June 1993
chapter 1: sally cinnamon

I'm going to see the Stone Roses. I'd say they're one of the most popular bands in England right now. They're from Manchester, too. Because of them (and some other bands), Manchester is now the place to be. I'm from America, and decided to live in Manchester for the summer, basically because the Stone Roses are the best band in the world. People've said that the Roses are getting less popular now that "Madchester"'s fading away. They're probably right, but I don't want to believe it. They're in Manchester today, and if the Roses are to end soon, then I'm gonna see their last gigs while I can.

Arriving at the gig, I saw a huge amount of people waiting for the Stone Roses to come on stage and perform. I couldn't wait for John Squire to play the riff to "I Wanna be Adored".
There were four guys next to me who all seemed to be friends; two were arguing about who's better: the Smiths or Stone Roses, the two best bands from Manchester. One said, "Why're the Smiths so great?" The other argued, "Liam, you're such an idiot. Johnny Marr's the best guitarist to walk the earth. Squire's nothing." Being known as "the John Squire obsessed girl", I interrupted their arguement to say, "John Squire's great! Even if Marr's better, how could you say Squire's nothing? You've all heard the Roses. You wouldn't be here if Squire was horrible." All four of them stared at me. Finally, the one in favor of the Smiths broke the silence, "Squire... Yeah... he's good too." One of his friends who looked a bit older said to me, "I'm surprised you like the Roses. I didn't know Americans did."
"Well, the best bands are from Manchester," I replied nonchalantly. There wasn't anything said until the guy who liked the Stone Roses better, Liam, pointed to the stage, "Reni and Squire!"

The Stone Roses started with "She Bangs the Drums" and ended with one of my favorite Roses songs, "Mersey Paradise". They were great, especially Squire, but during the middle of the gig, when Ian Brown was singing "I Wanna Be Adored", I realized it sounded like he was saying "I wanna be a door."

The four guys next to me seemed to think they were great as well. Even the "Johnny Marr is so great" guy. When people started to leave, they all left, except for "Mr. Smiths". He was a bit taller than me and was wearing sunglasses. I was wondering why he stayed behind, so I asked him, "Why haven't you left?"
"I wanted to... uh... nevermind..." was his relpy. He seemed nervous, but I didn't know what he meant, if he was mental or what, so I kept quiet. He turned around, as if he were to leave, but turned back and asked nervously,"D'you... want to... to go somewhere? I mean, to eat." he asked. I wasn't sure what to do. He seemed all right, other than saying "Squire's nothing."
"No thanks... I'd rather go for a walk instead. You can come if you want."
"Alright!," He smiled, "And my name's Noel... Gallagher."
"I'm Sally." We left the concert area and went walking. Of course he'll probably bring up the Stone Roses song. I just hate the awkwardness of having the same name as someone in a song of my favorite band.
"Sally Cinnamon," Noel said the name of the Roses song, "I hope you don't turn out like her... I- I mean, I didn't mean what you think. I just... I really- I don't want you to leave me."
Noel's just nervous... I think. I can be a paraniod person at times. Not thinking, I said, "Oh. Well, it depends ... John Squire-"
"Oh, it's alright," Noel took my hand, "So you like John Squire?" Of course, I'm completely in love with John Squire.
"He's..." I didn't want to say "I love him so much!", but Noel interrupted, "It's alright, I can kind of tell you're obsessed with the guy."
I smiled, "Yeah, pretty much."

We walked in silence for the next few minutes. "Noel, who were those people you were with at the Roses gig?"
"They're in my band... Oasis." The name sounded somewhat familiar.
I didn't want to say, "Wow! You're in a band? That's so cool!", and since I don't know what to say sometimes, all I said was "Oh. So there are four of you?"
"Five," Noel corrected, "Me, Liam, Guigsy, Bonehead, and Tony."
"Liam's the one you were arguing with."
"Yeah, he's my twat of a brother."
"So why didn't the fifth come to see the Stone Roses?"
"That'd be Tony. We all don't like him. He's the drummer and is complete shite, but I'm in charge of the band, and I don't want to kick him out right now." Noel's acting like he's in the greatest band of the world.
"So have you recorded anything yet?"
"Just some demos. We're gonna have an album out next year. I guess you could say we're sort of known around Manchester." I'm not so sure about that.
"Sorry to be asking you so many questions, but what are you doing for the band, besides telling people what to do?"
"Writing songs and playing the guitar."
"Oh."
"Yeah, I know some Smiths and Roses songs," then quickly added, "And I've written my own songs too."
"D'you sing... for Oasis?"
"That's Liam. I guess I do sometimes. I would if Liam were gone." Noel turned around, facing the direction of an apartment complex. "Sorry I didn't tell you I need to come back here, mind if I go in for a few minutes?"
"Go ahead; is this where you live?"
"Yeah. 'D'you' rather stay out here or come inside?"
"I'll go with you." I hate being outdoors alone, especially when it was getting dark outside.

Noel and I went inside and walked up the stairs to the second floor. I hope he doesn't live in filth. Noel came to his door and turned the doorknob. "Unlocked," he said quietly, "Guigsy's here." I wondered why "Guigsy", someone in his band, would be at his apartment. "Before we go in... You should know, Guigsy's not a talkative person. He hasn't said fifty words to me."
"Why's he here?"
"I'll tell you later, but I'll give you a hundred quid if you can start a conversation with him."

Noel opened the door and we went inside. His apartment wasn't fancy at all, but it wasn't dirty and rotten either. He took off his jacket, revealing a Manchester City shirt. I hope he and the people in his band aren't those football hooligans. I saw Guigsy in the doorway of another room."Oh, hey Guigs." Noel said across the room. Guigsy mumbled something incoherent.
Guigsy was staring at me, probably wondering who I was. Noel took my hand and said, "This is Sally. You'll be seeing her around." Guigsy nodded and went back into the other room.
"I'll be back soon." As Noel went into the room, Guigsy came out. If Noel came back, and Guigsy and I were talking, I thought he may give me a hundred quid, so I said, "Hello." Of course, he mumbled something, then sat on an armchair.
"D'you know where Noel went?"
"Guitar... probably." And sure enough, I heard the sound of Noel's electric guitar and heard him call, "Sally come in here." I went into the room Noel was in. He was sitting on a chair with an Epiphone Les Paul plugged into an amplifier. He played something, then turned down the volume. "Y'know," he said, "I wanted a Gibson, but no way in hell could I afford one." I nodded, not sure what to say, as I knew nothing about guitars other than John Squire. Noel went back to playing his guitar. And he came back here just to play his guitar... or maybe to make sure Guigsy was here... I had no clue.

I glanced around the room, looking for a clock, and found one. It was around 9, and I thought I should be going soon. "Noel, I think it's time for me to leave."
"Alright, I'll take you home. Just wait a minute." Then Noel began to play the familiar riff and started singing, "Until Sally I was never happy; I needed so much more. Rainclouds, oh, they used to chase me. Down they would pour. Join my tears; allay my fears. Sent to me from heaven, Sally Cinnamon, you're my world."
Shortly after he began the second verse he stopped abruptly. "Sorry." Noel put his guitar away.
"Why're you sorry? I think you're pretty good."
"I- I don't know why I'm sorry..." Noel walked over and kissed me. He walked to the doorway.
"Ready to leave?" he asked.
"Yeah." And with that, Noel Gallagher walked me home.