Don't Look Back in Anger
Encyclopedia
"Don't Look Back in Anger" is a song by English rock
band Oasis
, released in 1996 as the fourth single from their hit second album (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
. The song was written by the band's guitarist
and main songwriter
, Noel Gallagher
. The song became the band's second single to reach #1 in the UK Singles Chart
, where it also went platinum. "Don't Look Back in Anger" was also the first Oasis single to feature Noel, who had provided backing vocals on debut album, Definitely Maybe
, on lead vocals instead of his brother, Liam Gallagher
.
Arena on 22 April 1995. He said before playing that he'd only written it the previous Tuesday (18 April 1995) and that he didn't even have a title for it yet.
Noel said of the song, "[It] reminds me of a cross between "All the Young Dudes
" and [something] The Beatles
might have done." Of the character "Sally" referred to in the song he commented, "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?"
Noel Gallagher (from Uncut magazine August 2007): "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 2 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 Gallagher) 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." Noel claims that the character "Lyla", from Oasis' 2005 single is the sister of Sally. In the interview on the DVD
released with the special edition of Stop the Clocks
, Noel also revealed that a girl approached him and asked him if Sally was the same girl as in The Stone Roses
' track "Sally Cinnamon
". Noel replied that he'd never thought of that but thought it was good anyway.
Noel admits that certain lines from the song are lifted from John Lennon
: "I got this tape in the United States
that had apparently been burgled from the Dakota Hotel and someone had found these cassettes. Lennon was starting to record his memoirs on tape. He's going on about 'trying to start a revolution from me bed, because they said the brains I had went to my head.' I thought 'Thank you, I'll take that'!" "Revolution from me bed" most likely refers to Lennon's notorious bed-ins in 1969. The piano in the introduction of the song resembles Lennon's "Imagine
", as well as "Watching the Wheels
". As Oasis are often criticised for borrowing parts of other artists songs for their own, Noel Gallagher commented on the intro's similarity to "Imagine" saying, "In the case of Don't Look Back in Anger – I mean, the opening piano riff's Imagine. 50% 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?" Gallagher also admits that he was under the influence of illegal substances when he wrote the song and to this day he claims he does not know what it means.
In a 2006 radio interview, Liam Gallagher said that it was he who came up with the line "so Sally can wait" as Noel was struggling with that particular line at the time. Noel confirms this on the bonus DVD, entitled Lock the Box, released with the Stop the Clocks retrospective album. In the interview with Colin Murray, Noel admits, "I was doing it in the sound check and the so Sally bit, I wasn't singing that...and he [Liam] says, 'Are you singing so Sally can wait?' and I said, 'No.' and he said, 'Well you should do.'"
On the Time Flies... 1994–2009 video for the song, Noel says that, given the number of songs the band had at the time, he was forced to play an acoustic set at their first arena show at Sheffield Arena explaining that it allowed the band to drag time having to get a stool out and setting up the stage. He had written the basis for it a couple of night previous and was playing it during the soundcheck and only feeling the words out because it was incomplete. Liam came up to Noel and said "Who's Sally?" and Noel replied "What are you talking about?". Liam said "Well that's what you're singing isn't it, 'So Sally can wait'?". Noel thought that it was so brilliant that, even though those were not the words, he decided to use them.
Noel once admitted, on the Frank Skinner
show, to telling Liam that he wanted to sing "Wonderwall
". On hearing "Wonderwall", Liam demanded that he should sing it. Noel reluctantly agreed on the understanding that he could sing the next song on the album ("Don't Look Back in Anger"). However, in reality, Noel only ever really wanted to sing "Don't Look Back in Anger" and used "Wonderwall" as a bargaining tool, since he knew Liam would want to sing it.
The song has a tuning of A at 455 Hz instead of the standard 440 Hz which is used on live performances. The same special tuning can be heard in the song "Some Might Say
".
, Noel Gallagher abandoned the song's previous, full-band live arrangement in favour of a much slower, primarily acoustic arrangement in a lower key (B major). From 2008 onwards the song has been performed by Gallagher on his Gibson J-200
acoustic guitar backed up by Gem Archer
on electric guitar, and Chris Sharrock
playing tambourine. On 11 July 2009, during a performance of the song at London's Wembley Stadium, Gallagher didn't sing a word; instead, he stood back, played guitar, and allowed the crowd to sing the entire song.
