“That’s quite original”: Noel Gallagher on the most authentic song of his career
No one in Oasis had any problem-pinching licks from other artists. It was no big secret that the group were big Beatles fans and would put pieces of their songs in their own tunes, and there were at least a few occasions where they would steal licks outright, like the lead guitar for ‘Supersonic’ being lifted from ‘My Sweet Lord’. Although Noel Gallagher claimed to write whatever he felt, he didn’t think he hit on something truly original until he got to work on one of their true classics.
As soon as the group started getting big, they were already talking about them lifting from other places. While some of them held up in court, it was clear that Noel was more of a fan of the artists and wanted to give a musical nod whenever he could, like when he copied T Rex outright for the main lick of ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’.
But not every piece of their songs was stealing, either. Listening to tracks like ‘Live Forever’ and ‘Bring It On Down’, their music sounds like some of the best tunes that the 1970s never spat out, almost like they were introducing the sounds of glam rock grandeur and punk rock energy for a new generation after grunge fell.
If Definitely Maybe was their more punk-driven statement, then What’s the Story Morning Glory was where Noel became a bonafide pop songwriter. No one could have predicted that the group would have grown up that much within the span of a year, but everything from ‘Champagne Supernova’ to ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ has practically become a standard amongst rock fans because of their bulletproof choruses.
Compared to the rest of the tunes, ‘Wonderwall’ almost seems quaint by comparison. Despite its reputation nowadays for being the go-to song for every joker with an acoustic guitar and a few weeks’ worth of chords under their belt, the way that Noel played them was what differentiated him from the rest of the bands in the Britpop scene.
Although he was used to playing these open-strummed chords before, Noel thought that nothing fell into place until he got a capo, saying, “It’s a little thing that you pop on the frets so you can move your voice up into higher keys. I’d never heard of one, which seems strange because all my songs have got a capo on now. I remember strumming the chords and thinking, ‘That’s actually quite original. This is probably the first original thing I’ve ever done.’”
Even though playing the tune on guitar is dead simple, the real magic isn’t even from the chords that Noel is suggesting. It’s all about the way he strums it, and even without Alan White behind the drumkit, the rhythm that Noel is playing is so percussive that it practically tells the story of the tune on its own.
So next time any aspiring guitarists try to take on ‘Wonderwall’ at an open mic, just remember that it’s not about being able to sing in key and know all the chords. It’s about giving the tune the right heartbeat, and while the lyrics do a lot of the work, having a good rhythm will either make or break any performance.
