Noel Gallagher has insisted he’s “not a genius”.
The 53-year-old former Oasis guitarist and songwriter has admitted that some of the ‘Wonderwall’ hitmakers’ biggest hits have been ripped from songs he’s admired in the past and Noel says he’s simply a fan of music who pays homage to the music he loves.
Speaking in a track-by-track interview for the Britpop legends’ seminal 1995 album, ‘What’s the Story (Morning Glory?) – which turned 25 last week – Noel spilled that ‘Some Might Say’ from the LP was a nod to US rock band Grant Lee Buffalo’s 1993 tune ‘Fuzzy’.
He said: “Do you remember a band called Grant Lee Buffalo? Nobody does. So they were like an American indie band after Grunge … I’m not a fan right, but they had this tune called ‘Fuzzy’.
“You can see that it’s been a big influence on ‘Some Might Say’. I will obsess about a song for years and I will rip it off 12 times.
“F****** 12 different tunes out of it.
“Everything that I do is a nod to something or other. I am not a genius. I’m a fan of music, do you know what I mean?”
Despite having a back catalogue of hits – including ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’, ‘Live Forever’, ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’, and ‘Champagne Supernova’ – Noel doesn’t consider himself a musical genius like Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney or Bob Dylan, while he insisted he has no problem admitting to imitating other artists because “nothing is original”.
He added: “[Sir] Paul McCartney’s a genius and Morrissey, and Bob Dylan. I am just fans of theirs. I’ve got a good knack for putting s*** together. But I am not a snob about where it comes from, I’ll tell you. Nothing is original, there’s only 12 notes, anyway.”
Noel Gallagher: I’m not a genius
