The Oasis song Noel Gallagher knew would be a hit: “I never had even the slightest doubt”
There’s an arrogance to Oasis that you either love or you hate. For some, it’s that quintessential British standoffishness that only really comes into full view a few beers in when the pub starts to smell a bit like long-lost hits. For others, it’s a part of culture they’d love more than anything to forget, only to be reminded every time Liam Gallagher says something questionable on social media.
Whichever side you sit on, there’s a permanence to their cultural significance that’ll never go away, at least not any time soon. And besides, do people still actually sport that old-time-y mindset of growing up with Oasis, and the more questionable phases that came with it? Or is it now all just a means to reach a different kind of nostalgia? Everybody thought the reunion tour would kick-start some kind of rebellion, but so far, it just looks like grown fans heading down to enjoy the music.
Then again, there’s that arrogance there that also preludes a level of unpredictability, one that was set a long time ago way back when, in the dusty corners of the studio where the walls were painted with the overwhelming air of self-confidence; of knowing their music was bloody brilliant, without much care for anything else. Even when arguments and disagreements cracked apart a duo that united the lost youth of the day, the arrogance was buried in the sounds of music that completely changed the game.
And while to some people, it might seem like nothing more than a product of the kind of laddish, dated cultural norms we could do without, or at least with far less of, there’s just no changing exactly what it is, or once was, or the reasons why people still flock to parks and venues to catch their beloved ‘Little by Little’ or ‘Wonderwall’ live. At the very least, it’s to honour the times they’d found a trusty soundtrack to a simpler time, enjoying the bliss of letting their troubles fade away, away, away…
But then that arrogance creeps in again, the one that says, well, take it or leave it (probably in Liam’s voice, or delivered with the same vehemence that often comes across in his caps lock tweets). The arrogance that defined some of their best moments in the studio, not even Noel becoming immune to the fairydust of just knowing when something was going to be a smash – like ‘Some Might Say’. While writing the song, Noel just knew. Perhaps that’s what we’ve felt all this time – the knowing factor that defines Oasis’ best songs.
“Alan McGee didn’t think ‘Some Might Say’ sounded like a number one,” Noel told NME in 2012. “He’s a great man, but he has no idea how to pick singles,” he continued. Adding: “As soon as I’d written ‘Some Might Say’ I was certain it would be a number one and I was right. I never had even the slightest doubt. That was the gin and tonic getting the better of me.”
In all fairness, this wasn’t the only thing that made the song so great, or the only thing that more broadly categorises Oasis’ confidence, for that matter. The thing that stands out about this particular example is that Noel initially got bogged down in the authenticity of what he was saying in the verses, wanting it to come across like he had something meaningful to say. But he eventually loosened the reins, realising that, no matter what, it was going to work.
As he reflected: “I wanted something as deep and meaningful for the chorus, but in the end I just gave up and thought, fuck it, I might as well just go [with] stupid stuff about fishes and dishes and dogs itching.”
In the end, perhaps that’s the real arrogance of Oasis – believing in your craft well enough to know that mixing “deep” things with “stupid stuff” results in something bigger than anything they could have imagined. Or maybe they did. Maybe they still do.
