| "Supersonic" | ||||||||||
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| Single by Oasis | ||||||||||
| from the album Definitely Maybe | ||||||||||
| B-side | "Take Me Away" "I Will Believe" (Live) "Columbia" (White Label Demo) |
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| Released | 11 April 1994 | |||||||||
| Format | CD, 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, cassette | |||||||||
| Recorded | December 1993, at The Pink Museum, Liverpool | |||||||||
| Genre | Rock, Britpop, alternative rock | |||||||||
| Length | 4:45 | |||||||||
| Label | Creation | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Noel Gallagher | |||||||||
| Producer | Oasis and Mark Coyle | |||||||||
| Oasis singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Supersonic" is a song and debut single released by English rock band Oasis, written by lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. The song appears on their debut album Definitely Maybe, released in August 1994. The song appeared on Rock Band on 1 September 2009 as a live version.
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The song was released on 11 April 1994 and peaked at number 31 on the UK Singles Charts, Oasis's lowest-peaking single. However, over time it has amassed sales of over 215,000, making it their 13th biggest selling single ever in the UK, even outselling their 2002 number one "The Hindu Times".
"Supersonic" was also the band's first single to chart in the United States, where it peaked at #11 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart on 10 December 1994. The song was performed by the band on their debut national TV performance on Channel 4's The Word. It remains a favourite song of both the band and their fans (on the Definitely Maybe DVD, Noel cites it as his favourite Oasis song). The single went silver in the UK in 2006.
In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Supersonic" at number 20 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. In May 2007, NME magazine placed "Supersonic" at number 25 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever.
Despite the popularity of "Supersonic", Gallagher says the song is basically a collection of nonsense lyrics written in a matter of minutes at The Pink Museum recording studio in Liverpool. Oasis had failed to record a demo for "Bring It On Down", so Gallagher went into a room and wrote "Supersonic" in about 30 minutes.[1]It was then recorded and mixed in less than 10 hours. "Supersonic" impressed everyone so much that it was chosen to be the band's first single.
The identity of "Elsa" has caused confusion. The lyrics say: She done it with a doctor/On a helicopter/she sniffin' in a tissue/Sellin' the Big Issue. (Gallagher has remarked: "Someone told me "Supersonic" was about teenage prostitution. Shit!".) It has since been revealed that Elsa was a nine-stone rottweiler with a flatulence problem. The dog belonged to the sound engineer Dave Scott and was in the studio on the day the song was written, hence the line "she's into Alka Seltzer".
Gallagher has said in interviews that, despite their similarities, "Supersonic's" guitar solo was not a deliberate copy of the riff to George Harrison's 1971 single "My Sweet Lord".
Oasis recorded two videos for the song, for UK and US release. The UK version features the band playing on a roof, similar to The Beatles' rooftop concert. The US version features outer space views, the band in a car, big toy dinosaurs, and the band performing the song in a dark room. Scenes from this video can be seen on their debut single from their second album (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, on Some Might Say. Only on this video the scenes are in black and white.
In a 2009 interview with the Dutch radio station 3FM, Gallagher said that after "Supersonic" was written and recorded, he and the rest of the band gathered at guitarist Paul Arthurs' house as the song played at a certain time on BBC Radio 1.
The cover depicts the band and their instruments. The black Rickenbacker is Johnny Marr's guitar.[2]
All songs written and composed by Noel Gallagher Recorded and mixed by Dave Scott. Produced by Mark Coyle..
| 7" vinyl (CRE 176), cassette single (CRECS 176) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Supersonic" | 4:43 | |||||||
| 2. | "Take Me Away" | 4:30 | |||||||
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Total length:
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9:13 | ||||||||
| 12" vinyl (CRE 176T) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 3. | "I Will Believe" (live) | 3:46 | |||||||
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Total length:
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12:59 | ||||||||
| CD single (CRESCD 176) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 4. | "Columbia" (white label demo) | 5:25 | |||||||
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Total length:
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18:24 | ||||||||
The official music video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p29MG7wn4F8.
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