The Oasis song Noel Gallagher said was “the best words I ever wrote”
Noel Gallagher has never prioritised himself with being a master lyricist. No matter how many times people might slow dance to a song like ‘Wonderwall’, no one will be going over the lyrical complexity of the song ‘Champagne Supernova’, which was confirmed by Noel to be nothing but gibberish. Despite his penchant for making lyrical clunkers occasionally, Noel stands by an Oasis deep cut as having some of his best lyrics.
Then again, the early days of Oasis were never about becoming the next Bob Dylan. Though Noel would write songs like ‘Live Forever’ with a pointed meaning, he has always been cagey about talking about what his songs are really about, looking to let the listeners decide that for themselves. While the tracks on Definitely Maybe may have seemed pretty straightforward, a turning point for his songwriting occurred on What’s the Story Morning Glory.
Moving into Rockfield Studios, Noel had mapped out the entire album in his head before getting onto the grounds, playing the band most of the tunes on the way to the studio. While rhythm guitarist Bonehead would be struck by the power behind ‘Champagne Supernova’, Noel was making leaps forward with his songwriting in the deep cuts.
Going through most of the album, Noel was painting graphic pictures of people’s lives, whether it was the girl that would come and save him from himself on ‘Wonderwall’ or the lonesome lad stuck in his nowhere town on ‘Hey Now!’. For all of the optimism that was coated throughout most of his lyrics, Noel had a soft spot for the one sullen moment on the record.
Right after the massive ‘Some Might Say’, ‘Cast No Shadow’ is one of the few sad ballads on the record. Sticking to acoustic guitar primarily, Noel would talk about the song being reminiscent of Pink Floyd, saying that he wanted to capture the sound that he heard on albums like Wish You Were Here.
While the mood of the song is already eerie, Noel would count the lyrics as one of his masterstrokes, recalling in a retrospective of the album, “[It’s] some of the best words I ever wrote. “Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say/Chained to all the places that he never wished to stay”. I have no recollection of writing it, but when I heard it today, I was like ‘Fucking hell, well done!’”.
Even though the song may have had a more pessimistic outlook on Noel’s cast of characters, that moodiness would define the deeper cuts of the band’s later years. Although much of Be Here Now shows the band on full blast, B-sides like ‘Going Nowhere’ tapped into a similar vein as ‘Cast No Shadow’, almost like the man that was chained to his hometown has been let free, only to find himself falling into the same routine over again.
While Liam Gallagher might take the lead vocal throughout most of the song, these trademark slower numbers would become dominated by Noel in the band’s later years. Although there were plenty of great rock numbers, like ‘The Hindu Times’, material like ‘Where Did All Go Wrong’ sounded more natural coming from Noel than Liam’s macho bravado.
Although Noel might not think about who’s singing what when writing a song, ‘Cast No Shadow’ shows an emotional vulnerability he would cultivate later. Maybe it was because Liam couldn’t sing the mellow songs, or maybe Noel wrote something too close to the bone.
