Thursday, December 11, 2014

Oasis What's The Story Morning Glory - Wonderwall

Oasis have loud songs that rock and kick ass. Wonderwall does so with more subtly. Welcome! Today let's enjoy Wonderwall, a track from the album most refer to as Oasis Morning Glory. Let's start with the alternative  Music Video.
The alternate version has only one camera shot. Watch Oasis Wonderwall. You can watch the main version by Googling Oasis Wonderwall. Or if the internet goes black I fear you may be out of luck watching Wondewall video. As far as I know (correct me if I am wrong) no DVD features the music video. If you are looking for extras besides the album you may want to check out

Are you mad for it? For a DVD that features mostly Definitely Maybe but also an intense version of Some Might Say then look into

CD singles are almost extinct now. But are occasionally found at places like Newbury Comics. You may want to check through the amazon links above. Because who knows they may be valuable collectibles in the future. 

General Knowledge 
In the Oasis Wonderwall Music video someone (does anybody know who?) is playing the cello throughout the video but the sound is a mellotron tape-playback keyboard. (Songfact) The Oasis members are cooly reading the newspaper. Noel goes from a bright blue guitar to a bright green guitar. And only the Oasis members and producer Nigel Dick know the reason for featuring clowns that puppeteer and juggle. Don't forget the cowboys. The dart playing is Oasis having fun. The steady beat makes this song rock. Although in a more subtle way. 

Another fact is that at live shows Noel plays his acoustic guitar on a Fender Telecaster. It's one of the few songs where he uses a Fender guitar rather than a Gibson.
Finally, and most enjoyably at the very end of Oasis Wonderwall, the intro to "Supersonic" can be faintly heard on acoustic guitar. (Songfact)

NME has a great article about interesting oasis facts. The interesting facts I didn't mention were the song was played for a teen Leah Betts who died taking ecstasy in 1995. Oasis Wonderwall is the soundtrack to a short but moving anti-drug video showing Leah's last hours. Oasis had allowed the song to be used  for this but had declined the British Army permission to use Wonderwall in recruitment videos. 

Oasis Wonderwall's title and concept came from the 1968 film Wonderwall- from Pyschedelia to Surrealism, starring Jane Birkin. She lives next door to a man who becomes fascinated with her,so he slowly makes holes in his wall so he can watch her through it. This is the "Wonderwall." (song facts)George Harrison provided the soundtrack to the movie, Wonderwall Music. You can learn more about Harrison's contribution, or about the Beatles in general through The Rough Guide to the Beatles. Use the link below to connect to the book.

 Start your holiday shopping through this amazon link. Shop amazon. 

Musicality
During the two weeks it took to record What's The Story Morning Glory, Wonderwall was produced in a just half a day. Producer Owen Morris and Noel Gallagher brick-walled the song. They pushed the loudness of the CD to the limit without reducing sound quality.  Oasis with What's The Story Morning Glory effectively won the loudness war for having one of the loudest cds in 1995.  In perspective, the Guns N Roses Appetite for Destruction was -15db.  Oasis operated at a louder -8dbfs. So Rock out! This album can be heard in the car or above any distracting noises at the British pubs, the UK favored it. (Oasis Loudest band paragraphs 21 and 22) Oasis's What's the Story Morning Glory can be used as white noise - Just don't tell Noel or Liam I said this. Buy and enjoy!


Popularity
This was the first single Oasis released in the US. Sadly it is Oasis's biggest hit in this country. (Carlos Arredondo, Songfacts). You can also check out this well-thought piece on Oasis Wonderwall's Popularity.However, I assess the band as Noel does. A band that does kick-ass rock n roll songs. So Wonderwall rocks the least on the What's the Story Morning Glory album, and fans in the US who only know Wonderwall are missing out.