Oasis became the first act since The Jam
to perform two songs on the same showing of Top of the Pops
, performing "Don't Look Back in Anger", followed by their cover of Slade
's "Cum on Feel the Noize
", also on the single.
briefly left The Beatles
during the recording of The White Album
; after the other three Beatles members successfully persuaded him to return, George Harrison
decorated Ringo's drum kit in red, white, and blue flowers to show their appreciation.
The B-side "Step Out" was originally intended for the (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album but was taken off after Stevie Wonder
requested 10% of the royalties as the chorus bore a similarity to his hit "Uptight (Everything's Alright)
". Also, because of this, Wonder, Henry Cosby
and Sylvia Moy
received credit for writing the song, along with Noel.
Billboard said of the tune, "Noel Gallagher reveals a deft sense of timing and craft that turn his improprieties into masterful pop gems."
"Don't Look Back in Anger" is Oasis's sixth biggest Billboard hit in the US, reaching the number 10 spot on the US Modern Rock Chart for the week of June 22, 1996.
It was the 10th-biggest-selling single of 1996 in the UK.
It is Oasis's 3rd biggest selling single in the UK with 660,000 sales going platinum in the process.
In a 2006 readers' poll conducted by Q magazine
, "Don't Look Back in Anger" was voted the 20th best song of all time.
In May 2007, NME
magazine placed "Don't Look Back in Anger" at number 14 in its list of the "50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever".
, features Patrick Macnee
, the actor who played John Steed
in the 1960s television
series The Avengers
, apparently a favourite of the band. While filming the video, drummer Alan White
met future wife Liz Atkins They married on 13 August 1997 at Studley Priory Hotel, Oxfordshire
but later divorced.
programmes since its original release — perhaps most notably, it played over the end credits of the final episode of the BBC Two
drama serial Our Friends in the North
in March 1996, the very week it was at the top of the UK charts.
The song was included as the closing track on Oasis' compilation album, Stop the Clocks
.
Portions of this song appear as a motif in the Chuck
episode, Chuck versus the Alma Mater.
The song was in an episode of the show Cold Case titled "Hubris" .
The song is available for the music video game
series Rock Band as a downloadable track. On the Wii
version of the original Rock Band game, this song is included.
The song was memorably covered by The Wurzels
among others for an album of covers of songs seemingly inappropriate to their West Country image and style, and has become one of their more frequently performed numbers.
The song will be featured in the end credits of the movie BECK
.
The song was used in the closing scene of the Being Human (North American) season 1 finale titled "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Me Killing You"
, except where noted.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
, released in 1996 as the fourth single from their hit second album (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
(What's the Story) Morning Glory?
Morning Glory? is the second studio album by the English rock band Oasis. It was released on 2 October 1995 through Creation Records. The album was Oasis' most enduring commercial success, charting at number one in the UK and number four in the U.S...
. The song was written by the band's guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and main songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
. The song became the band's second single to reach #1 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, where it also went platinum. "Don't Look Back in Anger" was also the first Oasis single to feature Noel, who had provided backing vocals on debut album, Definitely Maybe
Definitely Maybe
Definitely Maybe is the debut album by English rock band Oasis, released in August 1994. It was an immediate commercial and critical success in the UK, having followed on the heels of singles "Supersonic", "Shakermaker" and "Live Forever"....
, on lead vocals instead of his brother, Liam Gallagher
Liam Gallagher
William John Paul "Liam" Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, the former frontman of the English rock band Oasis and currently of the band Beady Eye. Gallagher's erratic behaviour, distinctive singing style, and abrasive attitude have been the subject of commentary in the press...
.
Writing and recording
Noel was so excited of the potential of the song when he first wrote it that he used an acoustic set to perform a work-in-progress version, without the second verse and a few other slight lyrical differences, at an Oasis concert at the SheffieldSheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
Arena on 22 April 1995. He said before playing that he'd only written it the previous Tuesday (18 April 1995) and that he didn't even have a title for it yet.
