The amount of work you put down James in these highly interesting videos is amazing. Just pure joy for a bigtime fan of Oasis, Noel and Liam. I'm sold. Inner circle it is.

Fun fact: the word 'acquiesce' does not appear at all in the song Acquiesce, but it does appear in the Masterplan. Wonder which came first?

Go Let It Out chorus lyrics came from this poem 👇🏻 Isn't it strange, that princes and kings, and clowns that caper in sawdust rings, and common-folk like you and me, are builders for eternity? To each is given a bag of tools, a shapeless mass and a Book of Rules; and each must make 'ere time has flown, a stumbling block or a stepping stone. R.L. Sharpe poem "A bag of tools," circa 1809

Great video as per! Tony McCarroll wrote in his book that Noel once drunkenly revealed "I've got a masterplan..." Which Tony interpreted as Noel's scheme of how to ride the wave of fame, and his dream of eventually receiving a knighthood. When this conversation was brought up days later Noel wasn't happy about his apparent over-share. After Tony was sacked he recounts hearing 'The Masterplan' for the first time on the radio and having a little chuckle to himself. Hope I'm remembering all this correctly.

Isn't the "stand up beside the fireplace..." line inspired by his childhood, being told off by his mom when she wanted a family photo? I'm sure I heard him say that in an interview...

I've always been obsessed with how noel writes songs and his guitar stills. He makes it seem so easy but I'm sure there is more to it. Cannot wait to buy an epiphone again and get back into it

Here’s a thought 💭 Hey Now .. was that taken from the Larry Saunders show . Was on in early to mid 90s Noel said he loved the show , so I’m thinking did Noel name a song hey now after franks catchphrase. It’s a massive possibility

Champagne Supernova came from the Pixies album, ‘Bossanova’. Noel: "When I was writing that, I remember going to visit Meg, who was living with some chicks down in Maida Vale, in her old flat. I was living in a hotel in Marylebone High Street and had just been kicked out of my flat in Chiswick, for being drunk and disorderly. Anyway, I went over to Meg´s. I wasn't seeing her, she was just a mate and, this may sound really corny but I had the music and melody for the song in my head but I didn't have any words. While I was around there we were listening to a Pixies album called, I think it's... Supernova. As we were listening to this album, we were watching a documentary about where they make Champagne in France. You may laugh but it's true. I was there drunk going, "Champagne supernova? Yeah man" and to this day, everyone’s going, "But what does it mean?". I can't be arsed to explain it cos it sounds really corny. Some of the lyrics were written when I was out of it. There’s the words: "Someday you will find me caught beneath a landslide in a champagne supernova in the sky.""

"D'You Know What I Mean?" I'd argue fits into the hybrid category of Noel's songs. Noel has outright stated what its second verse means: it refers to his music career, how he went into London broke and came out a millionaire. The pre-chorus might bear a meaning personal to him, too, but I can't say.

Hi James, just something quick regarding your comment at the end about "The Masterplan" possibly being from a book. I read in Tony McCarroll's book, "The Truth", that Noel told the band one night while they were all drunk that Alan McGee had told him that he had a Masterplan for him, more so even than the rest of the band, he told Noel that Oasis making it with his songs was in said Masterplan. I believe this is where Noel got it from, especially when he sings "We're all part of a masterplan". Just a thought, something to look into perhaps. Cheers.

The sort of ridiculous detail I'm all for. A brilliant watch mate. I recall Noel saying in an interview once that he heard the word 'acquiesce' and asked someone what it meant and then something along the lines of 'I'm avin that'. Always believed he had his own record of sayings/turns of phrase that he heard/read that pricked his attention, and kept until the correct melody came along where it fit.

You are bloody wizard, i absolutely love the research that goes into these videos, never stop doin what you do

would love to see you interview Noel sometime

These videos are great for understanding how successful song writers go about writing

He loves the weather

This is brilliant. Surely, as a musician, Noel must be interested in a lot of the theories you propose particularly the magic book, you have to contact him. I’d be shocked if done right, you couldn’t get an interview with him. I mean he must get sick of crap interview questions but these things are fresh and fascinating. Come on James!

Wow how you found that book simply amazes me. Also I think one of the placeholders on live forever was “take two sugars in my tea” instead of “we’ll see things I’ll never see” as there of a video of Liam singing that live

This is amazingly fascinating. You’re doing some great work! Thank you

"You've got to work that out for yourself" James Hargreaves..."hold my beer"

Well that certainly turned out to be a great video! Despite knowing a lot of this for the past few weeks I really enjoyed that and the direction you took it at the start. That "Untitled" song is great - sounds like he had a head injury when he wrote that but your version makes more sense. I suppose he still does the same to this day, changing the words or the way he plays songs. For example I can't remember hearing him play DLBIA the old way since Oasis split, he always plays it in the new acoustic style he adopted, with the capo at fret 4. You always hear a difference between the early demos and the final versions of their songs... Have a good week, and hope the weather holds - I'm looking forward to your recreation of Wishing-stone!

