I’m currently reading a book called “Oasis: The Truth” by the band’s first drummer, Tony McCarroll (to be reviewed shortly), and it’s putting me in a ‘90s frame of mind. I remember so clearly when ‘Definitely Maybe’ came out…it was the fall of 2004 and I had just started university. As I was a mere 17 years of age, I had to resort to using my roommate’s ID to get into bars. This would have worked perfectly (we actually bore a passable resemblance to one another) except for the fact that my roomie and I became instant BFFs, so we rarely went to bars separately. Not surprisingly, trying to get past the bouncer with an ID bearing the same name as the person who has just gone before you is rarely an effective tactic.

Fortunately, the floor we lived on in residence quickly gained notoriety as one that excelled in booze-fuelled shenanigans and drunken revelry and we threw some pretty kickass parties at home, which saved me from having to go through the whole ID rigamarole too often. Even though we were an all-girls floor, we definitely raged as hard (or harder) than some of the male-only residences. I remember the first time I heard this song because my friend Michelle always made amazing mixes and she put it onto the mixed tape for our first party of the year. Ever since then, this tune has reminded me of the excitement I felt being away from home, meeting new people, and feeling the freedom to be myself (“I can’t be no one else”). It also reminds me of standing in a dingy residence hallway drinking disgusting alcoholic concoctions (Purple Jesus, Blue Lagoon, etc) out of plastic cups. By ’94-’95, grunge fashion was slightly on the wane and we were all wearing miniskirts or little dresses with those awful thigh-high tights. In retrospect we looked like idiots but at the time I just remember it being such a period of optimism and new adventure, living in an unfamiliar city, staying out ‘til the early morning hours drinking coffee with boys in all-night diners, sleeping through morning classes, rolling into the dining hall at noon with a raging hangover — and loving every single minute of it. I still get a little thrill of excitement when I hear the opening bars of this song, and I miss those carefree days of being a student (let me clarify: I don’t miss the homework, but I do sometimes long for the days of total lack of responsibility).

Tomorrow is my birthday, and I will be over twice the age I was when I first heard this song. Yes, it’s been eighteen years since I stood in that hallway downing jello shots, blissing out on mid-’90s Britpop (Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Supergrass, Elastica, etc) and dancing all night. Unlike the bands we were listening to, we weren’t under the influence of any illicit substances (other than some underage alcohol consumption of course) but we didn’t need to to be. The music and the joyful folly of youth were enough of a trip on their own.

So my Song of the Day today is a ’90s classic, ‘Supersonic’ by Oasis. Happy Birthday to me!