Are you sitting comfortably? Photograph: PA
The answer to yesterday's no prize conundrum was, of course, Noel Gallagher. He was talking to David Walliams about Robbie Williams, and Liam.
Here is another extract from the same conversation, taken from an epic interview in this Sunday's OMM.
How to write a classic song
David Walliams: When do you think you wrote you first great song? Noel Gallagher: 'Live Forever', in 1993. That changed everything. Before that everything sounded indie. DW: You've written standards and that's something not many people get to do. By that I mean that a busker could sing 'Wonderwall' and it would still sound great. NG: We call them one of 'those' songs and I have been lucky enough to write a couple of 'those' songs. DW: What would you say those ones were?
NG: 'Don't Look Back in Anger'. 'Wonderwall': that's virtually every bird between the ages of 30 and 36's favourite fucking song. DW: Do those songs come really quickly? When Matt and I write sketches the best ones are the ones we write really quickly. The worst are the ones we labour over and re-write and re-write. NG: I've played 'Live Forever' so many times, but when I get to the guitar solo I still think, 'Fucking hell, that's pretty good, that.' DW: I think 'Let There Be Love' from the new album might be one of 'those' songs. NG: I'm not too sure about that one. It took me seven years to write that song. I kind of didn't want to put it on to the album as it's a ballad. DW: I prefer your ballads. I'm not so much into the rock thing. NG: They're easy to write. I have got half a dozen great slow, huge songs, but I kind of get bored of playing them live. DW: How easy was it to let other people in the band write songs? You've only written five for the new album. NG: I never sat down and decreed that suddenly everyone else was allowed to write songs. The door was always open. But for the first 10 years, everyone else was completely uninterested. I do think it is important that everybody feels that they are contributing to the direction of the band. I used to get pissed off with people going 'what a fucking wanker!' DW: You started working on this album with Death In Vegas as producers. Were you going to make a more -experimental record? NG: I didn't want to go into the studio -without a producer. When I've co-produced I've got sick of being sat at a mixing desk and the rest of the band being sat on the couch behind you being half-pissed. I thought: 'I want to be in a band. I can't be arsed being a producer any more.' Liam hates producers but he had worked with Death In Vegas on one of their records. So it was like something out of Star Wars – we had to get Liam to think that asking them to produce the record was his idea. DW: But you scrapped those sessions? NG: We just didn't have the songs at the time. Richard [Fearless of Death In Vegas] said that 'It's all about the vibe', but I knew the vibe would only last us about six weeks. We called a meeting to tell him, and when he walked into the pub, Liam said: 'Oh, is that my phone?', and walked off. I had to tell Richard we were going to call it a day. Told him that we needed to write some new songs – and then we weren't able to re-convene. But there's something there for a box set or something. DW: Are you the natural leader and -decision maker? NG: I always assume that role. I'm solutions provider for this band. Liam drives it. If we were in a car, Liam would be driving and I would be reading the map.
