Columbia

The story behind

The song Columbia, one of Noel Gallagher's earliest compositions for Oasis, dates back to late 1991. Its name comes from the Columbia Hotel in London, although the exact meaning of its lyrics remains somewhat enigmatic. While the primary authorship lies with Noel, it is known that Liam Gallagher also contributed to its conception, creating the melody and writing the chorus during an improvisation session. This piece was first performed live on January 15, 1992, at the band's second concert at The Boardwalk in Manchester, opening their setlist. Columbia was included in the demo tape Columbia White Label Demo, which was instrumental in the band signing with Alan McGee's Creation Records label. In fact, they played it at Oasis's performance at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, the same gig where McGee first saw them. The version from this demo tape, which lasts 5:25, was released as the B-side to the single Supersonic in 1994. The composition of Columbia is quite straightforward, with a 4/4 time signature and a tempo of 101 beats per minute, and is characterized by an extensive instrumental outro. Originally, it was intended to be released as an instrumental piece. The recording took place at Sawmills Studio in Cornwall, where a tape echo effect was used to double the drum sound. The song was first edited as a promotional single in 1993, playing on BBC Radio 1. Subsequently, the polished studio version appeared as the fifth track on the debut album Definitely Maybe in 1994. Over the years, live recordings of Columbia have been released, including versions from 2003 and 2014. In 2010, Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs mentioned Columbia as his favorite Oasis song, highlighting its simple chord structure that made it easy to perform live. The 2014 reissue of the album Definitely Maybe, which included Columbia, led it to chart in the UK and Scotland. The band performed it frequently during the Definitely Maybe tour and on other occasions afterward. Even after the split of Oasis, Liam Gallagher has included it in his solo concerts.