| "Half the World Away" | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Song by Oasis from the album The Masterplan | |||||||||||||||||||
| Released | 18 December 1994 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Recorded | October 1994 at Congress House Studio, Austin, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | Rock, Britpop | ||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 4:21 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Label | Creation | ||||||||||||||||||
| Writer | Noel Gallagher | ||||||||||||||||||
| Producer | Owen Morris & Noel Gallagher | ||||||||||||||||||
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"Half the World Away" is a song by English rock band Oasis. It is well known as the theme tune to the popular BBC sitcom The Royle Family.
The song was written by Oasis' lead guitarist Noel Gallagher, who also provides lead vocals. The song is a slow acoustic tune with plodding keyboards, and the lyric - much like "Rock 'n' Roll Star", one of Oasis' most famous songs - expresses a desire to leave a stagnant life in a boring city. The song is primarily in C Major.[1]
Recorded at The Congress House Studio, Austin, Texas in October 1994, "Half the World Away" was first released as a B-side to "Whatever" on 18 December 1994, reaching #3 in the UK charts.[2]
The song gained mass public exposure when it was selected by Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash to be the theme tune to their sitcom The Royle Family. The series revolved around the sitting room of a lazy working-class family and was set in Manchester, the hometown of Oasis. Although it had modest beginnings, the series soon became a cultural phenomenon in England and its theme became well known. The opening credits of the series edited together the first stanza of the first verse and the second stanza of the first chorus. The end credits, which would cut in immediately after the final joke of the episode - so as to add weight to it - began with the second stanza of the final chorus and would see the song through to the coda. When Gallagher was originally approached about using an Oasis song for a series about a working class family in Manchester, he suggested "Married with Children" and was confused when "Half the World Away" was chosen. On tour in America when The Royle Family was first screened, he claims the penny did not drop until he returned to the United Kingdom to find the series a huge success and viewed it, feeling the song was perfect for the series. He now claims not to think of "Half the World Away" as an Oasis song, but rather as the theme tune to The Royle Family.[3]
In 1998 the song was included in The Masterplan; a collection of Oasis' best b-sides. The collection was a success, peaking at #2 in the UK charts. The track is also included on Oasis' compilation album Stop the Clocks, which also reached #2.
In interviews, Gallagher - who is famous for "borrowing" from other musicians - has admitted the tune to "Half the World Away" was adapted from "This Guy's in Love with You" by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. He commented "It sounds exactly the same. I'm surprised he hasn't sued me yet!"[4] Gallagher sang "This Guy's in Love with You" live in 1996 at a Burt Bacharach concert at the London Festival Hall while Bacharach accompanied him on piano and conducted the orchestra.
(some dispute over McCarroll playing drums as he claims in his autobiography Oasis:The Truth that Noel recorded a drum track so it could be either Gallagher or McCarroll playing on the mixed take.)
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