Analysis: Wonderwall and Don't Look Back In Anger owe their power to pedal notes, a piano ostinato, The Beatles and Pachelbel's Canon in D
By Anika Babel, UCD
Nothing screams 'mood killer' at a party like a beginner guitarist positioning a capo on the second fret of a commandeered guitar. It’s an early signal that those in attendace ought to brace themselves for an unrequested rendition of Wonderwall. This is the exact trope that Greta Gerwig played with in Barbie when Ken announces "I’ll play the guitar at you." But just like Led Zeppelin's overplayed Stairway to Heaven or Beethoven's Für Elise, there’s something to the simplicity of Wonderwall that cannot be dismissed as simplistic.
Ahead of Oasis’s long-awaited return to Ireland this weekend, we’re heading back 30 years to peer into two colossal hits from (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, the 1995 album that transformed the Mancunian indie musicians into one of the world’s biggest bands.
Today is gonna be the day...
Whether or not it’s Oasis’s best song, Wonderwall is certainly their best known. With its anthemic chorus, you’d be hard pressed not to sing along to this belter of a tune. The guitar’s ever-present droning of the notes E and A offer particular intrigue. Through their unrelenting presence, they create a Möbius strip of tension and relief within the harmony and against Liam Gallagher’s grittily sung, bluesy melody.
This technique (known as ‘pedal notes’) is used to similarly wistful effects in A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera's Say Something (I’m Giving Up on You), which opens with a ‘D’ in the piano that pulses perpetually for the duration of the song. In so doing, it brings listeners on an undulating journey circling despair and hope.
The same effect occurs in Coldplay's breakout single Yellow. Here, the guitar’s tuning is modified (the high E string is dropped a half step to D sharp) to achieve a pedal note that rings out no matter what chord Chris Martin strums. This creates a particularly melancholic flavour: a major seventh chord, as heard famously in Erik Satie's Gymnopédie No.1 for piano.
The instrumentation and arrangement of Wonderwall is a significant appeal. It opens on acoustic guitar, over which Liam Gallagher sings the first verse. This sparse arrangement not only signals the definitive role of the acoustic guitar (its warm timbre, driving strumming pattern, and affecting pedal notes), but the exposing combination also hints towards the song’s endearing theme of vulnerability.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland, why were tickets for Oasis shows on this tour so expensive and so scarce?
The cello’s entry in verse two lends gravitas to the production, and the staggered arrival of the drum kit is especially ear-catching. What’s more, this entry coincides rather satisfyingly with the lyric "backbeat" — the very term to denote the snare drum accent that occurs here.
This lyrical cue brings a new intensity to the ballad-like opening by triggering an iconic drum fill that assembles the full kit for verse two’s "that the fire in your heart is out." From here, the bass joins and additional guitars thicken the texture. The chorus is plumped out with a string ensemble, and a piano ostinato brings the song to a sombre close — echoing, but not settling, the Wonderwall dilemma: "Maybe you’re gonna be the one that saves me."
Slip inside the eye of your mind..
Oasis’s ‘unconcealed obsession’ with The Beatles is hard to miss. Liam Gallagher’s sustained John Lennon phase extends to the All Around the World video, which trades a yellow submarine for a yellow flying saucer. There’s plenty of allusions to the Fab Four throughout their music - and few less blatant than the opening to Don’t Look Back in Anger in how it mimics Lennon’s Imagine.
Noel Gallagher takes up lead vocals, and his soaring "so Sally can wait" will have all of Croke Park hitting the high notes. His tone is relatively softer, and in switching between a commanding chest voice and gentler head voice, it differs quite substantially to Liam’s more gruff Wonderwall.
Like the latter, Don’t Look Back in Anger contains similar structural components. Neither have a bridge, but both make powerful use of prechoruses — transitional sections between verses and choruses (here, "I’m gonna start a revolution from my bed"). The first half of the prechorus oscillates between F major and minor chords (a prolific technique that conjures forlornness, as also heard in Radiohead's Creep). The second half of the prechorus shifts from C major to A minor, chromatically pulling us through an E major chord that adds notable propulsion to the song’s harmony.
The verse and chorus feature the same chord progressions, and this series of chords is closely based on Pachelbel’s Canon in D, a configuration so classic that there’s a dedicated playlist on Spotify of over 100 songs inspired by Pachelbel’s Canon. Noel Gallagher’s guitar solo here is resplendent with the intricacies that rock fans adore: delicious bends, double stops, runs that span from the lower register right up to the top of the neck, and a healthy dose of overdrive.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Radio 1's Today with Claire Byrne, meet the Oasis superfans
Oasis’s melting pot of rock, balladry and blues helps the band to deliver their tales in unique style. While often donning an edgy front, the lyrics sport a softness. This is not disguised by overly distorted guitars but underpinned by carefully curated instrumentation and meticulously produced music.
Despite the notorious turmoil of the sparring siblings, Oasis’s musical vision and resultant authenticity has only grown — and it has done so with little pandering to the industry or indeed fans. Combined, these raw attributes offer an intimacy between listeners and musicians, drawing us in and creating a craving for more.
Follow RTÉ Brainstorm on WhatsApp and Instagram for more stories and updates
Dr Anika Babel is an occasional lecturer at the UCD School of Music and Creative Futures Academy
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
