The Football Hooligans

How Soccer Influenced Their Early Music

 

 

Think of the cameraderie and the solidifying of rival factions against each other, confronting on the terraces and that literally sums up the Gallagher brothers approach to their music and the fans who adore their masterful creations. They didn't give a toss. This is easily demonstrated not only by comparing the feel at the Maine Road Stadium, home of Manchester City where the Gallaghers would be seen in the terraces, it spilt over into their early music.

It may be coincidence that songs like Don’t Look Back in Anger and Champagne Supernova seem to come fully alive in a stadium; that Oasis are one of the few bands you’d rather see in that environment than in a sweaty club. But there again, it may not. The strength in these "melodies" comes from the frustration born on the terraces rather than a statement of intent. It's a shame that some of their greatest scores had more affinity with a rough and tumble on a Saturday afternoon than helping to provide a positive rather than a negative influence to the young. Not very good guidance for people in their formative years, however this is what the Gallaghers and Oasis seemed to portrey, their total anti establishmentarianism and bilious hatred of the "system". A rebel without a cause or a couple of lads who had no social or moral fibre?

Yet Oasis has struck a chord with their fans and these fans are continuing to renew in numbers as one generation passes to the next so they must be doing something right or they are tapping into a particular emotional state that the fans can relate to. There is a lot of underlying discontentment within our society. Perhaps this self expression born of frustration is in fact something that fans can relate too in a more personal way.

Football is the opiate of the masses and the football terrace mentality of the early Oasis songs yhas certainly expressed itself quite eloquently in striking an emotional chord with the frustration within us all.

How then to ensure that this emotional frustration is directed into something positive rather than violent and anti social. This is where the Gallaghers could have really done something positive. They had tapped into the discontent of society. Now that society needed direction and what do fans do? They look to their "idols" for guidance and inspiration. Was that gudiance sound and moral? Was it hell.