This is one of your best videos so far, really insightful stuff. Great work!

wow, underneath the sky has always been one of my fav song. I talked about it many times with friends and loves, I even listened to it under the northern light. It's kinda magical to have youtube randomly suggested your other video to me other day and only today that I notice this video. Thank you!

Hey James great video. For Champagne Supernova I believe Noel has been quoted as saying he miss heard The Pixies album Sufer Rosa and as @L* p *T reminded me I remember reading years ago that the Champagne part was about a documentary/program about French Champagne that was on the tv while he was writing and he put them both together. Another lyric that I remember reading about was the "Is it any wonder why Princes & Kings . Are clowns that caper in their sawdust rings" part from Go Let It Out was from a poem called A Bag of Tools by R.L. Sharpe

Great video James! Noel said that he got the word Acquiesce from watching the OJ Simpson trial which was all over the news at the time. Apparently one of the lawyers said it.

John Lennon wrote in this style using “placeholder lyrics” too

I vaguely remember Noel Gallagher saying in an interview that the title for the album Be Here Now is from a book of the same name. Maybe he used that book for lyrical ideas too.

Noel does like the word 'supernova' though. After the song Champagne Supernova, there was his house Supernova Heights and his signature guitar the Epiphone Supernova.

I heard that Noel heard the word acquiesce being used a lot during OJ Simpson’s trial and wanted to use it somewhere 🤷🏻‍♂️

Ok James it’s time for bed that’s enough looking into Oasis for today

This is incredible, would love to see the some might say lyric inspiration?

Me: ''I've been obsessed with Oasis for years but there isn't any new meat on the bone for me to digest...'' James Hargreaves: ''Hold my lager.......''

Do you think Noel's Dyslexia had an affect on his lyrical side of song writing- the magpie/magic pie example, leaving lyrics until last etc?

Omg, that's incredible. Thank you so much for finding this!

After the latest Savile video I just watched this other one again that I was involved in, amazing the number of phrases from that book that made it into Oasis songs... Still a great video even two years later but your style has certainly changed @JamesHargreavesGuitar

I've never known a lyricist to mention 'weather' more than Noel - obviously the famous "Sunshineeeeee" that Liams fond of singing but ' rain' is mentioned in a lot of Noels songs too. Probably 'Love' is what a lot of other peoples music (in some form) is about - not Noel Gallaghers' songs! 'The Weather' is mentioned in some form ( include the sky) in so many of his compositions. I'm fact I'm going to through 'Definitely Maybe' and 'WTS Morning Glory' and see how many of the lyrics mention the sky and the weather (coz I was a bit obsessed with Oasis in my early twenties - I saw them 8 times but that was from very early Oasis 94) Enjoyed the video but was waiting for you to say something about his weather fetish. In actual fact he struck gold with weather (like love) weather affects us all ⚡🌩☁🌨🌧🌦🌥⛅🌤🌞🌝☀🌈🌬

I heard he came up with Champagne Supernova after miss hearing the title to the Pixies album Bossanova, probably whilst he was drunk drinking champagne.

On this topic I remember reading somewhere that Noel was clearing out his girlfriend’s garage (now his wife) and there was a book there with the title “the importance of being idle”

Oh wow! I am mind blown 🤯 well done James! Loving these videos please keep them coming 😎

When you mentioned the indeterminate lyrics I just knew you would would say...Stand up beside the fireplace...etc !

Quite interesting the relationship with Saramago's book.

"The Journey Prize Anthology: The Best Short Fiction from Canada's Literary Journals Volumes 4-5", a collection of short fiction published in 1992 in Canada has the words "SUPERNOVA" and "ACQUIESCE" on the same page, page 89. This can be found in the "Google Books" page for the book by clicking "Search inside" and entering in either word. It's just a coincidence that this collection book has both those uncommon words on the same page and was published in 1992 in Canada. Perhaps Noel, during the bands early 1995 tour of Canada could have bought this book in an airport and picked out a few words from it as he was writing for What's The Story.

