“Couldn’t believe how good it was”: the U2 song Noel Gallagher loves to play
In today’s landscape, it seems that no one—or at least not many others—is as cynical as the Oasis brothers. While it could be argued that one is particularly pricklier than the other, Noel Gallagher is also a difficult man to please. As always, however, this specific type of coldness only makes us listen more intently when he’s in the mood for dishing out praise.
What’s particularly interesting about Gallagher’s approach when discussing music is his bluntness, both in relation to other figures and his own work. Even when curating his own lists, for instance, he doesn’t sugarcoat and certainly won’t pretend to like something if he knows deep down that it’s a pretence. One such example was when he introduced the music video for his song ‘The Ballad Of The Mighty I’ for Rage TV and prefaced it by saying: “[It is] possibly one of the worst videos in the history of videos.”
However, what some might mistake as nothing more than downcast bitterness is usually just dry Manchunian humour, especially when it comes to criticising the work of others. But when it comes to those he enjoys, he doesn’t hold back. “They were the fucking best,” the musician once said, talking about his famous appreciation for Nirvana. “You could not write catchier tunes than [Kurt Cobain].”
He also once said Paul Weller was admirable because, unlike many in the business, he’s only in it for the right reasons. In Gallagher’s words: “He’s in it for the music, the gigs, the clothes, and he still wants to be the guy.” He added: “He’s such an inspiring dude. When I’m in the studio with him, either working on his stuff or my stuff, it’s a lesson in free expression. He’s been a constant in my life since 1979 and just a fucking dude.”
Although Gallagher has had a longtime appreciation for The Jam, he also experienced a pivotal moment when he first picked up a copy of U2’s Achtung Baby, particularly as it showed him the power of experimenting after experiencing a significant moment of success. “The thing I like about U2 is at the end of The Joshua Tree, they threw it all up in the air and came up with the album Achtung Baby.”
He continued: “I remember queuing up to buy Achtung Baby the day it came out outside Our Price Records in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester.” Recalling the moment it blew him away, he said: “When I got home to it, I genuinely couldn’t believe how good it was. ‘Mysterious Ways’ is a song that I love to play at home on the acoustic guitar sometimes. These are some of the legends of our time.”
It’s immediately obvious why Gallagher enjoys ‘Mysterious Ways’—the song feels inherently rock ‘n’ roll with an endearing retro twist, completely symptomatic of early 1990s rhythms. It’s also catchy—something that we already know Gallagher loves, so it’s not exactly a challenge to imagine him playing the progression, guitar in hand and nothing else but the memory of first discovering a cherished favourite.
