The divisive first track Liam Gallagher wrote for Oasis
UK Britpop giants Oasis may have thrived on the songwriting of guitarist Noel Gallagher, but it was his brother who opened the door to fame and fortune. “I was just obsessed with being in a band,” Liam recalls in Supersonic. “I knew bonehead, and I knew Guigs [bassist Paul McGuigan]. They were in a band called The Rain, and they’d heard I was cool.” After impressing Bonehead and the gang with his haircut, walk and nightingale vocals, Liam joined The Rain, later changing their name to Oasis. It wouldn’t be until 2000, however, that Liam would have any control over the group’s songwriting output.
At this point, Noel wasn’t even in a band. He was working as a drum technician for Inspiral Carpets and “trying not to get sacked”. But Liam and the rest of Oasis had other ideas. Noel was, after all, a songwriter, and what Oasis didn’t have were songs. When Noel got off tour, he went down to see what Liam’s new musical venture amounted to. “I remember being pretty impressed. They had their own songs, and Liam didn’t look that out of place,” he said. After the show, they approached Noel and asked him to be their manager. “I was like, ‘What the fucking hell are you talking about? No.'” Undeterred, Liam finally persuaded Noel to come and watch the band rehearse. Noel brought along his guitar, played one of his songs, and the rest is history.
By the late 1990s, Oasis were the biggest British band on the scene. They’d topped the charts, made headlines for bad behaviour and played one of the biggest outdoor concerts ever. There may have been a sense that the only way was down. Cue Standing on The Shoulders of Giants, Oasis’ fourth studio album. The departure of founding members Guigsy and Bonehead meant that the Oasis were forced to switch things up, giving Liam the chance to contribute his first Oasis track, ‘Little James’, which was written for the son of Patsy Kensit.
The track received a lot of negative press, but it’s got a certain charm. The lyrics are, admittedly, complete twaddle. If you thought the opening line, “Little James / We’re all the same,” sounds forced, wait until you get to the second verse, at which point Liam attempts to paint a portrait of childhood innocence with: “Live for your toys / Even though they make noise.” To be fair to Liam, Noel’s lyrics were often just as bad. How can we forget that memorable line from ‘She’s Electric’ in which he attempts to rhyme “missed her” with “blister”? Ah, the heady days of Britpop.
You can check out ‘Little James’ below.
