10 Oasis songs that should have been hits
Every rock band tends to have those few songs that fall through the cracks in their discography. Not every tune can be as perfect as you want them to be, and sometimes, the best tracks in the world either get relegated to the album cuts or get thrown onto compilations without anyone thinking twice about them. But for a band as omnipresent in rock and roll as Oasis, there are still the occasional tracks that could have been massive if given the right treatment.
Throughout their time in the spotlight in the 1990s, half of their greatest material tended to either get forgotten entirely or passed over by someone desperate to hear ‘Wonderwall’ or ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ one more time. Even when they started to dip a little bit in quality in the 2000s, there were still some spellbinding tunes that should have done better than being thrown onto the B-sides.
Then again, B-sides aren’t a bad word in the Oasis camp. Some of their best material turned up as also-rans on their singles, and even outside of ‘Acquiesce’ and ‘The Masterplan’, the true undiscovered gems are the tunes that Noel decided to throw onto the back end of a release without a second thought.
So, while each of them could have been hits in their time, that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t receive any less treatment than the classics did. Sure, ‘Rock and Roll Star’ is a classic for a reason, but each and every one of these tunes deserved to be in that hallowed company, or maybe even more.
10 Oasis songs that should have been hits:
10. ‘Sad Song’ – Definitely Maybe
For most of Oasis’ best tunes, Noel was the one to handle the sensitive topics. Liam was great at playing up the rock star angle, but underneath all of that posturing was a songwriter looking to show the shape of his heart whenever he got the chance. And by the time the band looked like a flash in the pan, Noel made one of his few melancholy songs about them potentially leaving a life of fame behind.
Since the band had already started to pick up steam from their first handful of gigs, stunts like their deportation on the way to Amsterdam left a lot of their future plans hanging in the balance. So, what better way to manage that kind of turmoil than a song? While it’s hard to really call ‘Sad Song’ chipper or anything, this is a nice change of pace on the vinyl edition of Definitely Maybe, as if Noel is keeping their non-stop positive attitude in perspective a little bit.
And since the next few years would see their road to success become even more checkered by their infamous Whiskey A-Go-Go gig, this is also a sad precursor to the happy ending that came with ‘Talk Tonight’. Noel’s life may have been saved whilst in San Francisco, but he was still lost in the life of a rock and roll band when he knew that everything could be thrown away instantly.
9. ‘(I Got) The Fever’ – ‘Stand By Me’ B-side
The Manchester legends were never a band known for their subtlety. The entire image of Oasis was centred around the fact that they were the biggest band in the world, and no one else could touch them. You can’t really put up that front and not seem like a pompous asshole at some point, but even at the top of the mountain, Noel knew enough to see the new stragglers coming in behind him on ‘(I Got) The Fever’.
Considering the biggest names in the world were coming in through the door Oasis had already opened, Noel seemed to be talking about how short his time really might be in the spotlight. He was already posturing as the biggest rockstar on the planet on Be Here Now, yet he was more insecure at the prospect of these new kids in town bringing him to his knees in only a few years.
And so it proved as well, especially when the rest of the group bottomed out after the late 1990s and appeared far more fractured than before when releasing Standing on the Shoulder of Giants. Noel knew that it wouldn’t be easy making it to the top, but there’s no rulebook for when someone tells you that the party’s over.
8. ‘Thank You For the Good Times’ – ‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’ B-side
Most people tend to throw many of the non-Noel Oasis songs as ones that aren’t nearly as good. Although Noel could churn out hits like clockwork in the 1990s, the arrival of Andy Bell and Gem Archer, as well as Liam stepping up to write songs, meant that the single-minded classics were suddenly now turning into a musical democracy every time they got into the studio. But even when everyone’s tunes took priority, Bell could have at least benefited from having ‘Thank You For the Good Times’ on Heathen Chemistry.
Since all of his contributions to the album were whittled down to one lacklustre instrumental, ‘Thank You For the Good Times’ could have been a fine introduction to the group. Especially considering what Bell was writing about, this almost comes off as cute if this was the first thing that fans heard.
