Hi everyone,

I felt the need to share my views on this song. I was going to say that it’s Liam Gallagher’s new song, but that just demonstrates how up to date I am as it came out last summer. As usual, I am reliant on others to bring me kicking and screaming into modernity. As it was in my younger days, it was my friend Graeme who sent me the link to this song, which I hadn’t heard before.

I remember listening to Oasis so much when I was at University in the mid-90s, and then onwards through the early stages of adulthood. I saw them several times live and would have described myself as a massive fan. It’s almost like I just drifted away from it, though. I don’t often listen to the albums anymore and I haven’t taken any interest in either of the brothers’ solo careers. Maybe I should have, I don’t know. When I heard this song, though, it took me back to just the kind of feeling I had listening to Liam sing back in the 1990s. It’s a brilliantly poignant slice of nostalgia, looking back at earlier times and realising that they can’t be recaptured. I love it. I know Noel isn’t a fan of the song but I haven’t stopped listening to it for days.

Those times are gone and we can remember them fondly, taking strength from them, but we have gone forward and that can be a painful realisation. I’ve read various theories about what the song means and who Liam is singing about. I always tend to leave interpretations like this to lie as I prefer to just focus on my own emotional response. That is that the 20-year-old Richard Austin is long gone. He was wonderful in his own way but I can’t ever go back to being him. I’ve moved on to something else. I could be like Cantona in the video, wandering around in the trappings of my old life, stuck in that rut wanting to return to the past when there were so few responsibilities, or I could embrace the new version of me and all that goes with it. I only get to do this bit of my life once too. Honestly, even with added responsibilities, I enjoy this phase of life more than the uncertainty and rollercoaster nature of early adulthood. Nostalgia is a nice place to visit but long stays are not recommended.

Like a certain smell unlocks age-old memories, the sound of a song can take you back to past times with such ease. I listen to this song and I recapture a little bit of my youth. That seeps through into the way I walk and the way I think and how I feel about myself. So, thanks Liam for a wonderful song, which you say (and I agree) is one of your best. Thanks to Graeme for sending it to me.

Also, I love the video – such a  great collaboration between two icons.

 

Cheers for reading,

Richard

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