"The Hindu Times" is a song by English rock band Oasis. It was written by the band's lead guitarist Noel Gallagher, and was released as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Heathen Chemistry, on 15 April 2002. On the album, it segues directly into the next track, "Force of Nature", which also segues into "Hung in a Bad Place".
The song peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's sixth number-one single in their native country, remaining on top for one week before being dislodged by the Sugababes' "Freak Like Me". The song also topped the charts in Canada, Italy and Scotland, and reached the top 10 in Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway and Spain. This was the first Oasis single to feature former Heavy Stereo frontman Gem Archer on rhythm guitar and former Ride frontman Andy Bell on bass.
According to Oasis' official single page, "The Hindu Times" was recorded at Monnow Valley in Monmouth. Oasis were already performing the song live by autumn 2001 during their Noise and Confusion Tour. In that interview, Noel described the track's sound simply as "Fuckin' loud!", while Liam called it "punk rock" and "the Pistols and The Beatles".
The song was originally expected to be issued in October 2001, but was held back while Noel reworked it. In May 2002, Q reported that the single had been ready the previous October and then pulled because "it wasn't good enough".
Gallagher gave several explanations for the title in interviews. In September 2001, NME reported that he had seen "The Hindu Times" on a T-shirt and that "it stuck". In July 2002, he said that names such as "The Hindu Times" often "come off the cuff" and that he then spent "nine months trying to come up with wacky stories to keep people entertained when really they don't mean anything". The following month, he joked that he had considered using the phrase as the album title before deciding to apply it to the single instead.
The title has little direct connection to the lyric, which is closer in spirit to Definitely Maybes "Rock 'n' Roll Star". In 2011, NME described the song's "well-worn riff" as being "cribbed from Stereophonics' 'Same Size Feet'". The B-side "Just Getting Older" was already among the songs Noel was discussing publicly by late 2001. According to Oasis' official release page, "Idler's Dream" is the only Oasis song not to include drums or guitar. The song has also been reported as having been written in Thailand in January 1999.
"The Hindu Times" was one of the first Oasis singles since the singles from (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995) to receive almost unanimously positive reviews from critics. In 2008, NME listed the song as one of the greatest indie anthems of the 2000s. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 143 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". In 2010, XFM listed it in their "1000 greatest songs of all time" list.
"The Hindu Times" was scheduled to be played during the Parade of Nations at the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony as an example of British music, but the Parade took much less time than expected, so the song was not used.
The official video was directed by W.I.Z. The original video was set to be filmed in New Delhi, but this did not work out, and the finished clip was filmed at Abbey Road Studios in London.