The song of the decade and a mainstay for buskers the world over - but what does it all mean?
Oasis songwriter and guitarist Noel Gallagher revealed a hitherto unseen sensitive side with the release of the band's eighth single, "Wonderwall". Brother and band lead singer Liam disliked it straight away and took some persuading to sing it. But despite his reservations, the song sealed their position as Britain's biggest band of the time.
Various theories have been offered as to the meaning of the word wonderwall. "Wonderwall" was the title of Beatle George Harrison's first solo album. And John Lennon once gave an interview where he said "Wonderwall" instead of "Wonderful". But it's the inspiration for the song that has provoked the most interest. In this interview from 2000 Noel talks about writing "Wonderwall" and names his inspiration:
"I don't really remember the process of writing it. I probably wrote it down on scraps of paper and finished it of at the studio."
However, in 2002, two years after his divorce from wife Meg Matthews, Noel was back in the news when he claimed that the meaning of the song had been hijacked by the press and was not about his missus, after all.
"The meaning of that song was taken away from me by the media".
The single version of "Wonderwall" contained three B sides "Round Are Way", "The Swamp Song" and another contemplative ballad, "The Masterplan". It was held to # 2 by Robson and Jerome in November 1995. Spoof easy-listening act The Mike Flowers Pops recorded an irreverant version of the song which also reached # 2 six weeks later. "Wonderwall" won the 1996 award for best song from MTV. Oasis's next single, "Don't Look Back In Anger" went straight to #1.
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