In 1994 Oasisan alternative rock band from the UK, has been hailed as a discovery. The debut album of the brothers’ band Gallaghertitled “Definitely Maybe” won the hearts of not only listeners but also representatives of the UK press, and then quickly reached the foreign market. Not only local critics, but also music experts from the United States began to call musicians geniuses.
second album, “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?”released in 1995, the band strengthened its position, proving that they were rightly considered one of the most important bands on the global rock market. The album was sold in as many as 22 million copies, of which 4.6 million copies were bought by residents of Great Britain. The Gallaghers and company received 14-times platinum status and a place at the top of the British bestseller list of all time.
In the United States, fans bought another 4 million copies. They liked the album especially thanks to its nostalgic hits “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova”. The album’s long list of successes includes the fact that it stayed in the Top 3 of the British charts for seven months. Moreover, in the first days of sale in the well-known British chain HMV, on average two copies of the album were sold per minute.
“Wonderwall” is one of the most covered songs in rock history
One of the songs on the album, which celebrates its special anniversary today, certainly contributed to the international success of the release. At that time, it was simply chosen as the fourth announcing single and no one expected that it would achieve cult status after many years. We’re talking about “Wonderwall”, the words of which are now known to every alternative lover from the Islands. The musicians released the song into the hands of fans just a few days before the premiere of the entire album – on October 30, 1995. Although the album had many hits, it was this song that went down in the history of rock and gained the status of one of the most frequently reworked compositions in the world.
According to WhoSampled, “Wonderwall” has been covered at least 100 times in different versions and by different musicians. Their original interpretations were presented by, among others: Cat Power, Boyce Avenue, Robbie Williams, Ed Sheeran, One Direction Whether Bring Me The Horizon. He also came up with his own arrangement Ryan Adams – he gave the song a melancholic atmosphere, which was very well received by the listeners and even appreciated by himself Noel Gallagher.
The story of the hit “Wonderwall”. Noel sings about an imaginary friend or his ex-lover?
Many fans still wonder what the story is behind the band’s greatest hit. Nearly 30 years ago, in an interview with “NME”, Noel Gallagher revealed what “Wonderwall” wrote about. The singer created the lyrics about his then partner Meg Mathewsalthough after the couple’s divorce in 2001, he began to claim that the words were about a made-up character.
“‘Wonderwall’ is about an ‘imaginary friend’ who will come and save you from yourself.” – Noel explained.
Recently, the artist explained in more detail the origins of the song, and in particular its title. In an interview for “Pub Talk” he revealed that the inspiration for the name of the single was a certain cinema production. “There’s a movie from the ’60s called ‘Wonderwall’ and it’s about a guy who lives in a block of flats and exotic music is always playing behind the wall. There’s a hole in the wall. There is a beautiful young girl living behind the wall and he is spying on her through this hole. He calls it the ‘miracle wall’. This song was originally titled ‘Wishing Stone’because then I met a girl who pressed a stone into my hand one evening and said: ‘This is your wishing stone. It will make your dreams come true.’ But the title “Wishing Stone” didn’t suit me. I had a ‘Wonderwall’ poster at home and one day I was humming the song and I looked at the poster and said, ‘That’s it,'” he concluded.