For those die-hard music fans among you, you’ll know that Oasis are gearing up for a long-awaited reunion tour in July. Followers of the iconic rock band waited in lengthy queues when tickets dropped, eager to snag access to the eagerly anticipated concert that’s now merely weeks away from happening.
But, even after gripping the world with their tunes since 1991, it appears many fans have been left scratching their heads over the songs they belt out. Take “Champagne Supernova”, for instance – the track is shrouded in mystery, leaving fans puzzled about its true meaning for decades.
A hot topic arose on Reddit concerning this lyrical conundrum, where one user confessed: “Champagne Supernova is my favourite Oasis song, my favourite Britpop song, my favourite song of the 90s, my favourite ‘insert category’ song.
“But, despite consistently remaining one of the fan favourites of the band (Noel says it’s the only song they’ve played at every gig since it was written), nobody’s really sure what the hell it means.”
The conversation ignited a cascade of speculation amongst Oasis fans, each adding their personal spin on how they view the song. One fan expressed their undying adoration, saying: “It is probably my favourite song of ALL time. I never get tired of hearing it and, for a song of over seven minutes, that says a lot.”
They added: “As far as the lyrical meaning behind the song, Noel once said it means something different to everyone. The opening line ‘how many special people change’ is an extremely emotional and powerful lyric that makes me think of people I have been very close to at a moment in time, and realise how far apart and different we have become.
“It’s a reminder that people change and, once they change, you can never go back to those times because they are a moment in time. People grow up, move away and start families and this song always reminds me that you may not have the person, but you will always have the memories.”
Another individual interpreted the song as a nod to the inevitable drifting apart of friends, adding: “I think it’s about friends growing apart as they get older – something we all have to experience at some point in our lives. I think this song is Noel saying ‘I miss you’ to whoever this friend was.”
Someone else wrote: “‘How many special people change?’ Always been a super powerful line in my opinion. We have all experienced that at one time.”
Meanwhile, one more chimed in with: “Amazon music says he had a house that he named ‘Supernova Heights’, so that explains a very lot that made no sense before.
“It also makes the rest of the song sort of fall into place, right? He was partying at the house with someone, and someone else didn’t show, and he missed them. It never mattered that it didn’t make sense, I liked the song, but always wondered.”
What does Champagne Supernova actually mean?
Champagne Supernova, one of the many hits from Oasis’ acclaimed album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, has long been a fan favourite. Despite critics initially dismissing Noel Gallagher’s lyrics as “nonsensical”, the songs on the album, penned by Gallagher himself, have stood the test of time.
Deciphering the Mancunian’s iconic lyrics can be challenging, but that hasn’t stopped the tracks from gaining immense popularity. Champagne Supernova, which concludes the album, is particularly beloved.
Over the years, fans have pondered over the meaning of a champagne supernova, and how one could possibly walk slower yet faster than a cannonball. It appears the song is simply a blend of random thoughts that came to Noel.
Reports suggest that the song’s title was inspired when Noel misheard the name of the Pixies album Bossanova while watching a documentary about champagne. In 2009, he shed some light on the cryptic lyrics “slowly walking down the hall, faster than a cannonball.”
In an interview with The Sunday Times, he confessed: “I don’t f***ing 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.”
The lyrics may hold no specific meaning, but the song has touched many people globally. In a candid 1995 interview, Noel revealed: “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 interpretation of the song’s significance seems fluid, yet it was also born out of a sense of disappointment. He added: “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? F*** all.”