Noel's take
I can't agree with Noel anymore on the following point. Noel is not that enamoured by Wonderwall: "Outside of England, it's the one song we're famous for all over the world, and it annoys the fuck out of me. It's not a fucking rock'n'roll tune. There's quite a vulnerable statement to it. When people come up to me and say it's one of the greatest tunes ever written, I think, 'fucking hell, have you heard 'Live Forever'?" (Read more at NME)

Noel Gallagher says "Wonderwall" describes "an imaginary friend who's gonna come and save you from yourself". It is not about his ex-wife Meg Matthews as commonly thought (Oasis Noel Gallagher Interview)

But you are smart to think Wonderwall is a love song. According to Oasis book 1 and Oasis Book 2 Noel originally wrote the song (released in October 1995) for his then wife Meg Matthews. Noel told Select magazine at the time: "It's about my girlfriend. She was out of work, and that, a bit down on her luck, so it's just saying, 'Cheer up and fucking get on with it."And it wasn't until they divorced ( in 2001) that Noel claimed the song was about an imaginary friend. So if you have a female of interest, play this song for them. If not play it for your imaginary friend. It's all good.

According to Noel, US songwriter Ryan Adams, who turned the track into an acoustic slow-burn on a 2004 EP, did a better job with 'Wonderwall' than Oasis ever did. The guitarist told an audience in 2009 he'd recently seen him cover the song live: "Afterwards, I told him, 'You can have that song, man, because we could never quite get it right." (Read more at NME)

Liam's Take
You gotta love Liam Gallagher's explanation of the song: "A wonderwall can be anything. It's just a beautiful world. It's like looking for that bus ticke, and you're trying to fucking find it, that bastard, and you finally find it and you pull it out, 'Fucking mega, that is me wonderwall." (Read more at NME)

Overall, Liam never liked the song and still doesn't. When Noel first played Wonderwall with a different bass line at rehearsal, Liam shouted, "What do you think you're doing, dickhead? Oasis aren't a funk band."  19 years later in 2014 Liam says, "Everytime I have to sing Wonderwall I want to gag." (Read more at  NME)

Lyric analyzation
Oasis Wonderwall lyrics
Whether the song is about love or an imaginary friend, some of the lyrics relate to basic struggles to fix or to simply enter a relationship: 
I don't believe anybody feels the way I do about you now
And
There are many things that I would like to say to you but I don't know how
Simply reading these lyrics doesn't possess the same magic as hearing Liam Gallagher bend lines and notes over a steady guitar beat. A fun and poignant song that pleads for your love interest to hear you. Buy the album and read the lyrics off the booklet. You can only read the Interesting message at the end of booklet by buying it.

Bill's Take (Bill is lead musician in John Guyette Experiment)
For Bill the song brings Nostalgia: "Reminds me of driving through Boston as a kid. A good college rock song. The cool rhythm guitar makes the song. Bill and his sister would sing a long when the song came on. A simple song but there is nothing like it. Liam's voice made him feel like he was walking down a sidewalk in the city. He had a feeling of independence.

Triumph
Musically Wonderwall Triumphs. Bassist Alex James from their main rival Blur says, "he wishes he had written Wonderwall and that Liam has a great voice. And guitarist The Edge from the obnoxious band U2 (they were always pushed in my face, Bono never stops preaching in a holier than thou way) says, "he wishes he had written Wonderwall.  But forget those nincompoops, the main reason Oasis Wonderwall and What's The Story Morning Glory as a whole triumphs is that the music is loud. Loud music kicks ass and rocks you onto better things.  I hope you get the chance to feel superior to those snooty people at your office. Or for whatever work environment you work long and hard for little pay.

Perhaps you have never had the chance to hear the electric version of Wonderwall. No problem, you can buy it on this website. I remember I had to search outside of main online retailers like amazon to find it. The reason I enjoyed it is because of the loud long songs. Think about the fact, that in 1997 Oasis was able to play all the songs live that made them great. They play songs from Definitely Maybe, Morning Glory, Masterplan, and of course Be Here Now. My favorite Oasis concert. Cheers. 

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