fat lady would refuse to sing it. But I say this with no irony: It must be very nice to be able to turn your hand to anything. I’m not that driven. To go from Britpop and write a Chinese opera about a monkey, hats off to the guy. I couldn’t do it. And it got good reviews, although how you assess whether a Chinese opera about a monkey is any good is beyond me. But in my own defense, Damon isn’t actually in Blur, Gorillaz, or the Good, the Bad & the Queen, is he? He’s got time on his hands. That’s when an opera comes to you.

“Can you be in a rainbow? That’s where
Radiohead are going wrong: The laughs are
at the end. That’s why you’re in pain, lads.”

Jam tour in Manchester in the ’80s when rap was inspirational. Public Enemy were awesome. But it’s all about status and bling now, and it doesn’t say anything to me.

thought it would give me mum a laugh. I didn’t go thinking, “I endorse this government’s policies in every respect.” I went to have a look at the curtains.

You said you wanted the new Oasis album to have grooves. And yet you came out and said Jay-Z headlining Glastonbury was “wrong.” Well, I never said those words. You need verbatim quotes here. I’ve been doing interviews with American magazines, and the way it’s played itself out is that I said Jay-Z had no right to play Glastonbury, which is a crock of horseshit. I got off a plane and someone asked me about the fact that Glastonbury hadn’t sold out for the first time in years, and if it was because of Jay-Z. I innocently mused that that was probably right. From there it grew into this crap that I was standing on an orange crate at Speakers’ Corner saying, “Gather round, brothers and sisters. Have you heard what’s happening at Glastonbury this year?”

Do you think hip-hop fans could get anything
out of Oasis?

Yeah. In England the white working class are feared, and our music is working-class expression. We have a lot in common with hip-hop. Apart from people pumping shotgun pellets into each other.

After 1997’s Be Here Now, the euphoric, hedonistic Oasis music stopped. What happened? I took a long look around my living room at Supernova Heights and realized 20 to 30 people were there all the time. None of them were my mates. Also, I was starting not to feel well, getting edgy and twitchy. I decided to kick drink and drugs for a week. One week became two and then six. And then I got addicted to being sober. After that, I said to various people, “You have to leave—you’re getting divorced.” Between ’ 95 and ’ 97 was mental and great. But unsustainable.

But still, you sounded reactionary and old-fashioned. I have a certain turn of phrase. So if I say, “Chicken sandwiches in McDonald’s are just plain fucking wrong,” it doesn’t mean I’m attacking all chickens or all sandwiches. I’ve hung out with Jay-Z in Tokyo. I’ve seen his show. It’s not my bag, but it’s all right. We have a mutual friend in Chris Martin. So I am a guy who doesn’t like hip-hop—shock, horror. I don’t dislike rappers or hip-hop or people who like it. I went to the Def

What’s your biggest regret career-wise? I wish we’d let (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? settle and go away. It was still No. 5 in the Billboard 100 when we started making Be Here Now. I wish someone who’s paid to be bright and clever had told us to go away and do a bit of living. But we were fueled by youth and cocaine. Everything was going to be bigger and better. We were surrounded by people telling us it was the greatest thing they’d ever heard. When you’re the cash cow that lays the golden goose egg, people are always going to cheer you on, whatever.

 

What about meeting Tony Blair? I don’t have a crystal ball. I didn’t see he was going to turn into a cunt. I was 30, off me head on drugs, and everyone telling me we were the greatest band since who knows. Then the prime minister invites you round for a glass of wine. It all becomes part of the high. Why not? I

What great Oasis songs were not written
on drugs?

None. Before 1997, I hadn’t written a song without the aid of the old Colombian marching gear. Don’t forget, I was on drugs before I was even in a band. I was a roadie for three years with

Inspiral Carpets. What do you think I was doing then? Drinking mineral water and eating Twiglets? The whole of the first three albums were written on drugs. I remember being off my nut and going into the back room and setting the goal of writing a song in ten minutes. That was “Supersonic.” All those albums and all the B-sides

GE T MORE LOOK BACK AT OASIS IN SPIN THROUGH THE YEARS AT SPIN.COM/OASIS