Oasis - The Hindu Times (live, T In The Park festival, Scotland, July 13, 2002 + music video)

[highplainsdem]

From Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hindu_Times

"The Hindu Times" is a song by English rock band Oasis. It was written by the band's lead guitarist Noel Gallagher, and was released as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Heathen Chemistry, on 15 April 2002. On the album, it segues directly into the next track, "Force of Nature".

The song peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's sixth number-one single in their native country, remaining on top for one week before being dislodged by the Sugababes' "Freak Like Me".[2] The song also topped the charts in Canada, Italy and Scotland, and reached the top 10 in Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, and Spain. This is their first single to feature former Heavy Stereo frontman Gem Archer (rhythm guitarist) and then-former Ride frontman Andy Bell (bassist).

The song, which combines powerful rock with a psychedelic feel, was unveiled during Oasis's Autumn 2001 Noise and Confusion Tour. The song was due to be released commercially at the same time, but Noel decided the track needed more work done on it to be suitable for release. Many have commented on the main guitar riff being lifted from the Stereophonics song "Same Size Feet", which uses exactly the same, or at least very similar, guitar riff.

-snip-

The title has little to do with the lyrics of the song, which are more in the vein of Definitely Maybe's "Rock 'n' Roll Star". Noel got the name "The Hindu Times" from a T-shirt he saw in a charity shop. It has been speculated that the title refers to the main riff's similarity to Indian music in sound, sounding as if it were played on a sitar. Gallagher himself says that it is because he had already named the song before any lyrics were written for it.

[highplainsdem]

1. Just discovered that this is Johnny Marr's favorite Oasis song:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jul/04/they-made-me-feel-i-could-do-something-with-my-life-indie-music-legends-pick-their-favourite-oasis-songs

Johnny Marr: The Hindu Times

It may come as a surprise to people that I’ve chosen this song, but I think it’s a great example of Oasis doing the thing they do so well. Even though the chorus hook is “And I get so high I just can’t feel it” – a classic Oasis line that only Noel could come up with and Liam could pull off – the melodic hook that makes it so definitive is the bit that follows: “In and out my brain / Running through my vein / You’re my sunshine, you’re my rain.” A “post-chorus chorus” is something that Noel does often and I’ve never heard in other people’s songs. When they recorded The Hindu Times in Olympic Studios, I told Noel it was really good and he kind of shrugged. The next thing, it was No 1. At about the same time I watched from the side of the stage as they played it at the Manchester Apollo. I couldn’t work out if what I was seeing was a band totally at one with their audience or so elevated that they were on another plane. It was both, and I thought to myself, “This is what rock’n’roll means.”

[highplainsdem]

2. I ran across the demo of this song, which has VERY different lyrics. It's a good thing Noel didn't

stick with the original lyrics. According to a quote from NME that I found on a fan forum - https://forum.live4ever.uk.com/thread/83808/oasis-thoughts-day?page=544 - Noel had set out to write a #1 single. (Which it eventually became.) But he hesitated to release it for months - though Liam gave him an argument about that - and ended up changing the lyrics in response to what guitarist Gem Archer had said, that instrumentally it sounded like the most Oasis-sounding song ever. But the lyrics Noel had originally written didn't fit with that.

The original lyrics were: "There's no love in this shotgun town/What you believe is not fair/When you leave/Yeah, the world won't care". I must have been in a fucking bad mood that day. That's far too bitter for me...."

Original lyrics:

We fall in, we fall down
There's no love in this shotgun town
What you believe is not fair
When you leave, yeah, the world won't care

The ghost that is your soul, it leaves me cold, babe
The ghost that is your soul, it leaves me cold, babe
'Cause you get so high you just don't feel it
Yeah, you get so high you just can't feel it
In and out your brain, running through your veins
Got no sunshine, you got rain

That was changed to:

I get up when I’m down
I can’t swim but my soul won’t drown
I do believe I got flair
I got speed and I walk on air

‘Cos God gimme soul in your rock and roll, babe
‘Cos God gimme soul in your rock and roll, babe
And I get so high I just can’t feel it
And I get so high I just can’t feel it
In and out my brain
Running through my vein
You’re my sunshine
You’re my rain


Here's the demo, which a lot of the fans commenting on YouTube prefer to the final released version. I disagree with them - don't think these lyrics would've been a #1 single. What they changed it to was classic Oasis.

[highplainsdem]

3. I also ran across a performance of the song in Tokyo in late September, 2002, and the fan comments

really caught my attention. The first one, the only one immediately visible when I clicked on the link for the video:

I think Liam is 90% of the song

Others I saw as soon as I clicked on the comments:

I love this performance. Liam is too cool for this planet.

My god how epic is Liam's look and standing position here.

Wow what a great song awesome performance by the best singer and band ever this is awesome oasis at it's best ever amazing

Might not be Oasis at peak, but as a visual spectacle, I've never seen Liam looking more cool


These are some of the Oasis fans who were never going to find Noel acceptable as a substitute for Oasis, even though Noel wrote almost all their songs and could handle lead vocals.

Liam's singing isn't great here. He'd just turned 30, but he'd been damaging his voice for years with cigarettes, alcohol and drugs (especially cocaine). Still, he had the looks and attitude that had made them superstars. Attitude he'd had already when he was singing about being a rock'n'roll star before he became one. Noel needed him, just as much as he needed Noel. And I think Noel realized that, as Liam worked to improve his voice in recent years, was singing Oasis hits including ones that Noel had taken lead vocal on, and was selling out venues - even Knebworth - with his own band.