Instead of the usual surreal and philosophical imagery that he would put in his other songs, this is a gentle thank you from Bell to the Gallaghers for all of the great music that they have given to the people over the years. It would be understandable for Noel and Liam not to want the glorified fan song on the record, but in only a few minutes, Bell had put to music what most fans had wanted to say for years.
7. ‘The Meaning of Soul’ – Don’t Believe the Truth
Everything about Liam Gallagher screamed punk rock before he even opened his mouth. Although he already had the vocal mannerisms of John Lydon, every interview he gave saw him as the successor to the punk rockers that came before him, only this time filtered through the snarkiness of Ian Brown. But while he let his sensitive side out of the can first when writing ‘Little James’, Liam returned ready for war on Don’t Believe the Truth.
Tunes like ‘Songbird’ might arguably be better choices for singles, but ‘The Meaning of Soul’ is 200% Liam Gallagher from the moment it starts. From the acoustic-electric production to the insistent beat, this feels like an unplugged version of what Sex Pistols might have done, down to how he spits out every single word like he’s using them as daggers towards anyone in his way.
Everyone might be out of his league, but given how confident he sounds, some of us could take a few cues from Liam regarding what pure rock and roll swagger looks like. And despite ‘The Chief’ still steering the ship, this brings to mind what could have been if Liam made an all-out punk rock album under the Oasis banner in the post-Be Here Now world.
6. ‘Let’s All Make Believe’ – ‘Go Let It Out’ B-side
No amount of good songs was going to help Oasis gain back the momentum they lost after Be Here Now. They ended their tour as the greatest band in the world, but they seemed to have lost the drive to be rock stars somewhere along the way as well. Now that Noel was starting to break down mentally after years of drug abuse, ‘Let’s All Make Believe’ became the kind of song that felt like a sad epitaph for the original band of brothers.
Then again, it’s not like Liam and Noel were fine in the early days. No one who is involved with ‘Wibbling Rivalry’ is going to be called an absolute delight by their sibling, but by Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, Noel knew he needed to keep the ship moving forward, and that meant making this song as a tribute to the days gone by.
Regardless of how many great moments are on the proper album, hearing Liam sing about everyone pretending they were still friends and genuinely enjoyed each other’s company is sobering for long-time fans to hear. We knew that they weren’t the best mates off the stage, but this was the first sign that any of that brotherly love would need to go through a lot of hoops before being properly healed.
5. ‘Round Are Way’ – ‘Wonderwall’ B-side
It’s hard to really talk about any of the tracks from the Morning Glory era as genuinely underrated. There might be some that shine less bright than others, but most of this material has been etched in stone to the point where Britpop lads from the 1990s will be passing the tunes along to their grandkids one day. But even on a starstudded track list like on the ‘Wonderwall’ single, ‘Round Are Way’ would have been good enough for any other band’s greatest hit.
Outside of the song’s relentless bouncy groove, the main thing that brings this tune home is the horn section running throughout the tune. Oasis was always more of a band that relied on a string section, but hearing those horns blare out over the speakers almost gives the tune a Springsteen-flair, all while Liam manages to sound more exuberant than ever, talking about the future looking brighter every single day.
People can find this kind of optimism corny if they want, but it’s not really unwarranted coming out of either of the Gallaghers. They knew that they had made something that would turn them into superstars, and now that they were among the gods of rock and roll, it was time to celebrate and drink like there was no tomorrow.
4. ‘Up in the Sky’ – Definitely Maybe
For all of the great hits that Noel has written, he still might be criminally underrated as a guitarist. What he played was not intended to be flashy, but whenever he churned out a riff, it had the same amount of taste and swagger that came out of legends like Paul Weller or Johnny Marr before him. While both of those aforementioned music gods were songwriters more than anything, ‘Up in the Sky’ has all of the swagger that comes from someone well-versed in punk rock.