Some of the lyrics for 'Go Let it Out' is said to be "inspired" by an old poem by R.L. Sharpe, 'A bag of tools', circa 1809

Don't forget The Importante of Being Idle by Stephen Robins!(2000) 😉🎩

Why don’t you take a Noel style chord progression and try writing a song using this book and the rhyming dictionary? Would be interesting!

I was playing the piano recently. I can't read music, so I always try to figure out the melody myself. The beginning of "Masterplan" is almost one to one to "while my guitar gently weeps"

Very interesting, thanks James! Up there with your best videos

4:50 - First time he performed Don't Look Back In Anger live - easy to know the origninal lyrics, it's title was So Sorry' --The refrain at that point was So sorry to say that you know it's too late as we're walking on by....

I love the mystery behind the oasis songs.. sadly now been shattered. The listener makes the song their own

Ive seen an interview with Noel saying that pre "Sally" it was "sorry" but Liam miss heard Sally and it just stuck. Think you actually covered that in one of your later videos. There's also method in Noels madness subtly nicking and tweaking them. I think when the punter listens to a song and its slightly recognisable they are more likely to like the song.

Great video as usual mate!

I think that’s how Al the big songwriters did. Look at John Lennon and Mr Kite song basically just reciting the poster word for word, his Alice in Wonderland references etc

If we shadows is still one of my favorite songs that Noel ever wrote

7:10 - A demo tape Noel gave to Chris Martin had a variant of the 'Untitled' demo as 'Feel No Shame' but it was on a very early Shoulders Of Giants demo tape. That was the source of song titles like 'Slow' and other titles of unheard songs came out.

I’m struck by the similarity between Noel’s stated style and McCartneys style writing Get Back with some words and humming the melody in between.

I wish I could get you to analyze the late great Bon Scott and his lyrics. Everybody thinks AC/DC’s lyrics are just smutty, juvenile, garbage. Sure: Post-Bon they most certainly _are_ crap. But Bon was a reader, he had meaning that went much deeper than people realize. However, the Young brothers would edit his lyrics. They would dumb them down if they were “too clever” or if they thought the fans couldn’t relate to them. If you read Bon’s least edited lyrics off the AC/DC album Powerage, you will see how much of gifted writer he was. The big question is: Did Bon write anything on Back In Black? If so, how much? Bon-era AC/DC could knock out an album, meaning written and recorded in as little as 3 weeks. If you look at the timeline of when Bon died, February 19 1980, the hiring of Brian Johnson on March 29 1980, how they flew to the Bahamas after only 1 _week_ of rehearsals, and recorded the album in 6 weeks with a brand new singer who had basically no writing experience or track record to speak of, who just so happened to write in the same style as Bon (Lol), you just know something is up. Especially considering the follow up album, For Those About To Rock, released only a little over a year later took them 5-6 _months_ to write _and_ record. And the lyrics took a noticeable dive (not a mere dip) in quality. Brian barely wrote lyrics in his previous band Geordie. While the same could be said for Bon pre-AC/DC, he had been honing his craft for all those years before because he _loved_ writing. He carried notebooks everywhere he went, jotting down any ideas that came to mind or inspired him. It’s a fact that those notebooks never went back to his family after he died - they just vanished…after the band’s head roadie and another roadie, on the orders of manager Peter Mensch, cleaned out Bon’s flat a day after he died. I should have mentioned that when they worked on songs with Bon, he was always right there behind the drum kit helping to arrange the music and demo the songs - he was a drummer for pretty much his entire life. That was how AC/DC worked; Malcolm, Angus and Bon worked together away from everyone else. Also, you can hear Bon-like storytelling throughout Back In Black; he always stayed on point and almost never strayed off-topic. Post-Bon, the lyrics were not only smut, but they were absolute gibberish with no actual point to them and certainly no storytelling whatsoever. I can’t help but think of Bon and the whole “Back In Black lyric conspiracy” when I watch your amazing Oasis videos. I don’t know if you like AC/DC but man do I wish you were on that particular case. There is a mountain of circumstantial evidence to support Bon having a major hand in that album. Bon was a smart, well read, witty, funny writer who could also write serious, heartfelt lyrics. Man, I wish you could look into that topic. I love your videos. Right when I read the title to one of them and think, “No way”, next thing I know you convince me. Lol Cheers!

Could you do a video on the song waterfall by the stone roses

Brilliant video. Nice one! You need to try interview Noel to confirm this stuff!

He's lyrics somehow reminds what someone knowing English by songs only would do. You know, it would be blubberish with some phrases taken here and there, as "caught in a landslide" from Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, or something from The Beatles, etc. At he's songs these phrases are used as sort of mantras same, but other part is just meaningful instead. That's all. It's up to You to think that dude believing in rock n roll as in holy word, magical on itself, or he just knows that such stolen phrases are provoking reflective reaction.

