The 10 Essential Oasis Songs

Oasis’ debut album, “Definitely Maybe” is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, which makes me feel old. But it also reminds me that Oasis had a huge influence on me growing up. Their sophomore album, “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” was the first CD I purchased and I listened and listened and listened (on a portable CD player that skipped and skipped and skipped.)

I stuck with them until the end and while the last few albums were not good, it’ll never make me forget their catalog as a whole. So here are the 10 songs I believe are their best, the ones you must listen to now, forever, and then some. These are in no particular order.

Digsy’s Diner (from “Definitely Maybe”)

I don’t really know why I like this song, but it’s always been one of my favorites. It’s dirty, trying a little too hard to sound like the Beatles, but is just very fun. I remember, at a young age, wondering why anyone would want to get together to just drink tea. Oh, British things. So silly.

The Girl in the Dirty Shirt (from “Be Here Now”)

Oasis’ third album seemed to be universally loved and hated. Maybe if “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory” hadn’t blown up the world, this album would have been treated better. It’s fantastic and while not as good as its predecessor, still worthy of acclaim. This song makes my list of “Please God Let Me Make A Movie Where I Can Use This At The End.”

Acquiesce (from “The Masterplan”)

How this song made it only to a b-sides album is beyond me. It’s quintessential Oasis: starts dirty, full of grunge, then plows into an up-tempo, hopeful chorus with a hook that catches even the most cynical listener.

Fuckin’ In The Bushes (from “Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants”)
This song is was made legendary thanks to Snatch.

Talk Tonight (from “The Masterplan”)

Oasis is known for their great ballads and their terrible ballads attempting to be good ballads. This one is one of their better ones and thank god it’s Noel Gallagher singing. He just has a better voice for songs like this. “I wanna talk tonight, until the morning light, about how you saved my life.” Just love that.

Supersonic (from “Definitely Maybe”)

I’ll be honest when I say it was hard to choose between this song or “Live Forever” to put on this list, but the opening of “Supersonic” still kicks ass to this day. Again, the typical Oasis song: distorted, dirty guitars meeting up with a smooth, catchy chorus. I have no idea what the song really means.

D’You Know What I Mean (from “Be Here Now”)

This song gets a nod because I remember where I was when I first saw the music video. It was after school. MTV was going to premiere the video that night and my sister and I waited in anticipation. It started. Helicopters flew across the sky… and I didn’t know what to think. It was darker, more serious than the Oasis I knew. It took a few years for me to really appreciate this song.

Stop Crying Your Heart Out (from “Heathen Chemistry”)

Add this to songs I want to use in a movie someday. This has slow motion driving and running written all over it.

It’s Getting Better (Man!) (from “Be Here Now”)

The biggest complaint about “Be Here Now” was that it was trying to hard to be Oasis: bombastic, loud, full of nonsensical lyrics. This song is all of that in excess. And I love it. It’s seven minutes of positivity even though it actually sounds like everything is getting worse. I don’t know. Oasis was always sorta weird like that, which leads me to my final song…

Don’t Look Back In Anger (from “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?)

I cannot think of a better Oasis song than this one. It’s one of the few songs that, for me, gets better with every listen. There are songs on this list that are phenomenal but I didn’t include because they just became old to me (“Wonderwall,” for instance) but this one cannot help but become more poignant as I get older. Maybe it has something to do with perspective. I don’t know. My brains haven’t gone all the way to my head most likely.

Honorable mentions: Live Forever, Wonderwall, Married With Children, Fade Away, Half the World Away, I Hope I Think I Know, Go Let It Out, Slide Away

What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Want to add more? Let’s talk this out, people.