Author: Mason Hawker

Founder and chief babbler of Third Time Enabled.

The Fine Art Of Pleasing Everyone

It’s Lara’s birthday on Thursday. Remember when she and I did that book club together, along with our friend Nora? Well, in the time since that came to an unfortunate end, we’ve continued to send each other a book now and then. She’s turned to her own bookshelf, too, and started to review them on Instagram. Her posts are concise – I’ve tried persuading her to do longer ones elsewhere, to no avail – but they’re always worth reading (you can find them here). They also show off the variety of what she reads. One minute it’ll be a Neil Gaiman fantasy, the next a biography of Queen Elizabeth II. That’s good for me, because I know that in theory she’ll give anything a go (I bought her The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy last year, although I still don’t know if she’s actually read it yet). So why can’t I do the same now – settle on something, one that I’ve enjoyed, and have faith that she might like it too?

It all comes down to the anxiety I feel around all present-buying, for every special occasion. I live with that constantly creeping fear that I don’t know anyone in my life well enough to be sure about what they’d appreciate. It’s always the same, no matter how close the person may be. I can overcome it and press ahead, but this is not one of those times. So I’m stalling – I’ll have to owe Lara, because I can’t help feeling that I can’t afford to get this one wrong. On the upside, maybe it’ll be worth the wait. At the very least, it might end up on her Instagram – even if she gives it a hammering!

Mason

The Vault

The coffee shop – two or three weeks ago, or thereabouts – scribbling away…

Damn. I’ve used this notebook for the one thing I vowed I never would – talking shop. Jotting notes from meetings. In the past, that might have ruined it forever, tainted it to such an extent that I couldn’t use it again. It sounds silly, I know, but it’s always been too easy to feel like I’ve failed in my mission to use it for one purpose and one purpose only. But this time I’m ignoring that, pressing on and using it as a starting point instead. Anything will lend itself to a stream of consciousness if you give it a chance. Besides, as I may or may not have admitted to before, I owe it to Liz to put this book to good use, so that it doesn’t suffer the same fate as so many of its predecessors. And it’s no more useful than it is here, in the coffee shop, accompanying me as I slurp my way through a hot chocolate with plump marshmallows. It gives me precious respite from the screen time that dominates my week. I’ve saved it for precisely this moment, too. It’s approximately 4.30pm, and on a Saturday the place closes at 5pm. When they kick me out, I’ll emerge from warmth and sanctuary into chilly November air – but I’ll still be warmed by the twinkle of those familiar, inspiring lights. I love seeing them framed by steamed-up windows. It makes this feel like the cosiest place on Earth.

Christmas is coming!

Mason

Is Here Now

A lyrical analysis of Oasis’ Be Here Now, originally written in 2019

Oasis released their third album, Be Here Now, on 21 August 1997. It was met with significant widespread anticipation, and went on to become the UK’s best-selling album of 1997[1] as well as its fastest-selling album of all time[2] – internationally, it also proved a sizeable hit. It was initially given an enthusiastic critical response, with several reviews consisting of unanimous praise. Over time, however, Be Here Now’s sales and supporters dwindled and it has been retrospectively seen as excessively ambitious, too long and overproduced. In 2018, NME described it as “a rock folly, a coke-fuelled monument to ‘90s excess.”[3]  It is cited as the album that prompted the decline of the wider Britpop scene, but it still produced three UK hit singles in ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’, ‘Stand By Me’ and ‘All Around the World’. The latter remains the longest track ever to reach number one on the UK Singles Chart, indicating both the scale of the music on Be Here Now and Oasis’s colossal commercial appeal.

Noel Gallagher – the group’s main songwriter – had been inspired to create songs that “escaped the strictures of orthodox rock composition”[4] and were “Bigger, Louder and Longer”[5]. In addition, the success Oasis had achieved by the time Be Here Now was written and recorded meant that they were virtually entirely unrestricted by deadlines or budgets. The decadence evident during the album’s production may have influenced its lyrics, although they largely display the same typical Oasis elements of arrogance, relentless optimism and melancholy.