Great research as always, James!

14:35 - Also notice the Stone Raft title of the book is close to The Stone Roses and it is 5 people under the red sky. Is Shangri La in that book? It looks like the same vibe of Idler's Dream years later.

love your passion and dedication . thanks for the information !

Hey James, only just seen this video now in October. Thanks for all the work you put into your videos, love all this stuff on Oasis. You are the go to for this info and I agree with another poster below, you should contact Noel and see if he's keen for an interview after seeing your vids. Surely an interview from a fan with fans watching would be something else for him instead of the normal shite ones from media. Cheers James, your beard game is on point here too mate. 👍

Valid analysis. Really interesting. Defo true and something in this combination of cool words he’d found. I remember him talking about finding the title for Hindu Times on a t shirt - he probs wrote this down in his book for later use and then when he wrote that song thought yea sounds cool. Heathen Chemistry too

James, I've always wondered if REM's ' Half A World Away ' inspired Noel's ' Half The World Away ' ?? Same tempo, lyrically the same. When Stipe sings the line, it's very similar. Any thoughts ??

Another great video mate 👍🏼

Another awesome video James , I wonder is there any info on the guitar that Noel found in his childhood home , was this guitar ever kept or restored , always thought the interviewer should have asked the question , thanks again for the great content . Cheers Chris , Mad Fer It .

Fantastic insight thank you James

Interesting take. Great vid. Thanks

Genius video James!

Does anyone else think that (well, it's not exactly a "book", but) if we listen to the tune of Oh Sweet Nuthin' by The Velvet Underground, the whole Champagne Supernova cycle of inspiration could be closed?

Smitcher MVP.

Next time I write a song I’m going to ADAPT some oasis and the stones tunes 😏 lol great video btw the best music page about oasis on KZfaq imo ✌️

Wow my man your research was so inspiring and amazing !!!! Thank you so much. I Always thought Noel is Like a sponge absorbing words and melodies That catches his ears atention.

Really enjoyed this video cheers

Outstanding video 👍🏻

I wonder if he still has his note books

great work guys

LG came up with Sally?

Brilliant video great research ❤️

There’s a british film in the 50’s titled “Look Back In Anger” and it’s about a young, struggling but intelligent working class man. So... maybe another inspiration? Or is it just some sort of coincidence. Haha. I don’t know, just a thought. More power to you brother! Keep it going!

The effort is great from you James I love it! But let’s be real would Noel in the 90s be reading something like that? Top it off with the fact that the lyrics are I’d say sparsely similar?

Love the videos absolutely brilliant

Your videos are an oasis for Oasis fans.

i'd argue that supersonic is in the middle

I seem to recall Go let it out contained lines from a poem/story? The bit about princes and kings was a straight lift in fact...

Great stuff man

I don’t know if it has been mentioned already, but according to Wikipedia, José Saramago has also written a book called ‘The Traveller’s Baggage’. Could this be the link to Noel’s Little book of Wisdom’?

The prophet by Kahlil Gibran has quite a few lyrics from she is love in it. Lennon also used that book for lyrics for Julia.

I absolutely love if we shadows and untitled

I thought If We Shadows could've easily been fully finished! I mean... Have you heard Magic Pie?!!

Exactly most people think Oasis songs a load of words that sound good together but in actual fact if you understand like me you can see behind the mask

Noel has also said he's a massive Bob Dylan fan, so the non sensical lyrics could also be influenced by Dylan

It's a pretty standard approach to songwriting ..yesterday originally had the lyrics scrambled eggs 🥚

Great video! Would love for somebody to mention this book to Noel in an interview lol. But, didn't Noel once admit partly he got the name "Champagne Supernova" whilst listening to the Pixies album "Bossanova" which he later incorrectly remembered as Supernova edit: seen many people have already mentioned this

Love the video... Also, I thought Noel was dyslexic.

Brother,start covering Suede songs. Suede is still underrated. Start with suede b-sides...europe is our playground and whipsnade

"I said maybe"

Have you ever been tempted to try and finish 'If we shadows' yourself? Stephen King, in his book 'on writing', gives the reader the beginning of a story and then asks the reader to continue it and send him their attempts. Nice idea...

Do you mean that his songs are taken from poetry books and then he modifies them? It is what is popularly called "centon"; is a literary figure). If you talk about this, it could be the same case of Bunbury) a composer from Spain who has recently been discovered doing the same.

Champagne supernova he once said he got from a french documentary he miss heard has “champagne supernova “ but it was called something else