Noel said of the song, "[It] reminds me of a cross between "All the Young Dudes
All the Young Dudes (song)
"All the Young Dudes" is a song written by David Bowie, originally recorded and released as a single by Mott the Hoople in 1972. NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray have described the track as "one of that rare breed: rock songs which hymn the solidarity of the disaffected without...
" and [something] The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
might have done." Of the character "Sally" referred to in the song he commented, "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?"
Noel Gallagher (from Uncut magazine August 2007): "We were in Paris playing with The Verve
The Verve
The Verve were an English rock band formed in 1989 in Wigan by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong later became a member. Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to shoegazing and space...
, and I had the chords for that song and started writing it. We were due to play 2 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 Gallagher) 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." Noel claims that the character "Lyla", from Oasis' 2005 single is the sister of Sally. In the interview on the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
released with the special edition of Stop the Clocks
Stop the Clocks
Stop the Clocks is a compilation album by English rock band Oasis, released on 20 November 2006. The "retrospective collection" is an 18-track double album with the featured songs chosen by Noel Gallagher; however, it does not actually include their song "Stop the Clocks" after which the album is...
, Noel also revealed that a girl approached him and asked him if Sally was the same girl as in The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s...
' track "Sally Cinnamon
Sally Cinnamon
Sally Cinnamon is a non-album single released by the band the Stone Roses in 1987.The song is the second single to be released by The Stone Roses, and was released before Mani joined the band. It is the first single by the Stone Roses to feature their classic sound...
". Noel replied that he'd never thought of that but thought it was good anyway.
Noel admits that certain lines from the song are lifted from John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
: "I got this tape in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
that had apparently been burgled from the Dakota Hotel and someone had found these cassettes. Lennon was starting to record his memoirs on tape. He's going on about 'trying to start a revolution from me bed, because they said the brains I had went to my head.' I thought 'Thank you, I'll take that'!" "Revolution from me bed" most likely refers to Lennon's notorious bed-ins in 1969. The piano in the introduction of the song resembles Lennon's "Imagine
Imagine (song)
"Imagine" is a song written and performed by the English musician John Lennon. It is the opening track on his album Imagine, released in 1971...
", as well as "Watching the Wheels
Watching the Wheels
"Watching the Wheels" is a single by John Lennon released posthumously in 1981 after his murder. It was the third and final single released from Lennon and Yoko Ono's Double Fantasy album, and reached #10 in the U.S and #30 in the UK....
". As Oasis are often criticised for borrowing parts of other artists songs for their own, Noel Gallagher commented on the intro's similarity to "Imagine" saying, "In the case of Don't Look Back in Anger – I mean, the opening piano riff's Imagine. 50% 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?" Gallagher also admits that he was under the influence of illegal substances when he wrote the song and to this day he claims he does not know what it means.
In a 2006 radio interview, Liam Gallagher said that it was he who came up with the line "so Sally can wait" as Noel was struggling with that particular line at the time. Noel confirms this on the bonus DVD, entitled Lock the Box, released with the Stop the Clocks retrospective album. In the interview with Colin Murray, Noel admits, "I was doing it in the sound check and the so Sally bit, I wasn't singing that...and he [Liam] says, 'Are you singing so Sally can wait?' and I said, 'No.' and he said, 'Well you should do.'"
On the Time Flies... 1994–2009 video for the song, Noel says that, given the number of songs the band had at the time, he was forced to play an acoustic set at their first arena show at Sheffield Arena explaining that it allowed the band to drag time having to get a stool out and setting up the stage. He had written the basis for it a couple of night previous and was playing it during the soundcheck and only feeling the words out because it was incomplete. Liam came up to Noel and said "Who's Sally?" and Noel replied "What are you talking about?". Liam said "Well that's what you're singing isn't it, 'So Sally can wait'?". Noel thought that it was so brilliant that, even though those were not the words, he decided to use them.
