Ranking every song that Liam Gallagher wrote for Oasis
Although Liam Gallagher wasn’t usually the one supplying the songs for Oasis, he brought the attitude, swagger and bravado that made them familiar to millions.
“I didn’t write ‘Live Forever’, but as soon as I sang it, I made it my own,” Liam told the Evening Standard after going solo. “I class myself as a rock ‘n’ roll singer who writes the odd tune now and again. And that is it. I’m not going out saying I’m Bob Dylan. Ideally, you want to do it yourself, but I can’t write those fucking big songs. I’m limited. My verses are up there, but I just can’t do that next bit,” he added with a healthy pinch of honesty.
His brother, Noel, was undoubtedly the brains of the operation, but they both played equally vital roles in the success of Oasis. Due to his brother’s prolificness with a pen, Liam took a backseat regarding songwriting. He has recieved vast criticism for his approach, and while this is fair, it doesn’t tell the whole story.
In the group’s early years, they agreed that Noel would write the songs and Liam would inject life into them. However, their roles were starting to submerge towards the end of their time together, with Liam contributing more frequently to the songwriting and Noel taking on lead vocals more often.
Admittedly, Liam didn’t write a string of classics for the group, but he’s responsible for creating a handful of Oasis songs that deserve more respect placed upon their name.
What songs did Liam Gallagher write for Oasis?
9. ‘Guess God Thinks I’m Abel’
Out of Liam’s creations with Oasis, ‘Guess God Thinks I’m Abel’ is one that certainly adds proof to the theory that he’s no songwriter. Every artist has efforts that feel like filler rather than thriller, and this Don’t Believe The Truth track certainly falls into that category, but in truth, so does the majority of the record.
Noel was confused by the song and said his younger brother was going through a religious period when he allowed Cain and Abel to influence his writing. “He wrote it out and we were all kinda looking at each other, going, ‘Hmmm.’ I had to go back and listen to it, and then I was just sat down thinking about it and the story of Cain and Abel,” Noel recalled.
He added: “I’m thinking, ‘Well, that’s very religious and biblical and it’s a bit deep.’ But … the first line of the song is ‘You could be my lover’, which … you’d have to speak to Liam about. He has a religious fixation with [Abel] and Jesus, I think. It’s very strange.”
8. ‘Ain’t Got Nothin”
‘Ain’t Got Nothin” only lasts just over two minutes but somehow manages to drag on. It’s Gallagher trying to make a fast and ferocious rock ‘n’ roll, which suits his vocals but not his songwriting capabilities with ‘Ain’t Got Nothin” falling flat.
In a live setting, the track would feasibly work, but, on record, it’s just missing that spark that makes it click. Unsurprisingly, Gallagher didn’t receive an Ivor Novello for the lyrics: “Out on bail, To unveil, Here’s a song, Sing along, Watch my style, Pick up pace, Wipe that smile, From your face.”
7. ‘The Meaning Of Soul’
‘Meaning Of Soul’ is a Gallagher offering from 2005, but it’s a prototype for what would follow with Beady Eye. There are elements of a great song here, especially the chorus, which carries it thanks to Liam’s strong vocals while also hiding the meaningless lyrics.
It’s similarly short to ‘Ain’t Got Nothin”, but the experience flies by rather than feeling like it will never end. However, similarly to his work with Beady Eye and songs like ‘Four Letter Word’, it feels uninspired, formulaic, and a pastiche of old-school rock ‘n’ roll.
6. ‘Pass Me Down The Wine’
‘Pass Me Down The Wine’ didn’t feature on an album by Oasis. It was released as the B-side for ‘The Importance Of Being Idle’ despite being the considerably stronger of the two. The deep cut is an acoustic-led track with a euphoric chorus, which creates the perfect environment for Gallagher to thrive and is a true hidden gem in Oasis’ discography.
Considering their output in the mid-2000s was a far cry from their Britpop heyday, it’s astonishing they chose against including it on Don’t Believe The Truth, especially because it’s ten times more interesting than his input on the record.
5. ‘Soldier On’
Liam Gallagher reportedly has no memories of making the psychedelia anthem ‘Soldier On’. If it wasn’t for The Coral, the effort would have been forever lost in the vaults. They were working in Noel’s studio and decided to have a look around his files to find unheard Oasis work, then told the band they needed to put ‘Soldier On’ on Dig Out Your Soul, and it was later selected as the closing track on the group’s final album.
Noel later said: “It would have been easier, and more obvious, to put an uplifting song at the end of the album. When I hear ‘Soldier On,’ I imagine a guy with a big f–king rope and lump of concrete on his back: as if someone has told him right – there’s your baggage. Take it through your life, that’s why it was last on the album. I really, really love that song.”
4. ‘Little James’
Liam Gallagher’s songwriting was still in its infancy when he penned ‘Little James’ for Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants. While it’s not the most adventurous song in the world, there’s a beauty to its simplicity, and the message of love Gallagher felt for his wife’s son, James.
On the track, Gallagher sings from the heart: “I’m singing this song, For you and your mom, And that’s all, It won’t be long, Before everyone is gone.”
Months after the release of Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants, the couple divorced, and he was out of James’ life, which added more emphasis to the line, “It won’t be long, Before everyone is gone”.
3. ‘Born on a Different Cloud’
‘Born On A Different Cloud’ is concrete proof of Liam getting more comfortable as a songwriter and feeling able to explore his own complex feelings within his lyrics. Gallagher painfully sings about feeling like an outsider his whole life on this sprawling Heathen Chemistry cut, which lasts over six minutes.
He sings: “Talking to myself again, This time I think I’m getting through, It’s funny how you think, It’s funny how, it’s funny how when you do.” While lyrically, it doesn’t say a significant ordeal, the sombre tone of Gallagher combined with the majestic work of his bandmates allows the listener to fill in the blanks in their head.
2. ‘Songbird’
‘Songbird’ is the most iconic song Liam Gallagher wrote for Oasis, but it has to settle for second place, a position many will dispute. It’s a beautiful track that is unlike anything else in Oasis’ repertoire and showed that deep down, Liam genuinely had a rare skill for songwriting that deserved to be taken more seriously.
“‘Songbird’ blew my head off when I first heard it because it was that f*ucking simple and that direct,” Noel later admitted. “But when Liam plays you a song he wants you to instantly fucking drop dead on the spot and then, when you come around, stab yourself in the heart and be in awe of the f*cking sonic ability of the man.”
1. ‘I’m Outta Time’
Although Oasis declined over their last decade of being together, Liam’s increasing songwriting capabilities was one consolatory positive to take from the situation. The years of hard work that Gallagher spent improving his craft had finally paid off, and ‘I’m Outta Time’ was the splendid result of those countless hours lost.
The reason that Gallagher is not a songwriting great is sheerly down to the lack of quantity. If he had a dozen songs of this quality in his arsenal, he’d be recognised in the same light as his brother. ‘I’m Outta Time’ was the stand-out track from Oasis’ final album, Dig Out Your Soul, and samples one of John Lennon’s final interviews before he died in 1980.
Although the general consensus on Oasis is they were creatively spent by the time they split up, ‘I’m Outta Time’ suggests otherwise. It could have been the start of a new, mature chapter for the band, but, unfortunately, we’ll never know whether that could have been the case. The single also won him praise from his brother, who said: “I like Liam‘s songs, I wasn’t surprised [at ‘I’m Outta Time’‘s quality]. He’s [Liam] expected to write great songs, he’s in Oasis.”
