Song Stories: Oasis: Supersonic

30 years ago, five lads from Manchester entered the charts with a debut single. Liam Gallagher, Noel Gallagher, Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs, Paul ‘Guigsy’ McGuigan and Tony McCarrol could not have possibly foreseen what was to come next.

That debut single was “Supersonic” released on the 11th of April 1994. A single that would change British music, and the trajectory of those five lads from Manchester forever. 

After being signed by Alan McGee and Creation Records following a gig at Glasgows King Tuts Wah Wah Hut in May 1993, it would take Oasis nearly a year to release a single. 

How this song came to be, is quite the story. Originally “Bring it On Down” was meant to be the bands first single. However for whatever reason the band could not seem to get it right. 

Having studio time booked, at The Pink Museum in Liverpool in December 1993 with the idea of getting “Bring it On Down” right and coming out with nothing, wouldn't have been a good look for the band.

They couldn't have come back to Creation Records with nothing, so Noel Gallagher set about writing a new song. What they had already written wasn't working, so Noel thought it was best to write something new. 

It has been said by Noel and Mark Coyle (the band's sound engineer) that the song was written in half an hour. Whilst the rest of the band ordered and ate a takeaway. When the band had finished eating, Noel returned and played them the song, fully formed. With lyrics. 

Being written in Liverpool, there's a Beatles reference to a yellow submarine, a reference to a girl called Elsa, who was actually a Rottweiler belonging to one of the members of The Real People who were helping Oasis record. Most of the song's lyrics are based on those few days in the studio in Liverpool. 

Lyrically the song doesn't really mean anything, especially in the verses. However it still contains some of the most profound statements the band ever made. 

Take the opening line “I need to be yourself, I can't be no one else.” it's the band's mantra, a statement that they lived by all the way to the end. 

After showing the rest of the band the song, they got to work recording. The take you hear on the record, both the single and subsequently the band's debut album “Definitely Maybe” is the take recorded that night in Liverpool. 

It goes down as the only Oasis song to be written in the studio. The song was never re recorded. Depending on who you believe the song was written, recorded and mixed in 8 hours according to Noel and 11 hours according to Dave Scott (the studio engineer) 

Whichever figure is correct, it is an impressive fete.

The song would be the start of the journey for one of Britain's biggest and most important bands, and for some, it is still the best thing they ever wrote. Although only peaking at Number 31 in the UK singles chart, it is still a fan favourite and remained in the band's set, all the way until their break up in 2009. 

Noel Gallagher still says the song is his favourite Oasis Song. 

Liam Gallagher has commented on the song outlasting legacy, he still plays it live all these years later. 

It didn't reinvent the wheel but it started something that would set the wheels in motion for Oasis to take on the world. 

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