B-side "Slide Away" Format CD | Released 13 May 1996 Recorded May 1995 | |
Genre Britpop, psychedelic rock Length 7:27 (album version)
5:08 (radio edit) | ||
"Champagne Supernova" is a song by English rock band Oasis, written by guitarist Noel Gallagher. The seven-minute anthem is the closing track on the record-breaking album (What's the Story) Morning Glory?. Though only released as a single in Australia, U.S., Canada, France and New Zealand in 1996, a music video directed by Nigel Dick was released to music channels and, as a result, the song received significant television and radio airplay.
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The song was released in the U.S. as a radio single to great success, becoming the band's second No. 1 single on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. It also peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay, becoming the band's third top 40 single on that chart. The song is considered a fan-favourite and has received widespread critical acclaim. The song is also included on Oasis' compilation album Stop the Clocks and on the U.S. release of Time Flies... 1994–2009. Guest guitar and backing vocals are provided by Paul Weller.
Background
Noel Gallagher claimed, in a 2005 interview, that he has still not made up his mind as to what the song actually is about. He had this to say about the song's lyrical content in the NME interview on September 30, 1995:
Some of the lyrics were written when I was out of it. There's the words: 'Someday you will find me/ Caught beneath a landslide/ In a Champagne Supernova in the sky'. That's probably as psychedelic as I'll ever get. It means different things when I'm in different moods. When I'm in a bad mood being caught beneath a landslide is like being suffocated. The song is a bit of an epic. It's about when you're young and you see people in groups and you think about what they did for you and they did nothing. As a kid, you always believed the Sex Pistols were going to conquer the world and kill everybody in the process. Bands like The Clash just petered out. Punk rock was supposed to be the revolution but what did it do? Fuck all. The Manchester thing was going to be the greatest movement on earth but it was fuck all. When we started we decided we weren't going to do anything for anybody, we just thought we'd leave a bunch of great songs. But some of the words are about nothing. One is about Bracket The Butler who used to be on Camberwick Green, or Chipley or Trumpton or something. He used to take about 20 minutes to go down the hall. And then I couldn't think of anything that rhymed with 'hall' apart from 'cannonball'. so I wrote 'Slowly walking down the hall/ Faster than a cannonball' and people were like, 'Wow, man'. There's also the line 'Where were you while we were getting high?' because that's what we always say to each other. But the number of people who've started clubs called Champagne Supernova is fucking unbelievable. And the album isn't even released yet.
In a 2009 interview, Noel told the following anecdote:
This writer, he was going on about the lyrics to "Champagne Supernova", and he actually said to me: ‘You know, the one thing that’s stopping it being a classic is the ridiculous lyrics.’ And I went: ‘What do you mean by that?’ And he said: ‘Well, Slowly walking down the hall, faster than a cannonball — what’s that mean?’ And I went: ‘I don’t know. But are you telling me, when you’ve got 60,000 people singing it, they don’t know what it means? It means something different to every one of them.’
Live performances
The song was played at the majority of Oasis concerts. Noel Gallagher has stated that "I think it's the only song, that since it was written, that we've played every night." During the Morning Glory Tour in 1995/96 and the Be Here Now Tour in 1997/98 the song's ending was usually stretched out by often 5 or so minutes, with Noel Gallagher playing a long improvised guitar solo. An example of one of these performances can be seen on the DVD ...There and Then.
Oasis performed the song at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards, with lead vocalist Liam Gallagher making rude gestures at brother Noel as he was playing his guitar solo, then spitting beer all over the stage before storming off. At Oasis' Knebworth performance, John Squire performed guitar.
After Noel's abrupt departure from the band in August 2009, "Champagne Supernova" became the last original song Oasis performed live together. As usual, the band ended their last set with a cover of The Beatles' "I Am the Walrus".
Alternate versions
Brendan Lynch was hired to produce an alternate mix and a remix. The alternate mix was eventually released on the Deluxe Edition of (What's the Story) Morning Glory? while the remix was issued on the b-side on a promo-only 12" of Oasis's cover of "Cum On Feel the Noize". Known as the "Lynchmob Beats Mix", this remix has been reissued on promotional material for Oasis's "best of" album Stop the Clocks.
Live versions of the track were released on ...There and Then, and Familiar to Millions.
A 'clean' version, editing out the 'waves' effects at the start of the track was released on 'Assorted' - a free CD issued with the January 1996 edition (No. 113) of Q magazine. It is also available on the Time Flies... 1994–2009 retrospective collection.
Covers
Track listing
1996 single (US: Epic ESK 7719, SME 11-003393-17, France: Helter Skelter SAMP 3393)
- "Champagne Supernova" (Radio Edit) - 5:08
- "Champagne Supernova" (Album Version) - 7:28
1996 CD Maxi (Australia: SME 663344 1)
- "Champagne Supernova" (Radio Edit) - 5:08
- "Champagne Supernova" (Album Version) - 7:31
- "Slide Away" - 6:29