24 October, 2004

This is the story

The first 35 seconds of 'Some Might Say', from Oasis' 1995 album 'What's The Story (Morning Glory)?'.  Sublime.  Over the last couple of hours I've listened to this intro at least twenty times, (obsessive, me?), and the whole song three times.

For a long time, I was put-off this album and Oasis as a whole by media hype, but I finally bought it in a sale about a year ago, for 'Don't Look Back In Anger', one of my all-time favourite songs.  Hype aside, it's just a damn good album, with quality writing and musicianship, and overflowing with attitude.  It's a powerful contrast to the more intricate, occasionally even clinical music (no, that's unfair - it's emotive, just differently) I usually choose to hear.

Incidentally, 'Don't Look Back In Anger' is one of the few songs which strongly reminds me of a specific event, partly explaining its particular attraction.
In 1996, the BBC showed a wonderful drama series, 'Our Friends In The North', starring little known actors who have gone on to greater prominence (possibly because of this series): Christopher Eccleston, Gina McKee, Daniel Craig and Mark Strong.
As I explained earlier, weekly TV drama series were important escapism at that difficult time of my life, so the impact was intensified. I really looked forward to each episode, and didn't miss one, a loyalty I wouldn't dream of sustaining nowadays.
The premise was to follow the lives of four friends from Newcastle, from the Sixties to the present day, in nine episodes (1964, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1987, 1995), the end credits of which were accompanied by a contemporary pop hit from each year. As the final episode ended, an emotional moment, the song at number one on the broadcast date was played: 'Don't Look Back In Anger', which coincidentally fitted the context perfectly.