Live Forever
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Live Forever" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Single by Oasis | ||
| from the album Definitely Maybe | ||
| Released | August 8, 1994 | |
| Format | CD, 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, cassette | |
| Recorded | 1994 Clear Studios (Manchester) | |
| Genre | Britpop | |
| Length | 4 min 36 s | |
| Label | Creation | |
| Producer(s) | Oasis, Mark Coyle & Owen Morris | |
| Chart positions | ||
|
||
| Oasis singles chronology | ||
| "Shakermaker" (1994) |
"Live Forever" (1994) |
"Cigarettes & Alcohol" (1994) |
| Stop the Clocks track listing | ||
| "The Masterplan" (9) |
"Live Forever" (10) |
"Acquiesce" (11) |
"Live Forever" is a song by British rock group Oasis, written by Noel Gallagher. It was released as the third single from their first album Definitely Maybe on 8 August 1994, and was their first single to enter the top ten in the United Kingdom (something every single has done since), peaking at #10 and spending over a year in the charts.
Whereas Oasis' previous singles, "Supersonic" and "Shakermaker", had used bizarre and vivid imagery, rather than any strong lyrical content — "Live Forever" is seen as Oasis' crossover track. Noel Gallagher cites this as the point at which people began to take the band seriously. He has commented on the reaction to the single a few times; once suggesting that people thought that Oasis were "a bunch of chancers singing about traffic lights and my friend Mr. Soft" until "Live Forever" came out, which is, as he puts it, when people started to say "Hang on, there's something here, and you can't deny it." Calling it the "most important Oasis song", Noel has also given his thoughts on the song's success and quality: "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."
The video for "Live Forever" is also noteworthy as it featured their drummer, Tony McCarroll, being buried alive by the other band members. Less than a year later he and the band had 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.
On 27 August 2006, Live Forever was named the Greatest Song of all time in music history, in a poll released by Q Magazine.
[1] In the November 2006 issue of Q Magazine, celebrating the magazine's 20th anniversary, U2 frontman Bono recognized "Live Forever" as one of six songs that he wished he had written from the last 20 years of music. [2]
The song is included on Oasis' 'best-of' album Stop The Clocks.
Contents |
[edit] Lyrics
It has been claimed that the song is an ode to Peggy Gallagher, mother of Noel and Liam, and her love of gardening is referred to in the song. However, Noel on some occasions has explained it as a song about two close friends, using the line "We see things they'll never see" as an example, as he finds old friends do tend to laugh at jokes and stories that bemuse others.
In a 2005-6 interview (available on the Stop The Clocks bonus DVD), Noel gave another perspective on the song:
"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 Want to Die", and I was like... "Well, I'm not fuckin' having that." As much as I fuckin' like him and all that shit, I'm not having that. I can't have people like that coming over here, on smack, fuckin' saying that they hate themselves and they wanna die, that's fuckin' rubbish.
And I'm not saying it was written directly as a retort to that, but that was my thinking, was "Fuck that, man. Kids don't need to hear that fuckin' nonsense." 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 great, man." [1]
[edit] Track listings
[edit] In the UK
- 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
- "Cloudburst" heavily resembles the Stone Roses b-side "Standing Here".
- 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.
[edit] In Europe
- 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
[edit] Sample
- "Live Forever" (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- 26 second sample of "Live Forever"
- Problems listening to the file? See media help.
[edit] References
- ^ Stop The Clocks bonus DVD
