I’ve seen a few lists about the top 10 Oasis lyrics and they are, well, not very good. Most of them just pick a random line from Oasis’ most famous songs. In this list, we want to take a look at what are the true 10 best lines of Oasis lyrics. Noel wasn’t the most gifted lyricist of all time but had the ability to produce a wonderful line every now and again. That being said, this list isn’t all about him . . .
Our only qualification is that we couldn’t pick the same song twice. Let’s get started!
Best Oasis Lyrics of All Time
10. Rock ‘n’ Roll Star – Definitely Maybe
“Tonight, I’m a rock ‘n’ roll star”
If this lyric was written on (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? then it perhaps wouldn’t make our list of best Oasis lyrics. What makes it special for me is that it was written before they were famous. The sheer arrogance of it matched the personality of a band who barged into the music world with that famous swagger.
For the same reason, “I need to be myself, I can’t be no-one else” from Supersonic was a contender but didn’t quite make the cut.
9. Let’s All Make Believe – Go Let It Out B-Side
“Strangle my hope and make me pray, to a god I’ve never seen but who I betray”
I was hesitant to add a B-Side into this list (aside from Masterplan songs) but I couldn’t leave it out. This song could have easily been an album track and has more than one line of fantastic lyrics. The one chosen is a grapple that many have had between not believing God exists but wishing a higher power could save you. It’s a desperate line and one that will strike a chord with many.
If you’ve never listened to the song, check it out.
8. Morning Glory – (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?
“All your dreams are made, when you’re chained to the mirror and the razorblade.”
Anyone that has ever been in a dead-end job will know exactly what this lyric means. It’s that moment where you’re getting ready for work and dreaming that you could be anywhere else. It’s one of the best Oasis lyrics of all time, an epic start to a song and a working-class anthem.
7. Stand By Me – Be Here Now
“If you’re leaving will you take me with you?”
Some lyrics are best left ambiguous, and this is a great example from Be Here Now. It could be a desperate response to a lover that’s leaving him, perhaps saying that he’ll go wherever they go, or perhaps it’s about death. The beauty is that Noel says he has no recollection of writing it so we’ll never truly know! Either way, it’s a beautiful lyric in one of Oasis’ most vulnerable songs.
6. Fade Away – The Masterplan
“When I was young I thought I had my own key, I knew exactly what I wanted to be, now I’m sure, you’ve boarded up every door”
Fade Away is a depressing song in many ways. It’s all about how your dreams rarely come true and how people have to settle for something else. Unfortunately, that’s the reality for most of us. It has an angst that prevents the song from being too depressing and instead allows you to vent about your own frustrations. Most of it is lyrically brilliant but never more so than in the lyric above.
The follow-up song to Fade Away on The Masterplan, Listen Up, was another close contender with this beauty:
“Day by day there’s a man in a suit, who’s gonna make you pay. For the thoughts that you think and the words they won’t let you say”
5. I’m Outta Time – Dig Out Your Soul
“If I’m to fall, would you be there to applaud?”
Enter Liam Gallagher (and no, it’s not Little James) with this epic song. The lyric showed a vulnerability we’d never seen before in Liam. He’d written love songs but never something so directed at his insecurities. We see this a lot now with his solo work but this lyric helped to make a great song even more special.
4. Don’t Go Away – Be Here Now
“Damn, my education, I can’t find the words to say”
It’s clear to see that Noel Gallagher didn’t need an education to be successful. So for him to bemoan his lack of it here when trying to cope with someone potentially dying from cancer hits heavy on the heart. Throughout the song, we clearly see a man not knowing how to process his feelings, and not knowing what to say or think. Many of us have been there.
3. Some Might Say – (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?
“Some might say they don’t believe in heaven, go and tell that to the man who lives in hell.”
Noel was never afraid to use religious imagery in his lyrics. It can be a powerful and poetic writing tool. This is just one of a few great lyrics from Some Might Say but is probably the best. It’s the contradiction and the transition from the literal to the metaphorical that makes this lyric so good. “Some might say that sunshine follows thunder, go and tell it to the man who cannot shine” is another brilliant lyric that follows the same pattern. The chorus of the song might be a bit of playful nonsense but the verses are brilliant.
2. Slide Away – Definitely Maybe
“Now that you’re mine, we’ll find a way, of chasing the sun”
Trying to find just one line of lyrics from this song was very difficult. In fact, you could write a top 10 list of the best lyrics from Slide Away with entries such as “Don’t know, don’t care all I know is you can take me there”, “I dream of you and all the things you say, I wonder where you are now” and “Let me be the one that shines with you”.
It’s a song drenched in desperate emotion and you could always see that whenever Noel sang it live. The best example was probably this version which Liam sings far too aggressively before Noel finishes it off in spine-tingling fashion, 25-years after the song was released.
1. Gas Panic – Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants
“What tongueless ghost of sin crept through my curtains? Sailing on a sea of sweat on a stormy night”
On the Familiar To Millions recording, Liam says to a lackluster crowd “It’s a good fucking tune this, come one” after it starts and then says “listen carefully man”. Well Liam, the crowd probably already were listening carefully. The lyric, about drug addiction, is the best line Noel’s ever written in my humble opinion. It flows majestically, is abstract, poetic but also makes sense. It’s a favourite among hardcore Oasis fans and an epic song.