Oasis
Let's face it, life in the North is grim and rubbish. The only jobs are in call centres, banks and other service industries gouging a living from the other poor inhabitants of your own region.
The weather is a grey twilight with damp cold icy winds that can cut through a car window chill you to the bone.
Huge motorways were driven through the heart of every one of the small low stunted cities of the north by idiot urban planners taking backhanders from concrete firms, and any surviving buildings with character were torn down and replaced by blocks of flats and car parks. There is absolutely nothing to be proud of or happy about.
Life was bleak, even for someone like me who had managed to get to university. My university course (Arty Farty Arts) wasn't going to lead anywhere except back to the world of Mcjobs with a lot more debt.
Into this grizzly world came a song that really spoke to me, “Cigarettes and Alcohol” by Oasis.
I didn't smoke but I was embracing this low-rent hedonism in my own way already. For me it was more like Pizza and Alcohol.
The song recognised the futility of most people's lives in the North, and a lot of other places as well I guess. But it also identified that getting drunk wasn't just an escape, it was more than that. I'm not sure exactly what, but definitely more than just an escape.
There was a lot of rubbish in the media at the time about Blur vs Oasis. I think history has conclusively given Oasis the nod in that little scuffle. Blur were clever and had nice videos, but they didn't have whatever it was Oasis had.
Oasis were serious about the subjects they tackled, they weren't knowing. That sort of straightforward observation of life isn't clever. But if that strange gormless serious band hits the nail on the head it'll raise the hairs on the back of your neck.
Even my girlfriend who had been backing Blur in the bygone britpop battle melted when she heard “Champagne Supernova” used in an episode of “The OC”.
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