Don't Look Back in Anger

Don't Look Back in Anger
Oasis
publication	February 19, 1996
length	4 min 46 s
Genre (s)	Britpop
Author (s)	Noel Gallagher
Label	Creation Records
album	(What's the Story) Morning Glory?
Cover version
2002	The root

Do not Look Back in Anger is a song of Britpop - band Oasis . It was released on September 29, 1995 as the fourth track on the album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? and was released on February 19, 1996 as the fifth single from the album.

Creation and publication

Noel Gallagher composed the song and recorded the vocals.

After the commercial success of the previous album Definitely Maybe , Noel Gallagher put the emphasis in the writing process for the follow-up album on other musical styles. While on Definitely Maybe “rugged rock music” made the music style, the main focus was on (What's the Story) Morning Glory? on more ballad-like Britpop, which can also be heard on the song Wonderwall . Therefore, the original version of the song was created with the accompaniment of an acoustic guitar, which Noel Gallagher presented on April 22, 1995, about half a year before the album was released, at a concert in the Sheffield Arena . According to Noel Gallagher, the chords for the acoustic version were written two days earlier after a performance in Paris . “ Twenty years ago I wrote Don't Look Back in Anger on a Paris hotel bed at night. If I had known then that the song would one day be played at funerals and weddings, that people would make it the song of their lives - then I would not have been able to write it. That would have been a size too big for me, "said Noel Gallagher in a 2016 newspaper interview. During the soundcheck in Sheffield , Gallagher remembered the first lines of the chorus, so he completed the lyrics in the backstage area and performed it that same evening. Since, according to producer Owen Morris , the band wanted “more voluminous refrains” , the acoustic version turned into an arrangement consisting of guitar, vocal, bass, drum and keyboard tracks. During the recording, a discussion arose between the Gallagher brothers about who should sing which song on the album. Noel Gallagher gave his brother Liam the choice between Wonderwall and Don't Look Back in Anger , who chose Wonderwall , with which Noel Gallagher took over the vocals for Don't Look Back in Anger .

In the studio, Noel Gallagher first recorded his vocal and guitar track before Alan White recorded the drum track. Producer Morris later described this unusual sequence of recordings as "a production he was not proud of". In his opinion, this was offset by the qualities in the songwriting .

The song appeared on the album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? on September 29, 1995 in Germany, it was released as a single on February 19, 1996. Later the song was also published on the compilation albums Familiar to Millions (2001), Stop the Clocks (2006) and Time Flies… 1994–2009 (2010) .

After the band split in 2009, Noel Gallagher played the piece in the live program of his solo project Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds .

music

Don't Look Back in Anger is 4:47 minutes long and is in the order intro-verse-bridge-refrain-interlude-verse-bridge-refrain-guitar solo-refrain (2x) -outro. The key is C major , but the tuning of the instruments is 455 Hz in relation to the concert pitch a ¹ , which is 15 Hertz above the standard of 440 Hertz.

Intro audio sample ^{? / i}

Intro from Imagine by John Lennon audio sample ^{? / i}

The intro is four bars long and was taken from John Lennon's Imagine , so that both the C major and F major chord progression and the attack pattern are the same. The attack pattern consists of a pendulum movement of eighth notes, in which the root note and the rest of the chord are struck alternately. The C major chord is played in the basic position (CEG), the F major chord in the second inversion (CFA).

Chord progression from verse and chorus audio sample ^{? / i}

The stanza consists of eight bars and the chord progression C - G | On - E 7 | F - G | C - On - G . This chord progression is played twice per verse.

Chord progression from bridge and solo audio sample ^{? / i}

This is followed by a bridge that lasts twelve bars. In it there is a change in the chord progression to F - Fm | C | F - Fm | C | F - Fm | C | G | G # | Am - G | F | G | G . This accompaniment is also used in the guitar solo.

The instrumental difference between verse and chorus is only that in the chorus a tambourine is used as percussion, which is played by Liam Gallagher. In contrast to the verse which are predominantly in medium pitch to be sung, the chorus is composed in a much higher pitch, the highest note is a g ² , in the verse of the highest note is e ² .

