Cigarettes & Alcohol
1994 single by Oasis
"Cigarettes & Alcohol" is a song by the English rock band Oasis, written by Noel Gallagher. It was released on 10 October 1994 by Creation Records as the fourth and final single from their debut album, Definitely Maybe (1994), and their second to enter the UK top ten in the United Kingdom, peaking at number seven, and ultimately spending 82 weeks on the UK Top 100 between 1994 and 1998. On 7 November 2025, 31 years after its release, the song was certified double platinum, indicating 1,200,000 sales.
Background
Whereas the band's first two singles "Supersonic" and "Shakermaker" had used psychedelic imagery, and the third single "Live Forever" used softer chords and tender lyrics, "Cigarettes & Alcohol" demonstrated the rougher musical attitude that Oasis appeared to be promoting. The song proclaims the inherent appeal of cigarettes, alcohol, and other drugs as a remedy to the banality and seemingly futile nature of working-class life. The line "Is it worth the aggravation to find yourself a job when there's nothing worth working for?" taps into a sentiment of disenchantment common in the 1990s. Alan McGee, who discovered the band, boisterously claimed upon first hearing the song that it was "one of the greatest social statements of the past 25 years".
Commentators have long noted that the song’s central guitar figure closely resembles T. Rex’s “Get It On (Bang a Gong)”, with the track drawing on glam-rock sonics; Music & Media flagged the band “go[ing] T-Rex” on release, and later critics have repeated the comparison.
Critical reception
Upon the release, pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "Self-proclaimed best band in the world goes T-Rex to underline the big ego statement. The fags and booze archetype R&R lyrics make them as much an attitude band as Primal Scream." Leesa Daniels from Smash Hits gave it a full score of five out of five and named it Best New Single, saying that "it's a monster of a track: with cock-sure vocals over heavy guitars and drums.
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