Childhood Revisited

British band Oasis performed in Singapore on 6th April Sunday evening.

I was there. With 2 long-time friends. It was a blast of a time as this amazing band performed their best ever in Singapore. In the midst of singing in unison with the crowd and raising my fists euphorically in sync with the song beats, I reconnected with an old part of me, that prompted a deeper reflection.

Oasis is probably my most significant childhood/teenage influence. Definitely exceeds my parents’ upbringing work in my life (sad to say though). I worshiped Oasis passionately, and they were a major part of almost all aspects of my life then.

I first got to know them when I was about 12, upon hearing the radio play one of their early singles. I fell in love, with their raw biting sound of their music, their intensely arrogant and defiant lyrics of their songs, and of course, their well-publicized anti-establishment and devil-may-care attitude.

In no time, I knew every single bit of detail about their lives. I could recite line by line with deadly accuracy of every Oasis song however obscure it may be (I can probably still do it now). I owned every single CD that were released, whether official or bootlegged albums and singles. I supported the football club that they loved (Manchester City, in Div 2 then). I purchased merchandises like mugs, lanyards, posters, shirts, and even Manchester City jerseys (a rarity then). I custom-made my own shirts and bookmarks and school files that featured the Oasis logo and pictures. I named my 1st email address in honor of them. I attempted to adopt the arrogant British swagger in my walking. I used the rude “V” finger sign as well as British expletives regularly in my socialization. I defied all kinds of authorities and establishments. My school assignments and even exam scripts were usually scribbled at random places lyrics of their songs as well as “inspiring” quotes by them recorded in interviews. Their lyrics and quotes became lenses through which I view life. In times of uncertainty I find solace and encouragement in them (e.g. “I’ll have my way, in my own time, I’ll have my say, my star will shine”, Gallagher, 1997).

At the peak of my worship of them,  I named myself after their main songwriter and guitarist, Noel Gallagher (yes, I gave myself that name Noel, nothing to do with my parents). I finally picked up an abandoned guitar at the ripe old age of 18 after years of hoping to learn to play music to be like them. It was sheer passion for them that gave me the determination to self-teach myself with zero guidance to play the guitar and to sing and to write songs like them. I began playing and singing their songs with a band (all hopeless amateurs) at various school events, bold and unembarrassed, reveling in the delight that I was getting closer to be like Oasis.

It was only at the age of 20, when God introduced to me the One truly worthy of my worship – Jesus Christ – that shook my whole life upside down.

“Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them (idols)” Psalm 135:18. How true it is, that we are who we worship. Looking at my life now, I must confess that many of those traits from my early days still tend to persist.

How I long to regain the same intensity of passion in worshiping, this time, my Lord Jesus Christ, that I become like Him, effects of which that last for a whole lifetime.

 

Noel