The song Liam Gallagher and John Squire wrote together: “Talking shite about Jesus”
As the lead singer of Oasis, Liam Gallagher is no stranger to a Britpop hit. He spent the 1990s lending his voice to some of the most anthemic and iconic songs to spawn from the genre, from the endlessly catchy ‘Wonderwall’ to the drawled ‘Live Forever’. Gallagher quickly became one of the most recognisable voices in Britpop, but he rarely contributed to the writing of Oasis’ biggest hits, leaving those duties largely to his brother, Noel.
From ‘Supersonic’ to ‘Champagne Supernova’, Noel was almost always the Gallagher who received songwriting credit, but that doesn’t mean that Liam hadn’t contributed to Oasis’ iconic sound. His drawn-out, football chant-style vocals were essential to the band’s laddy Britpop appeal and overall catchiness, as he took Noel’s words and turned them into anthems.
“I didn’t write ‘Live Forever’, Gallagher once told the Evening Standard, “but as soon as I sang it, I made it my own.” Liam knew that he excelled behind the mic rather than with a pen in hand, but that didn’t stop him from occasionally trying his hand at songwriting. There were several songs he wrote for Oasis, such as ‘Songbird’, and he even gifted a Britpop anthem to a Stone Roses off-shoot.
Like many Mancunian teens, Gallagher fell in love with the Stone Roses while he was still at school, but he managed to turn his admiration for the band into collaboration. He even roped Squire in to play guitar on ‘Champagne Supernova’ and a cover of ‘I Am the Walrus’ at Oasis’ iconic Knebworth show in the summer of 1996.
After the Roses went their separate ways in 1996, guitarist John Squire embarked upon a new project called The Seahorses, which would find him venturing into the Brit-pop realm, so it made sense to link up with Gallagher. The band released their debut album in the year following, featuring a tune that the Oasis star had co-written called ‘Love Me And Leave Me’.
The pair recalled the writing session during a chat with NME, during which Gallagher admitted that he didn’t even remember writing the session. According to the Stone Roses guitarist, they were “battered.” Squire was at Gallagher’s house and the pair were just “fucking about” when they wrote ‘Love Me And Leave Me’, inspired by the drunken ramblings of the Oasis star.
According to Gallagher, he was just “talking shite about Jesus and Jah and loads of stuff – and then John turned it into a tune.” His words spilt into the song, which describes believing in lovers and friends rather than Gods or wars. “Love me and leave me,” the chorus declares, “leave me to love. Instrumentally, the track features Britpop-style strums and singalong-worthy verses.
It’s easy to feel Liam’s presence on the track, even though it wasn’t there in the studio. But even though Gallagher had penned a solid Britpop tune from his drunken antics, he still wasn’t interested in switching from singing to songwriting. He still left that responsibility largely to his brother, who penned iconic hits like ‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’ in the years that followed, only occasionally contributing to writing sessions.
However, Gallagher certainly was interested in continuing to collaborate with Squire. Just last year, decades after they penned ‘Love Me And Leave Me’ together, the pair linked up for a collaborative album titled Liam Gallagher John Squire. Squire penned the songs while Gallagher took up vocals, resulting in a full-length collaboration between two guitar music greats.
