25 Reasons Why

Columbia (White Label Demo) Oasis Creation Records Released: April 1994 Highest UK Chart Position: 31 Available on: Supersonic

1. Because it was their first single yet was never actually released as a single.
2. If you're to believe the mythology (and myths are almost always simpler than the truth, but have a truth of their own, independent of whether they are lies themselves), this demo was produced by the band itself, proving that Noel Gallagher was something of a genius after all.
3. The way the drums are at the front of the mix, even ahead of Liam's vocals, but you never notice because Tony McCarroll was such an abysmal drummer, even when compared to a scurry of squirrels.
4. Despite being responsible for the rise of Britpop, the song is called Columbia, thus getting around to world music before Morocco was even a glint in Damon Alban's eyes.
5. Because it was the opening song at Knebworth, a show that at the same time was the height of Oasis's popularity, and the moment that killed them as a creative force. Where could they go from there? The biggest band in the country, adored and hounded by the press. The Beatles dealt with it by retreating into the studio, locking themselves away from their fans and remaking pop music. Oasis wouldn't, or couldn't do that, and their fate was sealed.
6. Its catalogue number is CRE176, which brings to mind 1976, Year Zero.
7. "I can't tell you the way I feel / because the way I feel is oh so new to me", is both the worst lyric Noel ever wrote, and the best; a way of making us relate to the new pop stars thrust into fame and confirming that this is a love song.
8. This is a love song. "This is peculiar / we don't want to fool ya" are the struggling words of a boy who realises that pulling pig-tails is not all he wants to do.
9. This is a love song. Because Oasis were at their best when writing about love, even if they couldn't put it all into words.
10. This is a love song. How could it be anything else?
11. They even use samples on this song. Thus jumping ahead of retro before they decided to jump right back in.
12. Towards the end, you can clearly hear the Scotch Skeleton saying "re-record, not fade away", giving this record an ancestral history, locking it to 1985. Its predecessor from that year is New Order's The Perfect Kiss. Columbia strips out the dance and simplifies the lyrics, resulting in pure communication.
13. It sounds nothing like The Beatles. Indeed, The Fab Four Comparison was always something of a lazy criticism. Definitely Maybe sounds like Noel's music collection condensed into one record. The Kinks, The Smiths, The Stooges, The Stone Roses, and even Holly Johnson — they're all here, mixed in with The Beatles. Even Morning Glory has fewer Beatle-isms than you'd expect.
14. This version lacks Noel's vocals in the instrumental section, but it helpfully provides enough gaps for you to sing along if you desire.
15. What is the gibberish at the start? Backmasking, foreign tongues, glossilalia ? Or just plain nonsense?
16. The way the lead guitar sounds fresh and clean at the start before disappearing into the mix, as if it's taking a deep breath of air before it submerges.
17. Liam Gallagher claims to have written one of the verses, but can't remember which one.
18. It's 5:25, but you'd never know it.
19. In the end, it was something of a red herring. The band wrote and recorded a new song, Supersonic to be their real first single, with this song relegated to the fourth track on the CD. Columbia was re-recorded for Definitely Maybe, losing something of its magic when reprocessed through the eyes and ears of Mark Coyle and Owen Morris.
20. Reason 20 remains hidden under the Thirty-Year-Rule, and will only be revealed to an unsuspecting public in the year 2023. But it will be worth the wait, I assure you.
21. "I can see the signs, but they're not very clear" — they never were.
22. They buried Tony McCarroll, you know.
23. In the grand scheme of things, this isn't as good as How Soon Is Now?, Temptation, Nothing Can Stop Us, or You Really Got Me, but when you're listening to it, it is the greatest rock record of all time. It also makes a case for pop record, but falls a little short by being long.
24. The end comes when expected, but the way it does is not.
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