The Oasis song inspired by The Rolling Stones
Any self-respecting rock star who hasn’t taken at least one thing from The Rolling Stones is probably not as much of a pro as they think they are. For all of the retro sounds the band have made over the years, there’s no denying that the work of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards has been etched into the foundation of rock and roll for the last half-century. While most artists have tried their hand at writing a song like Jagger and Richards, The Stones ended up getting ripped off by the biggest Beatles plagiarist of them all…Noel Gallagher.
Then again, to say that Noel Gallagher loves his classic rock is like saying that breathing is good for you. From the moment he started writing songs, Noel was always up for cribbing ideas from his favourite bands, whether it was the attitude of Sex Pistols or the tunefulness of The Beatles.
When he started to work alongside his brother Liam in Oasis, though, it was clear that they had one band in mind. From how Noel wrote melodies to how Liam sang from behind those famous wire-rimmed glasses, these guys wanted to be the next incarnation of the Fab Four so badly, down to knicking some of their chord progressions and vocal melodies for their classic songs.
After making their punk statement on Definitely Maybe and reinventing their songwriting style on What’s the Story Morning Glory, Be Here Now was meant to be the moment where everything came together. It did come together, alright, and then crumbled on top of each other as soon as they went into the studio.
Marred by songs that are too long, much of the album is hard to get through in one sitting because of just how much there is to sift through. Even though the band’s Beatles worship is on full display in songs like ‘Magic Pie’ and ‘All Around the World’, Noel said that he made a conscious effort to sound like ‘The Glimmer Twins’ on the song ‘It’s Gettin’ Better (Man!!)’.
Despite the cheekiness of reusing a Beatles song title, Noel admitted that the song was written on tour trying to play something like The Rolling Stones, telling Q Magazine, “Because we got connected with The Beatles all the time, I thought I’d write a Rolling Stones song instead. You can almost see Keith and Ronnie with fags in their mouths, giving it some”.
Compared to the weird experimental material that The Stones were working with on albums like Bridges to Babylon around the same time, Noel’s cheap imitation of them is probably one of the best songs from this period of time. As opposed to trying to make something for the sake of sounding massive, the band feel like they are in their element on this tune, with Liam giving that kind of snide delivery that only he can produce.
Oasis may have made out like bandits in sales and on the accompanying tour, but even Noel thought that this era of the band could have been better, citing a lot of the songs as being half of what they could have been. In an era when the band were at their most self-assured, though, it’s nice to hear a song that isn’t about anything too specific and just shows them having fun playing together.
