‘Wonderwall’: Oasis song Noel Gallagher struggled to make work live
If you’re at a party and an acoustic guitar is in the vicinity, you can bank on someone ironically threatening to play Oasis’ ‘Wonderwall’. The three-chord wonder has been the bedrock of learning for any self-taught guitarist and is almost fail-safe in its ability to rouse a chorus from nearby listeners.
Given Oasis’ dense back catalogue of classic songs built upon surprisingly rudimentary chord sequences, there could have been a number of songs that would go on to become the universal camp-fire soundtrack. ‘Live Forever’ boasts equally entry-level chords, and the lyrics are appropriately existential for an evening of stargazing, as is ‘Half The World Away’, which arguably boasts one the strongest choruses’ of their discography.
But ‘Wonderwall’ has resonated on a deeper level universally. While the lyrics seem arbitrary but innately inspiring, they’re far from Gallagher’s finest hour. But nevertheless, they work well as an emotive narrative sat atop the melody’s earnest underbelly.
And while the lad at your local pub who fancies himself as the fourth Gallagher brother can play it with ease, it didn’t come quite as quickly to the band at first – although, in their defence, it would have been to crowds of thousands.
Speaking to CNN in 2002, during the campaign for their fifth studio album Heathen Chemistry, Noel said: “We could never get that song right. The first time we came to America I would do it alone; just sit on a stool and sing it. I didn’t feel that that was right ’cause Liam sings it on the album. I didn’t think it was right because that’s the song everybody’s waiting for on the setlist. And I’d walk out with an acoustic guitar, and everybody would go mad”.
It seems that Noel Gallagher himself triggered the chain reaction of mediocre campfire renditions of ‘Wonderwall’ that followed by quickly opting for the acoustic approach live rather than playing it as a full band.
Of course, the very act of increasing his vocal presence in live shows planted the seed of conflict that later led to the Gallagher brothers feuding and subsequently calling quits on the band after a whirlwind 16 years of chart domination. But despite the turbulence of Oasis, ‘Wonderwall’ has remained a constant and, alongside maybe ‘Live Forever’ and ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, acts as the band’s crowning commercial achievement.
For a band who were the lightning rod of 1990’s Cool Britannia and a yardstick for which all future cultural moments would be measured, it probably feels a little bit sickening that the soundtrack of their highlight reel is a tune they don’t even like.
Noel Gallagher said, “’Wonderwall’ is one of my least favourite songs because it’s not finished. If I could somehow twist time and go back there, I’d probably pick a different song for our calling card. Probably ‘Some Might Say’.”
So, as rehearsals for their blockbusting summer 2025 comeback tour will soon begin, will they be plugging in for their rendition of ‘Wonderwall’? With the guns having ‘fallen silent’ and a mooted £50m each set to be made from the tour, I’m sure they would have by now, somehow, realised what they’ve gotta do.
