Revisiting “Don’t Look Back In Anger” by Oasis, A Hymn Sung in The Wake of Manchester Bombing
Manchester, England is home for proud folks and the place where several legends were born. On 22 May 2017, it saw one of the most terrible tragedy occurred there and it was an explosion of a bomb during the concert of US pop star, Ariana Grande. The later to be announced suicide bombing killed twenty two people and injured more than 60 of the concert goers and elevated UK threat level as critical according to The Guardian. It was such a devastating news to be heard, since many of the audience there were mostly teens who adored Ariana Grande. As the perpetrator of the suicide bombing has been discovered, people gathered together at St. Ann’s Square to honor the victims of the bombing on Thursday (5/25). According to TIME, after a moment of silence a woman started to sing Oasis‘ hit song “Don’t Look Back In Anger” and later on the crowd joined in and sang the song together in unison. It was captured by The Guardian’s journalist, Josh Halliday who posted it on his Twitter. The scene becomes a mesmerizing thing to view and the choir managed to raise our goosebumps. We, in a million years, would have never thought this song would be fitting to be sung to commemorate such a great loss to a community, but here it is.
“Don’t Look Back In Anger” which was released back in 1995 from the album “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?”, has become a song on its own league. A tune that is glued to the memories of those who are a fan of Oasis or those who are not. Noel Gallagher, on an interview with Radio X said that the song will be more important than he would ever be, and it is kinda true. As the songwriter, Noel admitted that this song was just like a coincidence that fell from the sky and he happened to be the one that caught it. “I don’t ever sit there and think I wrote that. I think it came from somewhere else. If I hadn’t written it, Bono would have wrote it”, uttered Noel. It becomes some sort of hymn which shows a deeper view on how local citizens of Manchester react to a catastrophe. After all, Oasis were born in this city so it is only right that the residents have a special sentiment towards their music. So how does this song teach us about overcoming tragedy?
“Don’t Look Back In Anger” tells about an ending to a relationship and moving on, there, if you view it in a rather narrow scope of thinking. Since ‘Sally’ is the female character who breaks up with the male character and regrets it later. It is suggested to not look back to your ex in anger. When this song is taken to a bigger context like the Manchester bombing, we are taught not to revenge those who have harmed us. We should not hate and fear those who terrorize us, and this song has become an excellent ode for this. Cited from TIME, Lydia Bernsmeier-Rullow who began the singing of Oasis #1 song told about the reason behind her action on an interview with People Magazine. “The song has just been in my head the last few days and it says it all: ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ is what Mancunians do. It’s a very Mancunian sentiment,” explained Bernsmeier-Rullow. “When bad things happen we come together. We find the love rather than the hate,” she concluded.
After all, if the terror is reciprocated with hatred, than they will achieve its ultimate goal, which is dividing the humanity. On another note, Liam Gallagher has announced several charity gigs to raise funds for the bombing victims. Let us all now unite and chant “Don’t Look Back In Anger” for all the terrible past including the recent suicide bombing happening in Jakarta.
