The inspired guitar lick Noel Gallagher spread across two classic Oasis songs
Noel Gallagher never claimed to be the most original songwriter in the world. Even though he was routinely scorned for his willingness to lean on the icons of rock and roll’s past, he was also able to communicate more effectively than any rock band on the planet, through melodic, unifying anthems. This ability to connect was more important than musical intricacy. Even when Gallagher had an idea for a cool guitar lick, sometimes he figured it was better to use it twice.
Then again, no one is looking at the history of a song like ‘Wonderwall’ and hoping to get a lesson on how to make complex music. One of the most routinely covered songs of the era, thanks to its accessibility, there’s a lot more going on underneath the surface when you break down the guitar part.
Towards the end of the verse, the pre-chorus has a flourish at the end of the phrase, featuring Gallagher arpeggiating one chord before starting the whole thing over again. Even though this kind of guitar part is something that any average guitar novice could have stumbled upon by mistake, the Oasis man knew there was something there no one had heard before.
The track is based on the inability to speak properly and communicate effectively. With that in mind, this may as well be him trying to communicate through his instrument, letting the higher notes do the talking for him. If it works in a love song like this, it will also work in a track that’s equally fraught with emotion.
Given the task of penning ‘Talk Tonight’, written about the time when Melissa Lim nursed him back to health after the band’s infamous Whiskey-a-Go-Go gig, Gallagher once again set about using the structure to share his feelings. When he talks about thanking her for saving his life, the same acoustic guitar motif happens again in between parts of the chorus.
While the Gallagher of 1996 would probably tell you that he wasn’t even thinking about this kind of thing in between snorting lines and being in the biggest band in the world, both guitar licks are dripping in sentimentality. Whereas the notes in ‘Wonderwall’ were about saying everything you couldn’t say to a romantic partner, ‘Talk Tonight’ is about talking to someone who helped save you from giving up on your dreams. It’s a different kind of love, but that doesn’t make it any more or less potent.
Both licks appeared as fixtures of the Morning Glory era of the band, however, they were hardly heard at all when playing live. Since most of the guitars during any Oasis set were buried under huge layers of fuzz, no one was going to be able to hear this subtle Easter Egg than Gallagher underneath everything, so it remained a staple of the group’s studio sound.
While ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Talk Tonight’ may be talking from two completely different perspectives, Gallagher might be trying to say something about the impact that Lim had on his life in both songs. Given the shared guitar licks and both talking about someone who would come and save him, the guitarist did his best emoting when singing than anything he could have done through words.
