely, and essentially outlined just why they didn’t ever want to become a political band. Directly opposing the position taken by frontmen like Bono of U2, who was becoming increasingly political around this time, the track ‘Up In The Sky’ is the band’s attempt at writing a blatantly apolitical anthem, and calls on people to stop looking up to rock stars as a possible source of wisdom regarding the state of the world.
In an interview with Melody Maker, Gallagher would attempt to justify the position that he outlined in the song’s lyrics, trying to distance himself and the rest of the band from making political statements. “It’s basically about people who think they’re the voice of a generation, or the figurehead of a movement,” the guitarist claimed. “It’s just saying, ‘Why are you lot down here looking up at him?’ This band is about the music; it’s about the songs. It’s not about us.”
He continued by giving a more personal viewpoint on whether he would ever reconsider this stance, issuing a stern warning to his bandmates about ever trying to find a way to wriggle any political beliefs into Oasis’ public image. “I wouldn’t ever make a political speech, and I’d sack anyone in a band who started doing that. We are overtly political once every five years, when we all go out and vote Labour. But then we turn around and go back to being a band again.”
Lyrically speaking, ‘Up In The Sky’ comes across as more of an attack on egotists who they perceive as wanting to change the world, with the opening line, “Hey you, up in the sky / Learning to fly, tell me how high / Do you think you’d go / Before you start falling” appears to be more wary of becoming high and mighty about politics in rock music. It might not necessarily succeed in being truly apolitical, but then again, what apolitical statement has ever had any substance to it?
