Live Forever
"Live Forever" | |||||
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Single by Oasis from the album Definitely Maybe |
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B-side | "Up in the Sky" (acoustic) / "Cloudburst" / "Supersonic" (live) |
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Released | 8 August 1994 | ||||
Format | CD, 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, cassette | ||||
Recorded | 1994 at Clear Studios, Manchester, England | ||||
Genre | Britpop, rock | ||||
Length | 4:36 | ||||
Label | Creation | ||||
Writer | Noel Gallagher | ||||
Producer | Oasis, Mark Coyle & Owen Morris | ||||
Oasis singles chronology | |||||
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Definitely Maybe track listing | |||||
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"Live Forever" is a song by British rock group Oasis, written by the band's guitarist and chief songwriter Noel Gallagher. It was released as the third single from their debut album Definitely Maybe on 8 August 1994, just prior to that album's release.
Gallagher wrote the song in 1991, before he joined Oasis. Inspired by The Rolling Stones' "Shine a Light," "Live Forever" features a basic song structure and lyrics with an optimistic outlook that contrasted with the attitude of the grunge bands popular at the time. The song was the first Oasis single to enter the top ten in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number ten and spent over a year in the charts, as well as garnering critical acclaim from both critics and fans.
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Background and recording
Noel Gallagher wrote "Live Forever" in 1991, while working for a building company in his hometown of Manchester. After his foot was crushed by a pipe in an accident, he was given a less-strenuous job working in the storeroom, allowing him more time to write songs. One night he was listening to The Rolling Stones' album Exile on Main Street. While playing one his own chord progressions Gallagher noted that it sounded good against one of the vocal melodies from the album: "It was the bit from 'Shine a Light' that goes [sings], 'May the good lord shine a light on you,'" Gallagher recalled. Gallagher incorporated the melody, changing the line to "Maybe I don’t really want to know". For a period afterwards, that was the only part of the song Gallagher had completed.[1]
Gallagher played the song to his younger brother Liam. Liam was impressed and asked his brother to join his band Oasis. The song was later instrumental in helping the band secure their record deal with Creation Records. Reflecting on when he first heard the song, Creation boss Alan McGee recalled "It was probably the single greatest moment I've ever experienced with them."[1]
The demo version of "Live Forever" begins with an acoustic guitar intro. While recording the album version, the records's producer Owen Morris cut out this intro and replaced it with a drumbeat played by Tony McCarroll. Morris further cut a second section in Noel's guitar solo. Although Gallagher was upset, Morris felt the part had sounded "a bit like fucking Slash from Guns N' Roses".[2]
Composition and lyrics
"Live Forever" is in the key of G major and is based on a G-D-Am7-C-D chord progression, with the G chord becoming an Em when the melody changes (Maybe I just want to fly...) until following the falsetto refrain. The song has no proper distinction between the verses or chorus section (with only a falsetto refrain of "You and I are gonna live forever" marking off sections), and the vocal melody only consists of a few notes. The simplistic arrangement of the song "meant the song never resolved."[1] Guitarist Paul Arthurs said, "for me that song could keep going."[2]
The song begins with a voice whistling briefly and saying "Oh yeah", followed by a drum beat that plays unaccompanied for a few measures. An intermingling of the main guitar line, piano notes, and Liam Gallgher's vocals then enter.[3] Each verse begins with Liam singing the phrase "Maybe/I don't really wanna know/How your garden grows/'Cause I just wanna fly", and each verse ends with the falsetto refrain. A guitar solo appears after the second refrain of "You and I are gonna live forever". After the third verse and refrain section, Liam Gallagher repeats the line "Gonna live forever!" four times with "ache in his voice", followed by one final guitar solo.[3]
The song is interpreted to be an ode to Noel and Liam Gallagher's mother Peggy.[4] In general the lyrics of the song stress an optimistic outlook. Noel Gallagher explained that "At the time . . . it was written in the middle of grunge and all that, and I remember Nirvana had a tune called 'I Hate Myself and I Want to Die', and I was like . . . 'Well, I'm not fucking having that.' As much as I fucking like him [Kurt Cobain] and all that shit, I'm not having that. I can't have people like that coming over here, on smack, fucking saying that they hate themselves and they wanna die. That's fucking rubbish.Kids don't need to be hearing that non-sense." While Gallagher has stated he did not intend "Live Forever" as a direct retort to Nirvana or their music (being a professed fan of the band), he contrasted the lives of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and his band at that point, saying, "Seems to me that here was a guy who had everything, and was miserable about it. And we had fuck-all, and I still thought that getting up in the morning was the greatest fuckin' thing ever, 'cause you didn't know where you'd end up at night. And we didn't have a pot to piss in, but it was fucking great, man."[5] Gallagher considers the line "We see things they'll never see" the most important line of the song, explaining that old friends tend to laugh at jokes and stories that "no one else gets."[2]
