Champagne Supernova

For the astronomical event observed in 2003, named after the song, see SN 2003fg.

"Champagne Supernova"
Single by Oasis
from the album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? and A Bug's Life: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack
B-side	"Slide Away"
Released	13 May 1996
Format	CD
Genre	Britpop, psychedelic rock
Length	7:27 (album version) 5:08 (radio edit)
Label	Creation Walt Disney (A Bug's Life version)
Writer(s)	Noel Gallagher
Producer	Owen Morris Randy Newman (A Bug's Life version)
Certification	Gold (RIAA)
Oasis singles chronology
"Don't Look Back in Anger" (1996) "Champagne Supernova" (1996) "D'You Know What I Mean?" (1997)
Stop the Clocks track listing "Morning Glory" (16) "Champagne Supernova" (17) "Don't Look Back in Anger" (18) Audio sample file info · help

"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, France, New Zealand a music video directed by Nigel Dick^[1] was released to music channels and, as a result, the song received much television and radio airplay. The song was released in the U.S. as a radio single and enjoyed great success there, 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.

History

Noel Gallagher claimed, in a 2005 interview, that he has still not made up his mind as to what the song actually is about, though he thinks it might be about reincarnation.^{[citation needed]}

Noel Gallagher then had this to say about the song's lyrical content on the band's official website:

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/ ln 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, fuck , 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 fucking 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.’^[2]

Alternative versions

An official remix of the song was produced by Brendan Lynch, and 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 track 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.

Covers

• Sound Assassins (Scott Attrill & Jim Sullivan) remixed and covered the song in a way of eurodance, on the 2002 dance compilation Dancemania Speed 10.
• Angie Aparo covered the song on the album The One with the Sun released 2003.
• Assembly of Dust released a live cover of the song on their Freedom of Assembly promotional EP in 2007
• Ben Folds Five released a live cover of this song as a B-side of their single "Battle of Who Could Care Less". The performance, which took place in London, was introduced as a country song and performed in an exaggerated country-music style.
• The song was covered by American band Matt Pond PA specifically for use on the TV show The O.C..
• Urban Cookie Collective did a dance cover of this song but Noel Gallagher stopped them from releasing it as a single (link to news item on BBC Radio 1 @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4okIC9Dwf-E&feature=related).^{[citation needed]}
• The Early November covers this song as the end of "No Good at Saying Sorry (One More Chance)" when played live.
• Hootie & the Blowfish covered the song at their live shows during their 2007 and 2008 summer tours.
• The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performs an orchestral cover of the song on the album "Symphonic Rock."
• Snow Patrol covered "Champagne Supernova" at V Festival 2009 as a tribute to Oasis who pulled out due to Liam Gallagher's illness.
• Clint is Gone covered the song at their EP's release party on December 17, 2009. The song is the first song played by the singer/songwriter Antoine Bertrand when he was 15.
• David Cook covered "Champagne Supernova" during his "Declaration Tour" at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in a mash-up with his song "Heroes" on December 31, 2009, his last concert for his debut tour.
• Green Day covered the song in some shows during their 21st Century Breakdown Tour.
• Scala & Kolacny Brothers covered the song in their 2010 album Circle.
• The Killers regularly performed the song during their early days in Las Vegas before they were signed.

Track listing

1996 single (US: Epic ESK 7719, SME 11-003393-17, France: Helter Skelter SAMP 3393)

1. Champagne Supernova (Radio Edit) - 5:08
2. Champagne Supernova (Album Version) - 7:28

1996 CD Maxi (Australia: SME 663344 1)

1. Champagne Supernova (Radio Edit) - 5:08
2. Champagne Supernova (Album Version) - 7:31
3. Slide Away - 6:29

Personnel

• Liam Gallagher – Lead Vocals
• Noel Gallagher – Rhythm Guitar and Backing Vocals
• Paul Weller – Lead Guitar and Backing Vocals
• Paul Athurs – Rhythm Guitar and Mellotron
• Paul McGuigan - Bass Guitar
• Alan White - Drums and Percussion

Chart positions

Chart Year Peak position U.S. Billboard Hot 100[3] 1996 20 ARIA Singles Chart[4] 1996 26 Trivia The song is included on Oasis' compilation album Stop the Clocks and on the US release of Time Flies... 1994-2009 Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Public Radio show Sound Opinions claimed "Champagne Supernova" the number one song to hum to yourself when another song is stuck in your head. The other song will be unstuck, but the drawback is that you will then have "Champagne Supernova" stuck in your head due to its infectious and memorable melody. The song is 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. 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".[5] An actual supernova, first observed in 2003 and designated SN 2003fg has been nicknamed "Champagne Supernova" after the song. There is also an excerpt of the song "Champagne Supernova" at the very end of the oasis single The Shock of the Lightning which is audible if the track is played in reverse. Use in media The song has been used in the season 2, episode 14 of the TV series The O.C and in Sinchronicity as well as in the documentary film Mayor of the Sunset Strip References ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cJauX_q6wI Oasis' official YouTube channel, video for Champagne Supernova ^ Cairns, Dan (2009-03-08). "Noel Gallagher on how Oasis got their groove back". The Times (London). http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article5851553.ece?token=null&offset=12&page=2. Retrieved 2010-04-28.  ^ "Oasis - Billboard Singles". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/oasis-p44888/charts-awards/billboard-singles. Retrieved 2010-10-22.  ^ http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Oasis&titel=Champagne+Supernova&cat=s ^ http://www.thespaghettiincident.com/2009/08/oasis-v-festival-set-list-2009.html External links Champagne Supernova by Oasis Songfacts Lyrics to Champagne Supernova at the official Oasis site Preceded by "Ironic" by Alanis Morissette Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single April 6 - May 4, 1996 Succeeded by "Salvation" by The Cranberries Preceded by Big Bang Baby by Stone Temple Pilots (first run) Canadian RPM Alternative 30 number-one single April 22, 1996 (first run) May 6, 1996 (second run) Succeeded by "Big Bang Baby" by Stone Temple Pilots (second run) Machinehead by Bush X