Noel once admitted, on the Frank Skinner
Frank Skinner
Frank Skinner is a British writer, comedian and actor. He is best known for his television presenting, often alongside David Baddiel, with whom he also collaborated for the football song "Three Lions."He is a radio presenter on the Saturday morning slot on Absolute Radio.-Youth and early career...
show, to telling Liam that he wanted to sing "Wonderwall
Wonderwall (song)
"Wonderwall" is a song by English rock band Oasis, written by the band's guitarist and main songwriter Noel Gallagher. The song was produced by Owen Morris and Gallagher for their second album, Morning Glory?...
". On hearing "Wonderwall", Liam demanded that he should sing it. Noel reluctantly agreed on the understanding that he could sing the next song on the album ("Don't Look Back in Anger"). However, in reality, Noel only ever really wanted to sing "Don't Look Back in Anger" and used "Wonderwall" as a bargaining tool, since he knew Liam would want to sing it.
The song has a tuning of A at 455 Hz instead of the standard 440 Hz which is used on live performances. The same special tuning can be heard in the song "Some Might Say
Some Might Say
"Some Might Say" is a song by the English rock band Oasis. The song was written by the band's lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. It was the first single later included in their second album Morning Glory? in 1995, and provided the band with their first number one in the UK Singles Chart .The single...
".
Live performances
The song has become a favourite at Oasis' live performances. Noel encourages the crowd to sing along and often keeps quiet during the first chorus, allowing the fans instead to sing along while he plays the song's guitar part. During the Dig Out Your Soul TourDig Out Your Soul Tour
The Dig Out Your Soul Tour was a world concert tour by English rock band Oasis, in support of their album Dig Out Your Soul. The tour started in Seattle, WA at the WaMu Theater and was planned to continue until 30 August, where they were scheduled to play their final show of the tour at the I-Day...
, Noel Gallagher abandoned the song's previous, full-band live arrangement in favour of a much slower, primarily acoustic arrangement in a lower key (B major). From 2008 onwards the song has been performed by Gallagher on his Gibson J-200
Gibson J-200
Gibson J-200 is an acoustic guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation.Gibson entered into production of this model in 1938 as its top-of-the-line flat top guitar, initially called the Super Jumbo, changing the name in 1939 to the Super Jumbo 200. It was made at the Gibson Factory in...
acoustic guitar backed up by Gem Archer
Gem Archer
Colin Murray "Gem" Archer is a member of the English rock band Beady Eye. He is, however, best known for his work with Heavy Stereo and Oasis. He joined Oasis as rhythm guitarist in November 1999, and handled lead guitarist for acoustics as well. He also contributed towards the writing of some of...
on electric guitar, and Chris Sharrock
Chris Sharrock
Chris Sharrock is an English drummer from Bebington, Merseyside, England who has a long history of being an official member of many noted British bands, including The Icicle Works, The La's, The Wild Swans, World Party, The Lightning Seeds, The Robbie Williams Band, Oasis, and Beady...
playing tambourine. On 11 July 2009, during a performance of the song at London's Wembley Stadium, Gallagher didn't sing a word; instead, he stood back, played guitar, and allowed the crowd to sing the entire song.
Oasis became the first act since The Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
to perform two songs on the same showing of Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
, performing "Don't Look Back in Anger", followed by their cover of Slade
Slade
Slade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s. With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles...
's "Cum on Feel the Noize
Cum on Feel the Noize
"Cum On Feel the Noize" is a rock song originally released by Slade in 1973.Written by Jim Lea and Noddy Holder and produced by Chas Chandler, "Cum On Feel the Noize" was Slade's fourth number-one single in the UK and their first to enter straight at number one...
", also on the single.
Release
The single cover is an homage to the incident where Ringo StarrRingo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
briefly left The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
during the recording of The White Album
The Beatles (album)
The Beatles is the ninth official album by the English rock group The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is also commonly known as "The White Album" as it has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed on its plain white sleeve.The album was written and recorded during a...
; after the other three Beatles members successfully persuaded him to return, George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
decorated Ringo's drum kit in red, white, and blue flowers to show their appreciation.