Especially in the chorus, the song is given a hymn-like sound through the use of diatonic steps . From the highest note (g ² ) there is a downward movement in eighth notes to the root note (c ² ).

text

Most of the text is told from the first person perspective . The narrator has a fictional argument with a woman named Sally in the chorus . In the argument comes advice (“Don't you know you might find a better place to play”), wishes (“Take me to the place where you go ”, German“ Take me where you are going. ”) and incantations (“ you ain't ever gonna burn my heart out ”). The line “But don't look back in anger, I heard you say” (Eng. “Don't look back in anger, I heard you say.”) Indicates that the narrator and Sally had a relationship that broke up is. Thus, the lyrics can be viewed as the narrator's review of the relationship.

In the text the difference between verse and chorus becomes clearer, so during the chorus the narrative perspective changes to the third person .

There is also a reference to John Lennon in the text. In the first line of the bridge there is the text passage “So I start a revolution from my bed” (German: “So I start a revolution from my bed”), which is a reference to the so-called “ bed in ” at which John Lennon and Yoko Ono demonstrated for peace in a bed in a Hilton Hotel in Apollobuurt in 1969 .

Artwork

Cover of Don't Look Back in Anger
Brian Cannon , 1996
Link to the picture (please note copyrights )

The cover was designed by Brian Cannon, who previously worked with Oasis, and the cover for (What's the Story) Morning Glory? designed. The picture shows a rehearsal room that is completely laid out with flowers. In the background there are various guitar and bass amplifiers on which guitars are based. In the middle background there is a white piano, in front of it a white drum kit can be seen, the bass drum of which is decorated with the Union Jack . This motif and the associated national awareness are typical of Britpop.

Chart placements

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Singles

Oasis   DE 57 03/25/1996 (19 weeks)   CH 27 04/07/1996 (9 weeks)   UK 1 03/02/1996 (24 weeks)   US 55 08/17/1996 (14 weeks) The root   UK 59 10/12/2002 (1 week)

In Great Britain the single reached number one in the charts, in Sweden it reached number two and in Finland number three. Further placements in the charts were in Norway and Australia at number 19, New Zealand at number 20, France at number 24, Switzerland at number 27, the Netherlands at number 30, Wallonia at number 35, the United States at number 55 and Germany reached with place 57.

Awards

In the UK, the album went platinum . In October 2006 the British Q Magazine listed Don't Look Back in Anger at number 20 of the “100 best songs of all time” . The BBC Radio 2 , which also compiled a list of the 100 best songs, listed the song at number 82. The British New Musical Express placed the song in its list of "50 best indie anthems " in the fourteenth place. In addition, the NME awarded the song number one of the “best refrains” .

reception

As of 2013, Don't Look Back in Anger is the best-selling single in the band's history, Oasis.

The song was largely praised by music critics. Jon Wiederhorn of Rolling Stone says the chorus is memorable.

Sputnikmusic.com awards the song full five points. According to the critic, the piece shows the sense Oasis for good melodies. It would also have one of the best lyrics in the band.

Music video

The music video for the song was directed by Nigel Dick in Pasadena , California . The actor Patrick Macnee , known from the television series With Umbrella, Charm and Melon , can be seen as the chauffeur of Oasis. While filming the video, drummer Alan White met his future wife, Liz Atkins, whom he married in August 1997. The couple separated in November 2000.

Use in the media

The ZDF used the song as the theme song as well as background summaries for its shipments to the UEFA EURO 1996 . The British BBC series Our Friends in the North used the song as the credits for the final episode of the show. The song was also used in the series Cold Case - No Victim Is Ever Forgotten , Being Human and Chuck .

For the video game Rock Band , the title for the Xbox 360 can be downloaded from the manufacturer's website.

The song was from various bands gecovert . These include Amy Winehouse , Glay and The Killers . The humorous version of the British band Wurzels in south-west English folk style made it to number 59 on the British charts.

Participants in the memorial service two days after the terrorist attack in Manchester on May 22, 2017 , started the song after a minute's silence. The song was also played at the One Love Manchester benefit concert by Coldplay .