Be Here Now was released following Labour’s landslide victory at the 1997 general election, and this developed a feeling of positivity that had existed for some time beforehand, fostered by events such as the aforementioned political changes as well as cultural landmarks including “Euro 96 and Britpop in general.”[6] ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’, Be Here Now’s opening track, has been described as “more rally than song”[7], and is an example of how many lyrics exist “to propose ideas about life and the world.”[8] It progresses with an authority and forcefulness that is difficult to deny, conveying this most notably in the chorus; “all my people, right here, right now/d’you know what I mean?/yeah, yeah.”[9] The first part seems to cultivate a sensation of togetherness and unity among band and audience; in addition, it reinforces the reputation of Oasis as a working-class band of the people, since Liam is singing to “my people”. The listener is thus part of the story, allowing the band’s message to gain momentum. In the rest of the song, this is used to encourage the listener to brush off life’s setbacks and approach everything with confidence. Through lines such as “get up off the floor and believe in life/no-one’s ever gonna ever ask you twice”[10], they are subjected to a degree of ethos in the lyrics, since the narrator is evidently attempting to convince the listener of their own personal strength and inspire faith in their message. It has been noted that the song’s chorus provided a particularly apparent “note of hubristic confidence”[11], linking back to the aforementioned arrogance that featured in Oasis’s earlier lyrics. Looking deeper at the words themselves, we can establish that there is use of both perfect rhymes and family rhymes. In parts of the song, they almost seem to alternate; for example, “step off the train all alone at dawn/back into the hole where I was born”[12] is swiftly followed by “the blood on the tracks, and they must be mine/the fool on the hill, and I feel fine”[13]. These lines, varying in their rhyme style, are separated by standalone ones – in this case, “the sun in the sky never raised an eye to me”[14], which helps to establish a pattern running through the rest of the song. This format, along with the repetitive nature of the chorus and the steady AABCCB rhyme scheme in the verses (the pre-chorus is ABBCC), can potentially make the song easier for a listener to memorise, thereby increasing the effectiveness of its message. The video develops this, showing Oasis performing the song in an apparently post-apocalyptic world while helicopters fly overhead and a crowd gathers. Smoke grenades are thrown, adding colour and chaos to a grey setting and bearing a resemblance to the uprising and sense of fearlessness encouraged by the lyrics.

‘Don’t Go Away’, on the other hand, is much more personal and introspective in nature. Its lyrics take the form of a plea to a loved one not to abandon the narrator. It opens with “a cold and frosty morning/there’s not a lot to say/about the things caught in my mind”[15], immediately setting a solemn scene, establishing a clear sense of pathos, and succinctly illustrating the narrator’s frustration at being unable to properly express their inner feelings. Its production was supposedly an emotional experience; Liam claims to have cried while recording his vocal, saying that “I had to go away and sort myself out”[16]. The emotional angle is reiterated notably in the lines that lead up to the chorus – “and I want to be there when you’re coming down/and I want to be there when you hit the ground.”[17] When the chorus begins, the aforementioned plea fully manifests itself; “don’t go away/say what you say/say that you’ll stay/forever and a day.”[18] As well as desperation, a sense of loss is also apparent: “me and you, what’s going on? All we seem to know is how to show/the feelings that are wrong.”[19] Such lines suggest an emotional vulnerability that is at odds with the resilience and defiance evident in other Oasis songs; on Be Here Now alone, ‘Don’t Go Away’ is preceded by ‘My Big Mouth’ (“I’ll put on my shoes while I’m walking slowly down the hall of fame”[20]) and ‘I Hope, I Think, I Know’ (“’cause baby, after all/you’ll never forget my name”[21]). In rhyming terms, the lyrics employ more examples of perfect rhymes, and more evenly so than ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’. The scheme can be established an ABABCDD, at least in the first two verses; “damn my situation and the games I have to play/with all the things caught in my mind/damn my education, I can’t find the words to say/all the things caught in my mind.”[22] At the end of these, the words “coming down”[23] are sung after a pause, separating them on their own line and disrupting the flow of the pattern, although much like ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’, the consistency of this method can again allow the song to stay in the listener’s mind.

The video matches the melancholy theme of the song, while also using more surreal elements. It depicts Liam singing in a house and caught in moments of deep reflection while the rest of the band appear around him, and an orchestra play in a desolate and blue landscape. The visuals are likely to attract attention, but they all seemingly serve to isolate Liam and what he is singing, which can in turn provoke thought and reflection among listeners.

‘All Around the World’, however, is inherently optimistic and the album’s most blatant display of grandiosity. This orchestra uses strings and horns to create a juggernaut of positivity and convince the listener that everything will be right in their world; “all around the world/you’ve got to spread the word/tell ‘em what you’ve heard/we’re going to make a better day.”[24] Such a message can be interpreted as another attempt to inspire more confidence in the listener, albeit in a manner that displays less attitude than ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’. Its lyrics are even more consistent than those of the aforementioned two songs; certain sections are repeated numerous times (“yeah, I know what I know/it’s gonna be okay”[25]), and the verses contain a series of identical perfect rhymes in an AAAA pattern, followed by AAAABB in the pre-chorus sections. In addition, “please don’t cry, never say die”[26] features an additional rhyme, with an internal one occurring on the same line.

