Cool Britannia

Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Britpop is a 2003 documentary decorated by John Dower about.. you guessed it- Britpop! Britpop is a loosely used term around this blog, it’s a slight obsession I have. Watching this documentary on repeat today made me think. I don’t think many people know what Britpop is. Britpop was a musical movement in the mid-90s in response to grunge. The leaders of the pack were Suede (the original Britpop band) Oasis and Blur. There were many other notable bands like Supergrass, Pulp, The Bluetones, Elastica and Sleeper.  The main theme of Britpop was British power to the people! All these bands (regardless how debateable some are) represented the working class, people could relate to their upbeat music. I think the major part of Britpop was its relation to politics, music and art. It was everything. Eveywhere was oozing with this totally British look and sound.  People had pride in their country which no longer exists and ultimately resulted in the end of Britpop. Watching this documentary I’ve realized that Oasis was the leader of this British power sort of thing. Noel Gallagher and Tony Blair were like BFFs.  Gallagher seemed to take pride in his country, now he wants Obama to run their government because he thinks England is sh*t. 

 If Oasis has lost pride in their country, how can anyone else have pride in it? It’s amazing how so much can change in such little time. 

 On a happier note.. I think everyone should watch this amazing documentary. It’s interesting revisiting this time period now and seeing what has happened to these bands. Most of them are still around or have new projects, but they’ve abandoned the Britpop scene as quickly as their fans. Yes, some are still on top of their game like Oasis and Supergrass.. I guess even Blur is having a successful reunion. But people like Jarvis Cocker have disappeared off the map here at least, long forgotten.. except for people like me to thrive on him. 

 Not only is it interesting to look at these bands, but it’s full of amazing wit from Noel and Liam Gallagher. I don’t care how much people think they run their mouths, they may be completely ridiculous at time, but they say it how it is. Who else would say this about their own album: 

Noel Gallagher on BE Here Now: “People will bitch about it the rest of their lives. Guess
what? F***ing sell it. Get 4 or 5 quid I’d imagine, I might as well sign it for ya and you’ll get 10.”