Oasis songs speak to people in a way other artists only dream of

Recently I visited a men’s mental health centre in Drumchapel, on the edge of Glasgow. Drumchapel does not have the best of reputations. A postwar mass housing development, it has high volume of child poverty, low life expectancy, high unemployment and low social mobility.

It’s just far enough from the centre of Glasgow to feel remote, especially if you don’t have a car. And as often happens, the area rests cheek-by-jowl with affluence. The well-heeled Bearsden lies just over the hill. Inequality shows its hand. But despite the challenges, Drumchapel doesn’t sit down. The place is full of local people making things better for all. This is a common tale – indomitable grassroots focus to lift everyone up. 

There were a number of organisations visiting the area, part of a grouping called Business in the Community, trying to see how business could better understand the challenges in Drumchapel and work out better ways to address the barriers people face. It was the simple stories of outstretched hands that knocked your socks off.

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The group of retired women from a local church who ran regular drop-ins for refugees in the area, making them feel welcome, finding furniture to furnish accommodation. It was a place of warmth and friendship. 

There was the youth leader at G15 Youth Project, offering somewhere with something to do, and to learn of opportunities. He seemed to work 30 hours a day.  

And there was the mental health centre, the Men Matter Hub, a place for men to access mental health support and get help back into employment. In a repurposed building by a church, it had the feeling of an old boxing gym. There had been knocks, but it was still standing. 

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Inside, the men using it talked about how this place, in many instances, had saved their lives. Big Glaswegian men, some who’d battled addiction or alcoholism, or some who couldn’t quite rationalise why they were feeling how they did, broke down as they discussed how being able to talk, openly, had changed everything. 

It was a vital place and clearly it deserves as much as support as can be provided. We, proudly, made it one of our Big Issue Changemakers, several years ago. 

In Men Matter Hub, there’s a music room, with a range of donated instruments. It’s well stocked. And during the tour, as speeches were delivered, through the music room door, songs were struck up twice. The first was “Don’t Look Back in Anger”. A little later came “Champagne Supernova”. Thirty years after they were released, these songs were the go-to in that place.  

If you needed any explanation about why Oasis connected in the first place, and why they stuck, there it was. Aside from Noel’s strange, supernatural ability to create a melody that feels instantly timeless and also as if it has always been with us, there is always hope. Oasis are about rising up. Many can write a tune, but few can create that feeling. 

When Oasis landed all those years ago, they mattered, and they still do. They bring that curious, frequently poignant, articulation of the deep heart’s desire. And great hair.

Paul McNamee is editor of the Big Issue. Read more of his columns here. Follow him on X.

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