The music video for the song emphasises its positivity – Oasis are shown performing the song in a yellow spaceship while travelling through a surreal fantasy world, apparently inspired by The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine film. The jovial tone and bright colours of the video effectively compliment the lyrics, placing Liam firmly at the centre – he and the rest of the band are dressed in white suits, thereby rejecting darker attire, and he and Noel exchange light-hearted glances, abandoning their usual seriousness and revelling in their spectacular surroundings.

The relative extravagance of Be Here Now’s music and videos extended to its promotional materials. The album’s cover featured Oasis standing around a swimming pool at Stocks House, Hertfordshire, surrounded by various props; the pool had a Rolls-Royce lowered into it, and the items included a calendar displaying the album’s release date. It is believed that this was included to equate buying a copy on release day to participating in “some kind of historical event”[27] – the album’s title may convey a similar idea. Indeed, customers who purchased it at HMV stores were given a certificate confirming they had “been there then”[28], emphasising the perceived magnitude of the occasion. On the album’s supporting tour, the stage set replicated some of the cover artwork items. A Rolls-Royce grille was used as Alan White’s drum riser, and the band entered through a red telephone box, preceded by a ringmaster who walked the stage to enliven the audience.[29] Despite such ostentatiousness, the band themselves often donned more casual attire in keeping with their working-class reputation, remaining a degree of relatability to the audience despite the nature of Be Here Now’s music and retaining the image for which they are best known to the public.

Mason

Bibliography

The Official Charts Company. ‘End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 1997’. Accessed 6 November 2019. https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/end-of-year-artist-albums-chart/19970105/37502/

BBC Newsbeat. ‘Sorry Adele, Oasis are still the album chart record breakers’. Accessed 6 November 2019. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34919975/sorry-adele-oasis-are-still-the-album-chart-record-breakers

NME. ‘Oasis’ ‘Be Here Now’ – Was It Really That Bad?’. Accessed 6 November 2019. https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/oasis-be-here-now-at-15-was-it-really-that-bad-770068

Harris, John. The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the Demise of English Rock. London: Fourth Estate, 2003.

Dorian Lynskey, ‘’Flattened by the cocaine panzers’ – the toxic legacy of Oasis’s Be Here Now’, The Guardian, 6 October 2016. Accessed 6 November 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/oct/06/flattened-by-the-cocaine-panzers-the-toxic-legacy-of-oasiss-be-here-now

Eckstein, Lars. Reading Song Lyrics. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2010.

Oasis, ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

Oasis, ‘Don’t Go Away’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

MTV. ‘MTV Oasis Uncut Documentary’. YouTube. 24:35. Posted by Whenallwozkool, 4 August 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evCXwh0vcNM

Oasis, ‘My Big Mouth’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

Oasis, ‘I Hope, I Think, I Know’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

Oasis, ‘All Around the World’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

Loud and Quiet. ‘Don’t just blame the cocaine for Oasis’ Be Here Now – it was kinda Richard Ashcroft’s fault’. Accessed 6 November 2019. https://www.loudandquiet.com/short/dont-just-blame-cocaine-oasis-now-kinda-richard-ashcrofts-fault/

Oasis. ‘Oasis – G Mex Arena Manchester Full Concert December 1997’. YouTube. 1:49:35. Posted by headshrinker666, 18 July 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N-ylUkGV2Y&t=168s

[1]‘End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 1997’, accessed 6 November 2019. https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/end-of-year-artist-albums-chart/19970105/37502/

[2] ‘Sorry Adele, Oasis are still the album chart record breakers’, accessed 6 November 2019. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34919975/sorry-adele-oasis-are-still-the-album-chart-record-breakers

[3] ‘Oasis’ ‘Be Here Now’ – Was It Really That Bad?’, accessed 6 November 2019. https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/oasis-be-here-now-at-15-was-it-really-that-bad-770068

[4] John Harris, The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the Demise of English Rock (London: Fourth Estate, 2003), 334.

[5] Harris, The Last Party, 334.

[6] Dorian Lynskey, ‘’Flattened by the cocaine panzers’ – the toxic legacy of Oasis’s Be Here Now’, The Guardian, 6 October 2016. Accessed 6 November 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/oct/06/flattened-by-the-cocaine-panzers-the-toxic-legacy-of-oasiss-be-here-now

[7] Lynskey, ‘’Flattened by the cocaine panzers’.

