麻豆约拍

Picked by The People鈥檚 Songs to represent the rise of 鈥榣addism鈥� culture in the 鈥�90s, Oasis鈥� hit certainly seems, on the surface, to be a celebration of mindless hedonism. Yet, perhaps there is something a little deeper going on in this in-yer-face ode to leisure activities, despite what people may now feel about the Gallagher brothers鈥� contribution to Western culture.

The fourth single from what remains their greatest album: their first, Definitely Maybe, this was Oasis giving us their rawest incarnation. Clich茅 dictates that at this point we should mention 鈥榮wagger鈥� and 鈥榓ttitude,鈥� and Liam鈥檚 delivery is about as punk as you can get, but if the lyrics are examined you begin to see the socio-political context that informed Noel Gallagher鈥檚 rocking composition.

Here鈥檚 a song about the inevitability of drink and drugs in a post-Thatcher, Blairite society that had gained all the material benefits of economic prosperity yet seemed to have lost any idea of social cohesion. For working class lads with plenty of cash but little sense of belonging, the song seems to say, what else is there, but the rampant egoism of 鈥榯he white line鈥�? It wasn鈥檛 a pretty or remotely optimistic message, but this was the post Britpop world: obsessed with labels and celebrity and filled with class A drugs.

With hindsight, we can probably discount the band鈥檚 label boss, Alan McGee鈥檚 inane boast that 鈥楥igarettes & Alcohol鈥� was 鈥渙ne of the greatest social statements of the past 25 years.鈥� However it IS true that the searing T.Rex/Sex Pistols amalgam that (as always) drew numerous claims of plagiarism was a brilliantly distillation of all the above issues and - as is often the case - the truth can hurt. Even the aforementioned charges of plagiarism (Chuck Berry and even Humble Pie get referenced here) seem apposite in a post-modern world where even the sanctity of creative ideas becomes redundant. Noel Gallagher may be no poet, but he鈥檚 as honest as the day is long鈥