Noel Gallagher never finished writing ‘Wonderwall’.
Oasis
The former Oasis guitarist admitted he’s baffled by the enduring popularity of the group’s 1995 hit single and he wishes it wasn’t the song that’s always associated with the band.
Asked why he thinks ‘Wonderwall’ was the first 1990s song to hit one billion streams, he said: “I have no idea. It beggars belief.
“'Wonderwall’ is one of my least favourite songs because it’s not finished. If I could somehow twist time and go back there, I’d probably pick a different song for our calling card. Probably ‘Some Might Say'."
The 53-year-old musician isn’t a fan of any of the tracks on Oasis’ second album, ‘(What’s the Story) Morning Glory’.
He admitted: “I don’t like any of the recordings on ‘Morning Glory’. It’s the only album we never did demos for.
“I was writing on tour and I’d planned on finishing the songs when I got to the studio and we just never got around to it.
“’Cast No Shadow’ is half-written. ‘Wonderwall’. ‘Morning Glory’.”
Noel enjoyed some of his most prolific times as a songwriter in the 1990s and though he didn’t “need to be on drugs” to write, he admitted they stopped him from doubting himself.
He said: “I was out of my f****** mind when I wrote ‘Champagne Supernova’ in the Landmark Hotel in Marylebone.
“Typical 90s scene – everyone had left, champagne bottles, carnage on the coffee table – and the song fell out of the sky.
“Songs used to fall out of the sky every f****** day in the 90s.”
But Noel has regrets about some of Oasis’ material from the latter part of the decade because he wasn’t doing his best work and the “melodies deserted” him.
He added to the latest issue of MOJO magazine: “Some of my least favourite work is from ‘Be Here Now’ to ‘Standing On the Shoulder of Giants’ when I thought it’s time to get serious.
“I started to write about fame and drugs, comedowns from drugs, and other people being f***** up by drugs. The melodies deserted me.
“When I hear ‘Be Here Now’, I always think of the missed opportunity.
“Not many people get to be the sole songwriter of the biggest band in the world and this is your statement to the world. And I just said, ‘F*** it, that’ll do.’
“But it didn’t ruin the band. It just sent it into a lower orbit. It’s all character-building.”
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