[8] Lars Eckstein, Reading Song Lyrics (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2010), 10.

[9] Oasis, ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[10] Oasis, ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[11] Harris, The Last Party, 338.

[12] Oasis, ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[13] Oasis, ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[14] Oasis, ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[15] Oasis, ‘Don’t Go Away’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[16] ‘MTV Oasis Uncut Documentary’, YouTube, 24:35, posted by Whenallwozkool, 4 August 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evCXwh0vcNM

[17] Oasis, ‘Don’t Go Away’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[18] Oasis, ‘Don’t Go Away’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[19] Oasis, ‘Don’t Go Away’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[20] Oasis, ‘My Big Mouth’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[21] Oasis, ‘I Hope, I Think, I Know’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[22] Oasis, ‘Don’t Go Away’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[23] Oasis, ‘Don’t Go Away’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[24] Oasis, ‘All Around the World’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[25] Oasis, ‘All Around the World’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[26] Oasis, ‘All Around the World’, from Be Here Now, Creation Records, 1997.

[27] Harris, The Last Party, 341.

[28] ‘Don’t just blame the cocaine for Oasis’ ‘Be Here Now – it was kinda Richard Ashcroft’s fault’, accessed 6 November 2019, https://www.loudandquiet.com/short/dont-just-blame-cocaine-oasis-now-kinda-richard-ashcrofts-fault/

[29] Oasis, ‘Oasis – Live G Mex Arena Manchester Full Concert December 1997’, YouTube, 1:49:35, posted by headshrinker666, 18 July 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N-ylUkGV2Y&t=168s

The Bigger Picture

The coffee shop – 7 October 2023. A busy Saturday morning…

One of the first times I can remember ever feeling genuinely proud of myself was in Year 8 at school. I’d just written six paragraphs on the merits of Macbeth. Producing page after page in English class had never been out of the ordinary for me, but this particular piece was all the more remarkable given that it had been entirely untouched by Microsoft Word. In those days, that was a rarity – I didn’t dare stray away from my laptop if I wanted my writing to be legible – but for whatever reason I pressed on that day and it paid off. Why am I mentioning this now? Because this very post you’re reading is also being crafted entirely by hand. And don’t I know it. The muscles in my hand are aching and I have to stop after every line. The pen is slipping and I’m making mistakes all over the page that I have to scribble out. Nevertheless, the more I write, the more satisfied I am. Progress is progress, after all, and with every passing word I’m stronger. In any case, next week my broadband will be switched on and I’ll have access to WordPress again.

Yes, you read that right. Broadband. My broadband, in my new flat – which, at the time of writing, I’ve been living in for just over a week. It’s in Winchester too. Who’d have thought it – an oik from Minehead living there full-time? Dreams do come true, kids! Then again, so do a lot of new responsibilities. Bills to pay every month. Carpets to keep vacuumed. Surfaces to keep clean. At times, I doubt my ability to do all three, but I’ll carry on regardless because I’m focused on the bigger picture. Independence, which I’ve achieved at long last. The pride that comes with every small accomplishment, every little win. Whatever the challenge, I know it’ll be worth it in the end – even if there are aches and pains along the way.

Mason

Beyond The Wall Of Smiles

Remember that writing group I referred to recently, in one of Winchester’s coffee shops? I loved it, don’t get me wrong, but I haven’t been in a little while. To tell you the truth, work and other stuff – which you’ll find out about very soon – have been taking it out of me a little bit, and there’s the small matter of an ongoing Grand Prix season to consider too. I’d feel uncomfortable sitting at a table of writers knowing Martin Brundle was on his grid walk at home. Most of my Sunday afternoons between March and November are very antisocial.

That doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about the group, though. More specifically, I’ve been thinking about what I wrote last time I went, in the notebook Liz gave me a couple of months ago. It seems pretty apt to share with you, talking about delaying going back to things. “Describe the scene,” they said, as I reached them that morning. “Describe everything you see, hear and feel in as much detail as possible.” Believe me, that was easy enough:

“The coffee shop is alive with the thrum of conversation, and music blasts throughout, but when I enter I know what’s in store. Beyond the wall of smiles at the counter, a trio of disapproving faces awaits me. My only hope is that when I reach them, they’re distracted by their writing, too immersed to even notice my arrival – but they aren’t, and they do. And they haven’t even started, because they’ve waited for me first. Curse my lateness. Turns out I didn’t know quite how long being ‘on my way’ would take.”