The B-side "Step Out" was originally intended for the (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album but was taken off after Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
requested 10% of the royalties as the chorus bore a similarity to his hit "Uptight (Everything's Alright)
Uptight (Everything's Alright)
"Uptight " is a 1966 hit single recorded by Stevie Wonder for the Tamla label. One of his most popular early singles, "Uptight " was the first Stevie Wonder single to be co-written by the artist....
". Also, because of this, Wonder, Henry Cosby
Henry Cosby
Henry "Hank" R. Cosby was an African American songwriter and record producer for Motown Records...
and Sylvia Moy
Sylvia Moy
Sylvia Moy is a songwriter and record producer, formerly associated with the Motown Records group. The first woman at the Detroit-based music label to write and produce for Motown acts, she is probably best known for her songs written for Stevie Wonder....
received credit for writing the song, along with Noel.
Reception
"Don't Look Back in Anger" was met with high critical praise and it became a commercial hit.Billboard said of the tune, "Noel Gallagher reveals a deft sense of timing and craft that turn his improprieties into masterful pop gems."
"Don't Look Back in Anger" is Oasis's sixth biggest Billboard hit in the US, reaching the number 10 spot on the US Modern Rock Chart for the week of June 22, 1996.
It was the 10th-biggest-selling single of 1996 in the UK.
It is Oasis's 3rd biggest selling single in the UK with 660,000 sales going platinum in the process.
In a 2006 readers' poll conducted by Q magazine
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
, "Don't Look Back in Anger" was voted the 20th best song of all time.
In May 2007, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
magazine placed "Don't Look Back in Anger" at number 14 in its list of the "50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever".
Music video
The video for the song, directed by Nigel DickNigel Dick
Nigel Dick is an English music video and film director, writer and musician based in Los Angeles, California. He directed the Band Aid video "Do They Know It's Christmas?", as well as over 300 other music videos.Nigel Dick should not be confused with the Australian Dr...
, features Patrick Macnee
Patrick Macnee
Patrick Macnee is an English actor, best known for his role as the secret agent John Steed in the series The Avengers.-Early life:...
, the actor who played John Steed
John Steed
John Steed is a fictional character and the central protagonist on the popular British series The Avengers and The New Avengers, played by Patrick Macnee and Ralph Fiennes in the movie....
in the 1960s television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
, apparently a favourite of the band. While filming the video, drummer Alan White
Alan White (Oasis drummer)
Alan White is an English drummer, best known as being the drummer of the English rock group Oasis between 1995 and 2004, performing on four studio albums, two compilation albums and one live album. He joined the band in May 1995 after the band's original drummer Tony McCarroll was removed from...
met future wife Liz Atkins They married on 13 August 1997 at Studley Priory Hotel, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
but later divorced.
Notable appearances in the media
The song has been used in a multiple televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
programmes since its original release — perhaps most notably, it played over the end credits of the final episode of the BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
drama serial Our Friends in the North
Our Friends in the North
Our Friends in the North is a British television drama serial, produced by the BBC and originally broadcast in nine episodes on BBC Two in early 1996...
in March 1996, the very week it was at the top of the UK charts.
The song was included as the closing track on Oasis' compilation album, Stop the Clocks
Stop the Clocks
Stop the Clocks is a compilation album by English rock band Oasis, released on 20 November 2006. The "retrospective collection" is an 18-track double album with the featured songs chosen by Noel Gallagher; however, it does not actually include their song "Stop the Clocks" after which the album is...
.
Portions of this song appear as a motif in the Chuck
Chuck (TV series)
Chuck is an action-comedy/spy-drama television program from the United States created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working for the Central...
episode, Chuck versus the Alma Mater.
The song was in an episode of the show Cold Case titled "Hubris" .
The song is available for the music video game
Music video game
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs...
series Rock Band as a downloadable track. On the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
version of the original Rock Band game, this song is included.
The song was memorably covered by The Wurzels
The Wurzels
The Wurzels are a British Scrumpy and Western band...
among others for an album of covers of songs seemingly inappropriate to their West Country image and style, and has become one of their more frequently performed numbers.
The song will be featured in the end credits of the movie BECK
BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad
BECK is a manga by Harold Sakuishi published by Kodansha in Monthly Shōnen Magazine. It was adapted as an anime television series with the title BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad...
