(What's the Story) Morning Glory?

Absolutely astounding second album by Oasis. It was, at the time of its release, the fastest selling album ever in Britain. Now that, if you don't mind me saying so, is not bad.

Every track is fantastic. My personal favourite is the increadibly cheerful She's Electric, which is happy without being saccharine, and can cheer me up regardless of what kind of mood I'm in. A close second is the anthemic Don't Look Back in Anger, although this is one of the most criticised tracks. Its opening is distinctly similar to that to Imagine in terms of chord sequence, if not in terms of orchestration, mood, or tempo, leading to many claims of plagiarism. Thereafter however, the song goes off in a direction all its own. The main strength of most of the songs is that they are instantly memorable and singable. Whilst this does lead to markedly sub-par versions being belted out on the weekly pub kareoke night by the local drunk, credit must go to the writers of these songs for providing catchy tunes and lyrics.

It has been suggested that progression of emotion through the album mirrors that of somebody taking drugs, particularly cocaine. From the first introduction of drugs to the system, through aggression, anger and levity to the final mellow 'high' of Champagne Supernova (itself a reference to drugs), cocaine use is something I know absolutely nothing about.

However, almost every track is capable of standing alone. With the exception of the two instrumental tracks, and arguably Hey Now and Cast No Shadow, any track could have been a single.

Tracklist:

1. Hello
2. Roll With It
3. Wonderwall
4. Don't Look Back In Anger
5. Hey Now!
7. Some Might Say
8. Cast No Shadow
9. She's Electric
10. Morning Glory
12. Champagne Supernova

No, that wasn't a mistake on tracks 6 and 11, they are instrumental.

Lyrics to Morning Glory:

The song opens with the sound of a helicopter, over which guitars squeal, a repeated riff of the same chord three times, and then the augmented version of that same chord. As the guitars continue to play this riff, over and over, there is the muffled sound of voices (which to me always sounded like newsreaders, but that may not be the original idea), which is almost drowned out as the guitars crescendo. The helicopter too is drowned out, to be replaced by the thumping of a bass drum, and then, after forty seconds of building tension, , the guitars take up the tune, in come the rest of the drums, in comes the bassline, and the song starts.

All your dreams are made
When you're chained to the mirror and the razor blade
Todays the day that all the world will see
Another sunny afternoon
Walking to the sound of my favourite tune
Tomorrow never knows what it doesn't know too soon

Need a little time to wake up
Need a little time to wake up wake up
Need a little time to wake up
Need a little time to rest your mind
You know you should so I guess you might as well
What's the story morning glory
Well?
Need a little time to wake up wake up
Well?
What's the story morning glory
Well?
Need a little time to wake up
Wake up

It's almost like the song stops and starts over again, but without the helicopter. There's the sound of muffled voices, and the insistent ostinato of the bass drum, which builds up tension leading to...

...a guitar solo. Now, I'm not a particular connoisseur of guitar solos, so I can't really analyse it on any technical merit. It's not as fast as the solo in Burn (Deep Purple) or as memorable as the one in Stairway, but I've seen Oasis live, and I've seen the effect this had on a crowd. Only the start of Roll With It produced a bigger effect.

All your dreams are made
When you're chained to the mirror and the razor blade
Todays the day that all the world will see
Another sunny afternoon
Walking to the sound of my favourite tune
Tomorrow never knows what it doesn't know too soon

Need a little time to wake up
Need a little time to wake up
Need a little time to wake up
Need a little time to rest your mind
You know you should so I guess you might as well

What is the song about? Does it need to be about anything?

Well, alright then. I always thought it was a paean to staying in bed. It seems that getting up and getting on with your life brings problems (Tomorrow never knows what it doesn't know too soon), and that whilst you may be full of good thoughts in the bathroom, first thing in the morning (All your dreams are made // as you're chained to the mirror and the razor blade), as soon as you go outside things will go wrong. Or you could just skip shaving...

I'm not sure what this has to do with the other meaning of morning glory. Maybe, if you don't get out of bed, it's not an issue.

CST Approved

Round my way the assumption has always been that Morning Glory is at least partially a song about drugs. "Chained to the mirror and the razor blade" seems to be a fairly blatant reference to cocaine use. "Morning Glory" can be read many different ways, but one of those is as a reference to the seeds of the Morning Glory plant, which contain ergot alkaloids and are thus hallucinogenic.

More than that though, it's a song about the sense of clarity and satisfaction and potential that can be felt in a day, when one wakes up, when one is walking in the sunshine, when one is stoned off one's tits. As such it is exemplary of the uplifting mood that characterises much of the music of Oasis. In the words of Noel Gallagher himself:

"Do you ever look at the sky and think, I'm glad I'm alive?"