Noel Gallagher was a drum tech for Inspiral Carpets when his younger brother Liam began singing with a newly formed band called Oasis. Noel wasn’t particularly impressed with the group, but he felt it might be a good vehicle for songs he had been writing. He approached Oasis with a proposition: He would be the sole songwriter, lead guitarist, and band leader. They agreed, and success followed.
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Creation Records offered the band a deal, and they released Definitely Maybe in 1994. The album spawned four hit singles in the UK. The follow-up (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? performed even better and led to success in the U.S. Let’s take a look at the story behind “Don’t Look Back in Anger” by Oasis.
Slip inside the eye of your mind
Don’t you know you might find
A better place to play?
You said that you’d never been
But all the things that you’ve seen
Slowly fade away
Sally Can Wait
The song came from a chord progression Noel Gallagher began playing at sound check. In 2007, he told Uncut magazine: “We were in Paris playing with The Verve, and I had the chords for that song and started writing it. We were due to play two days later. Our first-ever big arena gig—it’s called Sheffield Arena now. At the sound check, I was strumming away on the acoustic guitar, and our kid (Liam) said, ‘What’s that you’re singin’?’ I wasn’t singing anyway. I was just making it up. And our kid said, ‘Are you singing, “So Sally can wait?’ And I was like—that’s genius! So I started singing, ‘So Sally can wait.’ I remember going back to the dressing room and writing it out. It all came really quickly after that.”
So I start a revolution from my bed
‘Cause you said the brains I had went to my head
Step outside, summertime’s in bloom
Stand up beside the fireplace
Take that look from off your face
You ain’t ever gonna burn my heart out
Just like Paul McCartney
Noel Gallagher told Radio X’s John Kennedy, “I don’t ever sit there and think that I wrote that, you know,” the Oasis songwriter explained. “I think it came from somewhere else. I think it was a song that was there somewhere, and if I hadn’t have written it, you know, Bono would have written it. You know, it’s like those great songs, ‘One’ and ‘Let It Be,’ and yeah, I did just compare myself to Paul McCartney there. You know, they’re there. If they fall out of the sky and land on your lap, then lucky you.”
And so, Sally can wait
She knows it’s too late as we’re walkin’ on by
Her soul slides away
But “Don’t look back in anger,” I heard you say
Take me to the place where you go
Where nobody knows
If it’s night or day
Please don’t put your life in the hands
Of a rock ‘n’ roll band
Who’ll throw it all away
Inspired by “Imagine”
Oasis was often criticized for borrowing too much from their influences. Gallagher addressed this in a 1996 interview: “In the case of ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’—I mean, the opening piano riff’s ‘Imagine.’ Fifty percent of it’s put in there to wind people up, and the other 50% is saying, ‘Look, this is how songs like ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ come about—because they’re inspired by songs like ‘Imagine.’ And no matter what people might think, there will be some 13-year-old kid out there who’ll read an interview and think, ‘Imagine?’ I’ve never heard that song.” And he might go and buy the album, you know what I mean?”
I’m gonna start a revolution from my bed
‘Cause you said the brains I had went to my head
Step outside, ’cause summertime’s in bloom
Stand up beside the fireplace
Take that look from off your face
‘Cause you ain’t ever gonna burn my heart out
Christmas Photos
Noel and Liam’s mother Peggy would encourage the boys to “stand up beside the fireplace and take that look from off your face” when it was time for Christmas photos. This led to the lines appearing in the song.
Stand up beside the fireplace
Take that look from off your face
You ain’t ever gonna burn my heart out
It’s About Looking Forward
Said Noel Gallagher, “It reminds me of a cross between ‘All the Young Dudes’ and something The Beatles might have done. It’s about not being upset about the things you might have said or done yesterday, which is quite appropriate at the moment. It’s about looking forward rather than looking back. I hate people who look back on the past or talk about what might have been.”
So, Sally can wait
She knows it’s too late as we’re walking on by
Her soul slides away
But “Don’t look back in anger,” I heard you say
Who’s Sally?
Noel gave his brother Liam the choice of which song to sing as he proclaimed he was singing lead on either “Don’t Look Back in Anger” or “Wonderwall.” Liam chose “Wonderwall,” leading to Noel taking the lead for the first time on a single. Both songs were huge hits, and “Don’t Look Back in Anger” became one of the band’s signature songs. They performed it in nearly every show until they broke up in 2009.
Noel Gallagher shared the backstory on “Sally”: “I don’t actually know anybody called Sally. It’s just a word that fit, y’know, might as well throw a girl’s name in there. It’s gotta guarantee somebody a shag off a bird called Sally, hasn’t it?”
So, Sally can wait
She knows it’s too late as she’s walking on by
My soul slides away
But “Don’t look back in anger, don’t look back in anger”
I heard you say
“At least not today”
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Photo by Jason Merritt/FilmMagic