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The song was used in the closing scene of the Being Human (North American) season 1 finale titled "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Me Killing You"
Personnel
- Noel Gallagher: Vocals and lead guitar.
- Paul Arthurs: Rhythm guitar and piano.
- Paul McGuigan: Bass guitar.
- Alan White: Drums and percussion.
- Liam Gallagher: Tambourine
Track listing
All songs were written by Noel GallagherNoel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
, except where noted.
- CD CRESCD 221 (re-issued as RKISCD 018)
- "Don't Look Back in Anger" – 4:47
- "Step Out" (GallagherNoel GallagherNoel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
/WonderStevie WonderStevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
/CosbyHenry CosbyHenry "Hank" R. Cosby was an African American songwriter and record producer for Motown Records...
/MoySylvia MoySylvia Moy is a songwriter and record producer, formerly associated with the Motown Records group. The first woman at the Detroit-based music label to write and produce for Motown acts, she is probably best known for her songs written for Stevie Wonder....
) – 3:40 - "Underneath the Sky" – 3:20
- "Cum On Feel the NoizeCum on Feel the Noize"Cum On Feel the Noize" is a rock song originally released by Slade in 1973.Written by Jim Lea and Noddy Holder and produced by Chas Chandler, "Cum On Feel the Noize" was Slade's fourth number-one single in the UK and their first to enter straight at number one...
" (HolderNoddy HolderNeville John "Noddy" Holder MBE is an English musician and actor. He was the lead vocalist and guitarist with the rock band Slade....
/LeaJim LeaJim Lea , is an English musician, most notable for playing bass guitar, keyboards, violin, guitar, and singing backing vocals in Slade.-Career:...
) – 5:09- 7" CRE 221
- "Don't Look Back in Anger" – 4:47
- "Step Out" (GallagherNoel GallagherNoel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
/WonderStevie WonderStevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
/CosbyHenry CosbyHenry "Hank" R. Cosby was an African American songwriter and record producer for Motown Records...
/MoySylvia MoySylvia Moy is a songwriter and record producer, formerly associated with the Motown Records group. The first woman at the Detroit-based music label to write and produce for Motown acts, she is probably best known for her songs written for Stevie Wonder....
) – 3:40- 12" CRE 221T
- "Don't Look Back in Anger" – 4:47
- "Step Out" (GallagherNoel GallagherNoel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
/WonderStevie WonderStevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
/CosbyHenry CosbyHenry "Hank" R. Cosby was an African American songwriter and record producer for Motown Records...
/MoySylvia MoySylvia Moy is a songwriter and record producer, formerly associated with the Motown Records group. The first woman at the Detroit-based music label to write and produce for Motown acts, she is probably best known for her songs written for Stevie Wonder....
) – 3:40 - "Underneath the Sky" – 3:20
- Cassette CRECS 221
- "Don't Look Back in Anger" – 4:47
- "Step Out" (GallagherNoel GallagherNoel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
/WonderStevie WonderStevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
/CosbyHenry CosbyHenry "Hank" R. Cosby was an African American songwriter and record producer for Motown Records...
/MoySylvia MoySylvia Moy is a songwriter and record producer, formerly associated with the Motown Records group. The first woman at the Detroit-based music label to write and produce for Motown acts, she is probably best known for her songs written for Stevie Wonder....
) – 3:40- CD re-issue (US) 34K78356
- "Don't Look Back in Anger" – 4:47
- "Cum on Feel the Noize" (HolderNoddy HolderNeville John "Noddy" Holder MBE is an English musician and actor. He was the lead vocalist and guitarist with the rock band Slade....
/LeaJim LeaJim Lea , is an English musician, most notable for playing bass guitar, keyboards, violin, guitar, and singing backing vocals in Slade.-Career:...
) – 5:09
Charts
| Chart (1995/1996) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia ARIA Singles Chart | 19 |
| Canadian RPM Singles Chart | 24 |
| Canadian RPM Alternative 30 | 2 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Polish Singles Chart | 15 |
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 55 |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 10 |