The 17th of October marked the 4th anniversary of Noel Gallagher’s debut album, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. It’ll come as no surprise to anyone interested in the music of the past 20 years that Noel Gallagher can write world class, era-defining songs. Even The Libertines’ Peter Doherty described Noel as “a poet,” just moments before the release of Oasis’ third album Be Here Now. It’s difficult to disagree with the fresh-faced Doherty; beneath the renowned riffs and Noel’s charming Northern arrogance is a poeticism many songwriters have cited as an influence since 1994. Here, we honour the musical mind of Noel Gallagher by taking a look at some of his best lyrics.
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“Please don’t put your life in the hands of a rock and roll band, who’ll throw it all away.” – ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’
‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ is the festival highlight, the champion of all songs to sing along to, the track that effervesces unrestricted happiness. There’s a lot that can be said about this song, so much so that there’s not much of Oasis’ legacy that can be mentioned without it. This lyric in particular is quirky and arrogant, made for throwing your arms around your best friend one drunken summer’s night. The guitar piece accompanying this line adds to its prominence on the track, warning us against what we all did anyway – Oasis are a band anyone can easily put their life in the hands of.