Mason

Copied To Your Clipboard

I have long considered myself a trivia enthusiast – I love to know things, and I don’t mean that in the nosey sense. Long-time visitors to this blog might recall this interest from my university quiz days, and back then it served my friends and I very well. Generally speaking, it still does. Every now and then, however, it backfires a little bit. Allow me to demonstrate what I’m talking about.

One of my strongest areas trivia-wise has always been popular culture – TV and music in particular. And when you spend as much time as I do reading about both online, algorithms start to recognise this, so you find yourself presented with more and more posts about each on social media. Of course, it’s the same on every platform, be it Facebook, X (forever Twitter, whether Elon likes it or not), Instagram or anything else – certain posts will interest me, others less so. I scroll mindlessly through those that aren’t so captivating, and apparently, I sometimes do that with a very heavy finger. Imagine my surprise when I whizzed past one article the other day, only for my phone to surprise me with a message:

“Copied to your clipboard: AN INTERVIEW WITH SIMPLE MINDS’ JIM KERR…”

It wasn’t just the title, either. That was followed by the rest of the text! Now, I neither like nor dislike Simple Minds. Like a lot of artists, I judge their output on a track-by-track basis. Having said that, though, I might not have lived it down if I’d accidentally copied Jim’s thoughts on his latest album into the family WhatsApp chat.

Mason

Prog For Breakfast

I have always been quite a chronic procrastinator, and I’m sure I must have referred to that here at some point. If not, I just haven’t got round to it yet. Anyway, what that means is that occasionally, I need some kind of cattle prod to get my backside in gear in the morning, and I’ve recently found that music works well. You’ve probably gathered that from my playlist updates earlier in the year, but some of my choices – made on my days off – don’t make it to that list. Let me give you an example.

I’ve found myself returning to the stylings of Pink Floyd of late, and more specifically their lengthier tracks. There’s nothing like 70s prog rock to set you up for the day, I can tell you. It becomes like a challenge – you see if you can get up, get dressed and do all your ablutions before the music finishes. It works, too. Try it yourself if you feel so inclined, with any prog bands or songs of your choice. This week, I’ve used “Dogs” (17 minutes, from Animals, 1977) and the “Atom Heart Mother Suite” (closer to 24, from Atom Heart Mother, 1970). I reckon “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” might have snuck in as well, but at a paltry 13 minutes, that’s small fry – don’t you think?

Mason

A Craig David Day

A lot of my posts start with a title, even before I have any idea of how to build what follows. I often have a starting point at the very least – the end of a thread which I can use to find my way through the rest of the labyrinth. Sometimes, though, that thread deserts me, and beyond the title there’s absolutely nothing. Consequently, a lot of the titles stack up in my Drafts section, left there to gather dust with no context whatsoever. I came to this blog today with the intention of writing something completely unrelated from scratch, but that was before I opened my Drafts and saw a trio that was too odd not to share with you. What do you make of these?

“A Craig David Day”

“The Only Escalator In Aberystwyth”

“Even My Computer Is Getting In On The Action”

It’s like they get weirder with each one (I honestly have no idea where I was going with the third). As you can see, I chose the first as the title of this post. Not only is it the snappiest of the three, but it’d also go straight to the top of any alphabetical list, which is always handy for a blog jostling to be noticed among a zillion others.

“7 Days” is an absolute tune too, of course…

Mason

Snack Time

I know Winchester and its residents can often be stereotyped as being pretty affluent – and, in some cases, a little bit posh – but I rarely expect to see said stereotype play out in front of my eyes. I certainly don’t tend to think I’ll see it when I’m shopping in Sainsbury’s. And yet I did, just the other day!

Picture the scene. A mother and her daughter, no older than 10, are making their way up the aisle ahead of me. It’s the weekend and there’s been a buzz right through the city centre all day, so the little girl is slightly hyperactive. She’s jumping and dancing around, she can’t stay still even for a second. To be honest, she’s exactly the kind of child I try to stay as far away as possible from in my chair. That’s because I’m moving with the constant fear that she’ll come barrelling into me at any moment, there’ll be lots of noise and tears, and the blame will land squarely at my feet – after all, there’s no way the little angel could have done anything wrong.

Thankfully, that doesn’t happen. Instead, the girl’s mother notices that she won’t settle down, and decides to resort to bribery. I remember Mum doing that a few times in my own childhood, and it always worked.

“Would you like a snack?”

There’s no response. The girl still isn’t listening.

“You should have a snack before bed, otherwise you won’t sleep.”

This time, the girl listens and stops dancing around. She considers the suggestion.

There’s a long pause. Then comes the clincher.

“How about an avocado?”

“Yeah!”

Mason