Reception
"Live Forever" was released on 8 August 1994 as the band's third single, a month before the release of their debut album Definitely Maybe. The song had been part of the band's set for over a year at that point, and had amassed so many mentions in reviews of the group that "its release [as a single] had long seemed inevitable."[4] In its review of the single, NME found "Live Forever" to be an improvement over Oasis' previous singles, concluding, "Basically, what thus far looked like obnoxious Manc arrogance suddenly looks like sheer effortlessness. A terrific record."[6]
While Oasis' first two singles, "Supersonic" and "Shakermaker", were modestly received, it was "Live Forever" that "got the world's attention."[1] "Live Forever" became Oasis' first top ten hit, reaching number ten on the British singles charts in 1994.[7] In 1995, the song became the band's first chart success in the United States, reaching number two and ten on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks and Mainstream Rock Tracks charts, respectively.[8] Noel Gallagher commented on the praise given to the song: "People said to me after 'Live Forever', 'Where are you gonna go after that?' And I was like, I don't think it's that good. I think it's a fucking good song, but I think I can do better."[9]
"Live Forever" has garnered additional acclaim years after its release. In 2006, "Live Forever" was named the greatest song of all time, in a poll released by Q Magazine; the song had ranked ninth in a similar Q poll three years before.[9] In 2007, "Live Forever" placed number one in the NME and XFM poll of the 50 "Greatest Indie Anthems Ever".[10] The song was selected by Noel Gallagher for inclusion on Oasis' "best-of" album Stop the Clocks in 2006.
Music videos
Two music videos were made for "Live Forever" for British and American airplay. The British video features unusual imagery such as Liam Gallagher sitting on a chair affixed to a wall, and a number of scenes are devoted to the band burying drummer Tony McCarroll alive. Less than a year later McCarroll and the band parted company. Some of the UK version of the promo video was filmed at the Strawberry Fields memorial — the area of New York's central park dedicated to John Lennon. The house on the cover of the single is 251 Menlove Avenue, the childhood home of Lennon. The US version features the band playing in an office with pictures of Sid Vicious, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, John Lennon, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Marc Bolan, and Bobby Moore on the wall. Both videos are included on the 2004 Definitely Maybe DVD.
Track listings
UK tracklisting
- CD CRESCD 185
- "Live Forever" - 4:38
- "Up In The Sky" (Acoustic) - 3:32
- "Cloudburst" - 5:21
- "Supersonic" (Live) - 5:12
- 7" CRE 185
- "Live Forever" - 4:38
- "Up In The Sky" (Acoustic) - 3:32
- 12" CRE 185T
- "Live Forever" - 4:38
- "Up In The Sky" (Acoustic) - 3:32
- "Cloudburst" - 5:21
- Cassette CRECS 185
- "Live Forever" - 4:38
- "Up In The Sky" (Acoustic) - 3:32
- Contrary to what it says on the sleevenotes, the live version of "Supersonic" was recorded at a gig at the Gleneagles Hotel, Scotland on the 6th February 1994 and not in April '94.
European tracklisting
- CD HES 660689 2
- "Live Forever" (Radio Edit) - 3:43
- "Live Forever" - 4:37
- "Up In The Sky" (Acoustic) - 3:32
- "Cloudburst" - 5:21
- "Supersonic" (Live) - 5:10
Chart positions
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References
- ^ a b c d Milner, Greg (Jan/Feb 2007). The Greatest Songs Ever! Live Forever. Blender.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-07.
- ^ a b c Definitely Maybe [DVD]. Epic, 2004.
- ^ a b Raggett, Ned. "Live Forever" (review). Allmusic.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-13.
- ^ a b Harris, John. Britpop!: Cool Britannia and the Spectacular Demise of English Rock. Da Capo Press, 2004. ISBN 0-306-81367-X, p. 177
- ^ "Lock the Door". Stop the Clocks [bonus DVD]. Columbia, 2006.
- ^ Cameron, Keith. "Live Forever" review. NME. 6 August 1994.
- ^ a b polyhex.com UK Singles Chart runs. polyhex.com. Retrieved on 2007-05-22.
- ^ a b c Oasis—Artist Chart History. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-12.
- ^ a b Barnes, Anthony (2006-08-27). The greatest song in the history of the world. Maybe.. Independent.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-06-14.
- ^ The Greatest Indie Anthem Ever revealed. NME.com (2007-05-03). Retrieved on 2007-06-14.