1001 Songs Challenge #803: Live Forever (1994)

On 11 February 2019 I set myself the challenging of reading 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die by Robert Dimery (ed.) and following the book’s advice to the letter. I’ve previously read 1001 Films… and started 1001 Albums… but felt 1001 Songs… would be a sensible place to start for what I have in mind here.

My challenge is to read about one song per day and listen to it (YouTube and Spotify, I need you tonight!) before sharing my own thoughts. Some songs I will love, others I’ll hate, and I’m sure there will be those that leave me perplexed but listen to them I shall.

I’ll also try, and most likely fail, to pinpoint the best song from the 1001 on offer but I’m nothing if not foolhardy. Instead of one song, I’m predicting I’ll have about 100 favourites by the end and may have to resort to a Top 10 so far to maintain any semblance of sanity.

So long as I post everyday (including Christmas) then this challenge should come to an end on Wednesday 8 November 2021. Staying with the Barney Stinson theme I am hoping that the whole experience will prove to be…

Oasis – Live Forever (1994)

After our union of Senegal and Sweden yesterday, we are heading back to the UK and find ourselves in Manchester. Formed in 1991 Oasis would have two consistent members with brothers – Liam and Noel Gallagher. After a modest start they became one of the key names in Britpop along with Blur, Suede and Pulp. When we join them in 1994 their debut album, Definitely Maybe, is on the horizon but a third single, Live Forever, came first and has made it on this list. 

Live Forever was written at the time of grunge being in the ascendancy and Noel Gallagher, although a fan of the likes of Nirvana, favoured music with a slightly more optimistic outlook on life. The song itself does take a more hopeful perspective, looking to live life long and well. It also postulates about having ambitions and not achieving dreams. Instead of lamenting failure the song encourages one to look deep within one’s self to find out what went wrong. The track also includes lines about seeing things that others can’t, suggesting a bond between friends and a sort of private joke between two like-minded people.

Oasis were part of my teenage years and Live Forever was a key track for the group. Their third single, it was also the first to hit the UK Top 10. Definitely Maybe followed soon after and Oasis and Blur became embroiled in a Britpop battle for supremacy. It is hard to say even today if there was a victor between the two. Oasis would become megastars with their next album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? in 1995 but Live Forever very much represents the start of their chart domination.

Favourite songs so far:

The Animals – House of the Rising Sun (1964)

Simon & Garfunkel – The Sounds of Silence (1965)

The Beatles – A Day in the Life (1967)

The Doors – The End (1967)

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975)

Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell (1977)

Ultravox – Vienna (1980)

Tracy Chapman – Fast Car (1988)

U2 – One (1991)

Suede – Animal Nitrate (1993)