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Noel Gallagher: songwriter, stealer, genius

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Headshrinker by Oasis (1995)
= Stay With Me by The Faces (1971)
The Rolling Stones might be Noel's second favourite band, but maybe Ronnie Wood is his favourite Stone? The guitar intro to bruising b-side Headshrinker is 90% the same as Wood's on The Faces' hit.

Mucky Fingers by Oasis (2005)
= I'm Waiting For The Man by The Velvet Underground (1967)
Not even Noel would deny this one.

The Importance Of Being Idle by Oasis (2005) /
= Clean Prophet by The La's (1988)
The staccato intro guitar chords are almost identical. The La's are one of Noel Gallagher's favourite bands. Oasis now even boast The La's ex-drummer, Chris Sharrock.

Hello by Oasis (1995)
= Hello Hello, I'm Back Again by Gary Glitter (1973)
A fair cop for Noel, as Glitter is listed as co-writer on the opening track of (What's The Story) Morning Glory? We're not sure how Noel now feels about still-strong royalties of Morning Glory? funding Glitter's dotage.

Morning Glory by Oasis (1995)
= The One I Love by REM (1987)
Not a hugely incriminating rip-off. But let's just say there's a 'nod' in the opening guitar riff. In fact, maybe both Oasis and REM have just ripped Neil Young's Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)? Everyone's guilty here!

Step Out by Oasis (1996)
= Uptight by Stevie Wonder (1966) x Rosalie by Thin Lizzy (1978)
A genius double-whammy of 'lifting'. The chorus vocal melody is almost identical to Wonder's Uptight while the middle eight guitar riff is 'similar' to Thin Lizzy's live version of Bob Seger's song Rosalie. Step Out appeared on promo copies of Morning Glory? but it was pulled at the last minute. Why's that then?

"You'd have to ask the record company about that," says Noel.

It eventually appeared as a b-side track on the CD single of Don't Look Back In Anger, credited to writers Gallagher/Wonder/Cosby/Moy. Still one of Oasis's Noel-sung greatest tracks.

Fuckin' In The Bushes by Oasis (2000)
= I'd Like To Change The World by Ten Years After (1971) + Little Miss Lover by The Jimi Hendrix Experience + I'm A Man by The Spencer Davis Group
Noel wanted to sample Mitch Mitchell's drums from a rare live version of Little Miss Lover, but the Hendrix estate blocked its use. So Oasis's then-drummer Alan White simply 'recreated' it. The higher register guitar riff (Oasis, starting at 1:30) is a pretty straight rip from the Ten Years After riff (listen from 2:40). The organ riff apes The Spencer Davis Group's I'm A Man (from 0:24).

Add some vocal samples from the Barry Lerner's documentary film Message To Love: Isle Of Wight (1970), and Fuckin' In The Bushes is almost 100% recycled.

Good 'green' work, Noel – and another underrated Oasis track.

Talent borrows, genius steals?

There are many more examples of Gallagher's 'magpie' songwriting tendencies, I'm sure. MusicRadar is still digesting Dig Out Your Soul for clues.

Not that this is a criticism of Noel Gallagher's songwriting at all. He is a fantastic songwriter.

But maybe, Noel noted the words inscribed on the run-off grooves of The Smiths' Bigmouth Strikes Again, one of his favourite songs by one of his favourite bands. It's a quote by Oscar Wilde: "Talent borrows, genius steals."

And by that measure, Noel Gallagher remains a songwriting genius.

Doesn't he?

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