‘We’re on Our Way Now’: the Noel Gallagher song he called “flawed”
Everybody makes mistakes, even those who have been writing and recording music for the past three decades, as in the case of Noel Gallagher. Over the years, the ex-Oasis songwriter has penned some truly timeless tracks that continue to be belted out by audiences far and wide to this day. Although the discography of Oasis was of diminishing returns as the band progressed, Gallagher has since reaffirmed his songwriting prowess through the material recorded with his solo project, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. Nevertheless, Gallagher’s long career in music has certainly not been without its mistakes.
After the long-awaited break-up of Oasis back in 2009, the High Flying Birds provided Gallagher with an opportunity to expand his musical repertoire. Oasis’ discography was, of course, well-renowned across the nation, but the Britpop giants had been largely limited to brash, masculine guitar music, delivered with characteristic arrogance by Liam. If you delve further into the b-sides and rarities of the band, however, you will find many intimate, vulnerable acoustic tracks penned and performed by Noel Gallagher.
Often overlooked Oasis tracks like ‘Talk Tonight’ and ‘Half the World Away’ hinted at the songwriter’s abilities to create something a little more personal than the colossal sounds of Definitely Maybe. However, it was not until Gallagher embarked upon his solo work that he was able to fully explore those themes and have them take centre stage. With the High Flying Birds, Gallagher’s songwriting has become much more eclectic and collaborative, as symbolised by the 2021 compilation album Back the Way We Came: Vol. 1.
In addition to compiling tracks from the High Flying Birds’ first three records, the compilation album also featured some previously unheard tracks. These songs, ‘We’re on Our Way Now’ and ‘Flying on the Ground’, provided some insight into the mistakes, missteps and offcuts from Gallagher’s solo project. ‘We’re On Our Way Now’ is a particularly interesting moment in the songwriter’s career, as it was reportedly being worked on for years before finally being recorded, despite never having an official standalone release.
Reflecting upon the track, Gallagher recalled, “I’ve had that song for quite a while but never really said ‘Yes, it is finished.’” Perhaps its unfinished quality is what makes the song so compelling, as well as providing an answer to why it never featured on a proper release by the band. “It’s great, but it’s so flawed,” Gallagher attested, in a statement that could equally be attributed to many of the songs he has written over the course of his illustrious career.
Explaining this description, the guitarist and frontman revealed, “The vocal on it is a guide vocal, and something happened in the studio where we could never get the sound back,” adding, “I sang the words that are on there now, and I’ve effectively had to leave them because I went back to do it and it didn’t sound as good”.
Despite the “flawed” nature of the song, it clearly still earns the Gallagher seal of approval, as he said, “I think it’s a fucking great song, and I know people are gonna love it if they loved ‘If I Had A Gun’ and ‘The Dying of the Light’. It’s kind of one of those songs”. Hence, the unfinished song ended up on the tracklisting for Back the Way We Came: Vol. 1.