Participating musicians

• Vocals , guitar , mellotron : Noel Gallagher
• Background vocals , percussion : Liam Gallagher
• Guitar, piano , mellotron: Paul Arthurs
• Bass : Paul McGuigan
• Drums : Alan White

Web links

• Don't Look Back in Anger on songlexikon.de
• History of origin on oasis-recordinginfo.co.uk (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ release date “Don't Look Back in Anger”
2. ↑ chartsurfer.de
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Christopher Jost: Don't Look Back in Anger on songlexikon.de. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
4. ↑ Alexander Kroll: The best band in the world? Definitely Maybe! On: laut.de. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
5. ↑ Sid Smith: Review of (What's the Story) Morning Glory? In: bbc.co.uk (English), April 19, 2007. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
6. ↑ sueddeutsche.de
7. ↑ ^{a b c d} Rob Hughes: The Making of Don't Look Back in Anger. ( Memento of the original from December 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. On: oasis-recordinginfo.co.uk (English). Retrieved March 28, 2013; originally published in: Uncut Magazine 2007. 
8. ↑ ^{a b} Don't Look Back in Anger on songfacts.com (English). Retrieved March 28, 2013.
9. ↑ (What's The Story) Morning Glory. On: musicline.de. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
10. ↑ Familiar to Millions at Allmusic (English). Retrieved March 28, 2013.
11. ↑ Stop the Clocks at Allmusic (English). Retrieved March 28, 2013.
12. ↑ Time Flies… 1994–2009 on Allmusic (English). Retrieved March 28, 2013.
13. ↑ Don't Look Back in Anger: Noel Gallagher announces his departure from Oasis. On: spiegel.de, August 29, 2009. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
14. ↑ Bernhard Blöchl: Don't Look Back in Anger. On: sueddeutsche.de, March 12, 2012. Accessed March 29, 2013.
15. ↑ ^{a b} Don't Look Back In Anger on bbc.co.uk (English). Retrieved March 28, 2013.
16. ↑ ^{a b c d} Lyrics ( Memento of the original from March 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on magistrix.de. Retrieved March 29, 2013.  
17. ^ Ruth Schneeberger: Bed-in: sleeping as a protest. On: sueddeutsche.de, May 17, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
18. ^ Brian Cannon at Allmusic (English). Retrieved March 28, 2013.
19. ↑ Charts DE Charts CH Charts UK Charts US
20. ↑ Oasis in the Swedish charts
21. ↑ Oasis in the Finnish charts
22. ↑ Oasis in the Norwegian charts
23. ↑ Oasis in the Australian charts
24. ↑ Oasis in the New Zealand charts
25. ↑ Oasis in the French charts
26. ^ Oasis in the Dutch charts
27. ^ Oasis in the Walloon charts
28. ↑ Oasis: The Video Series - Don't Look Back In Anger. From: femalefirst.co.uk, May 30, 2010. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
29. ↑ Q - 100 greatest songs of all time. On: rocklistmusic.co.uk (English). Retrieved March 28, 2013.
30. ↑ The Greatest Indie Anthems Ever - Number One is getting close. From: nme.com, May 2, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
31. ↑ 'Don't Look Back In Anger' by Oasis tops NME's 50 Most Explosive Choruses list. From: nme.com, February 28, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
32. ↑ Jon Wiederhorn: Review on rollingstone.com (English). Retrieved March 28, 2013.
33. ↑ Review on: sputnikmusic.com (English), January 14, 2005. Accessed March 28, 2013.
34. ^ Productions from 1982 to Dec 1999 in reverse chronological order. On: nigeldick.com (English). Retrieved March 28, 2013.
35. ^ Alan and Liz Split news. On: angelfire.com (English). Retrieved March 28, 2013.
36. ↑ www.einestages.spiegel.de
37. ↑ The 50 coolest TV shows ever. On: shortlist.com (English). Retrieved March 28, 2013.
38. ↑ Cold Case: Hubris in the Internet Movie Database (English)
39. ↑ Songs in “Being Human: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Me Killing You.” On: tunefind.com (English). Retrieved March 28, 2013.
40. ↑ Chuck: Chuck Versus the Alma Mater in the Internet Movie Database (English)
41. ↑ Don't Look Back in Anger ( Memento of the original from July 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on rockband.com (English). Retrieved March 28, 2013.  
42. ↑ Caroline Westbrook: She wears it well: Amy Winehouse launches her new collection for Fred Perry with a secret gig at their London store. On: dailymail.co.uk, October 22, 2010. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
43. ↑ Rare Collectives, Vol. 4 at Allmusic (English). Retrieved March 28, 2013.
44. ^ The Killers cover Oasis and Joy Division as they headline V Festival. From: nme.com, August 18, 2012. Retrieved March 28, 2013.