The 56-year-old Manchester, England-born rocker Noel Gallagher was the principal songwriter for the British-born band Oasis. One of the biggest bands of the 1990s, Oasis is still remembered today for songs like “Wonderwall” and the tumultuous infighting between Noel and brother Liam.
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With hit singles galore and several platinum-selling records, one might wonder just what the songwriter and lyricist for the band has to say about life, family, the group, his songs and more. Here below are some of the best quotes from Gallagher, who today fronts the band Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.
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1. “If I can give you any advice, it’s this: Every hour that you spend sat on the couch doing nothing, put it to good use, because when you have kids, an hour is like a lifetime.”
2. “You have to make the effort with children. You can’t have them thinking that I reckon I’m special, otherwise they’ll start thinking they’re special. I want them to feel normal for as long as possible because God knows they’ll reach an age when they’ll be told they’re not.”
3. “I’m a little bit of a control freak when it comes to my music, unfortunately.”
4. “I’ve got my own style on the guitar, sure, and I play rhythm in a certain way, and I use certain inflections. People have said that to me, and I understand it.”
5. “As I get older, I don’t aggressively pursue songs. All the great ones just appear.”
6. “You’ll find people who rib you about their age are petrified about getting old. It doesn’t bother me.”
7. “Rock stardom will die because nobody will make enough money any more to be rock stars.”
8. “My kids have got to work themselves around my life, not the other way. That’s how kids become brats, if you’re there staring at them all the time going, ‘Are you alright?'”
9. “Every album I’ve ever been involved in, on the day that it came out I believed in it.”
10. “There’s not enough good things in the world.”
11. “I’ve grown to love California: It’s the dream of every English musician to come here and work in the sunshine. To walk up Sunset Boulevard, knowing you’re going to make music—that’s it.”
12. “Oasis were the last great, traditional rock ‘n’ roll band. We came along before the internet so, if you wanted to see us, you had to be there. It makes me feel like a righteous old man.”
13. “I’m used to people being a mile away. That suits me. It’s more nerve-wracking playing in front of people who are two feet away from me.”
14. “You can’t put a load of rock stars up on a stage and expect to wipe out global poverty. That’s ludicrous.”
15. “You’ve got to be strong enough for love. It’s very easy to be cool and cynical. It’s very difficult to just let yourself go and be in love. You’ve got to be strong enough for that.”
16. “I remember the ’70s constantly being winter in Manchester and the Irish community in Manchester closing ranks because of the IRA bombings in Birmingham and Manchester, and you know the bin workers’ strike, all wrapped up in it… They were violent times. Violence at home and violence at football matches.”
17. “There’s no reason, ever, to be late. Or early.”
18. “It’s a sad state when more people retweet than buy records.”
19. “You’ve just got to trust your instincts and realize that you can’t please all the people all the time. You’ve got to please yourself ultimately in the end.”
20. “Music is a thing that changes people’s lives. It has the capacity to make young people’s lives better.”
Photo by Kate Green/Getty Images for Bauer Media