Definitely Maybe is by far the closest thing to punk rock that either Gallagher brother has made, but ‘Up in the Sky’ really is in a class by itself in that regard. Whereas their heavier numbers could stand alongside Sex Pistols, this is what it would sound like if John Lydon had joined the Revolver period of The Beatles, complete with a guitar riff that seemed to inherit the same kind of earworm energy of ‘Paperback Writer’ or ‘Day Tripper’.
There are definitely some psychedelic touches left over from the other acts signed to Creation Records, but this wasn’t some attempt to become Primal Scream. This was the sound of Noel staking his claim that not only could he write great songs, but he also didn’t need a ton of flashy chords to make it, either.
3. ‘Roll It Over’ – Standing on the Shoulder of Giants
The entire history of Standing on the Shoulder of Giants tends to get more and more sad every time it’s told. After becoming the greatest band in the world, Noel seemed extremely tired and on the verge of collapse, thinking that he would either die of a drug overdose or end up committed by the time he reached the end of the 1990s. While he’s still among the living today, he did have to let go of some friends as well, and ‘Roll It Over’ is the sad sense of reality setting in towards the end of the album.
The B-sides like ‘One Way Road’ and ‘Cigarettes in Hell’ already signalled that something wasn’t quite right with him, but when he started talking about a friend that had suddenly cut him out of their life, Noel seemed genuinely hurt. Regardless of his reputation for not caring about anyone’s feelings, this was an opportunity for him to make amends with this mystery person, thinking that it was no good for them to steamroll his soul as he tried to make sense of the world around him.
Everyone usually has their own interpretations of what Oasis lyrics are about, but it’s as clear as day as you start reading into the story of Noel. With half of the band gone and the demo existing during the final sessions with Bonehead and Guigsy, this feels like a final goodbye from Noel to his former bandmates before he even realised that their time in the group was running short.
2. ‘Going Nowhere’ – ‘Stand By Me’ B-side
One of the biggest hangups of becoming famous is losing the will to write about the man on the street. Everyone can normally identify with someone who had nothing to their name dreaming of success, but when they start talking about spending loads of money and burning through the equivalent of anyone’s life savings, it doesn’t exactly sound like someone you could sit down and have a beer with. So, if that was already the case, how the hell was Noel able to write a song about a down-on-their-luck kid dreaming of fame in 1997?
Because, at this point, everyone in Oasis had received everything they could have wanted. They had loads of money and were now treated like The Beatles of their generation, but Noel never forgot the values of those kids who didn’t manage to make it. On ‘Going Nowhere’, he’s playing the role of the kid who is dreaming of fame but with no indication that the time in the sunshine is ever really going to come.
And since it’s being played slightly outside of standard tuning, it’s almost more tragic when someone goes to learn it on guitar and can barely figure it out correctly. But maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be. Even though most people aren’t going to see their motorcycle of jaguar, Noel made the equivalent of looking into a dream world where all those dreams suddenly seemed possible, if only for a minute.
1. ‘I Hope I Think I Know’ – Be Here Now
It’s hard to really talk about any songs off of Be Here Now as potential hits on principle. Since it’s spent most of its legacy becoming the Britpop equivalent of The Phantom Menace, any potential fan is usually treading lightly with the album before they’ve even heard the songs If you get past the layers of production and the bloated runtimes, though, ‘I Hope I Think I Know’ is among the finest performances that the group ever laid down on record.
Because while the rest of the album is bogged down by those runtimes, keeping this tune at a (comparatively) tight five minutes is a welcome change of pace. Despite Noel being ‘Mr Rock and Roll’ whenever he writes a tune, this is the definition of what good pop rock is supposed to sound like, down to the quirky chord changes sprinkled in the mix and fantastic chorus line to wrap everything up.
Noel is only a small part of why the song works, though, and despite everyone being diehards, it’s time that we all admit that Liam’s vocals on this tune outrank what he did on ‘Slide Away’, with a melody that’s textbook-perfect for his voice. Be Here Now saw the band slowly starting to eat their own tail in some spots, but for these five minutes, there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that they genuinely were the best band in the world.
