Noel Gallagher picks out the best lines on ‘Be Here Now’
By the time Oasis released their third album, Be Here Now, in 1997, they were the biggest band in Britain—maybe even the world—and Noel Gallagher was one of the most acclaimed songwriters of his era.
Their debut release, Definitely Maybe, was the first in a run of records that would define a generation, capture a moment in time, and even, to an extent, shape the culture itself. In fact, Oasis had created such a monster with Definitely Maybe and (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? that their management grew concerned about overexposure and oversaturation by the time they were ready to release more music. They needn’t have worried. Be Here Now was a sensation, becoming the fastest-selling album in British chart history and reaching number one in 15 countries worldwide.
Though the popular perception of the album has fallen away in the years since its release—with retrospective reviews listening to the music rather than the hype of the time—Oasis still have an army of die-hard fans who would call them the greatest group of all time, as evidenced by the staggering amount of people who have bought tickets to the Manchester bands reunion tour this year, and the staggering prices they were willing to pay.
While he might not be operating in the same stratosphere as such legendary pop and rock songwriters as Carole King or Paul McCartney, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Randy Newman and Leonard Cohen or Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush, Noel Gallagher is undoubtedly one of the best contemporary songwriters in popular music and was at the top of his game in the supernova of his 1990s heyday.
Despite no one really knowing what it means, ‘Wonderwall’ has passed into modern parlance. Similarly, ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ has become part of the lexicon. ‘Half the World Away’ demonstrates a level of sensibility and tenderness which is just as impactful as any of the bluster of ‘Supersonic’ or ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ and also demonstrates the songwriting range of the elder Gallagher brother. Even later songs like ‘The Importance of Being Idle’, despite being a direct descendant (to put it politely) of The Kinks’ ‘Dead End Street’, showed that they were more than just any old rock and roll band and actually had something to say in their songs.
Even though he’d already cemented his reputation as a great lyricist by the time that Be Here Now arrived, fans only took the record to be further proof of his genius, starting with the very first single from the album, ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’
Noel, never one to shy away from acknowledging his own talents, thought the song demonstrated some of his better writing, as well.
When asked in an interview with the NME around the time that the album was taking over the world if “when Liam sings, ‘I met my maker and I made him cry’, are you talking about God?”, Gallagher—who is always far less eloquent in interviews than he is in his lyrics—responded “God, yeah. On Judgement Day, if there ever is one, I’ll have a few things to say to that fucking cunt”.
“I’m usually pissed when I’m writing, or stoned, so it could be about fuck all really. Who knows?” he continued, before adding: “But I do think that, and a song on the album called ‘Fading In-Out’, are the best two lyrics I’ve ever written. Saying that, they wouldn’t have to be much cop to beat some of my fucking lyrics, would they?”
