The song was written by Oasis' lead guitarist Noel Gallagher, who also provides lead vocals. The song is an acoustic tune with accompanying keyboards, and the lyrics – much like "Rock 'n' Roll Star" – express a desire to leave a stagnant life in a boring city. The song is primarily in C major.[1]
Recorded at The Congress House Studio, Austin, Texas, in October 1994, "Half the World Away" was first released as a B-side to "Whatever" on 18 December 1994, reaching number 3 in the UK charts.[2]
In 1998 the song was included in The Masterplan, a collection of Oasis' best B-sides. The collection was a success, peaking at number 2 in the UK charts. The track is also included on Oasis' compilation album Stop the Clocks, which also reached number 2. The song reached number 56 in the UK charts in 2015 following the release of Aurora's cover version, marking their first top 100 song since the release of "Falling Down" in 2009.
During a Q & A session at Salford Lads' Club in October 2019, Gallagher revealed that the song was the favourite of the B-sides he had made.[3]
Background
Oasis' sound engineer Mark Coyle introduced the band to Burt Bacharach's song "This Guy's in Love with You". Coyle was in charge of musical intake while on tour, and this song was often played during his eclectic sets. Drummer Tony McCarroll pointed out that the song's drum shuffle could be adapted for one of Oasis' acoustic numbers. After a while "instead of adapting the drum shuffle, Noel seemed to have adapted the whole song and renamed it Half The World Away". Despite the input and being able to play the pattern well, McCarroll (along with the rest of the band) were invited to leave the studio for a break, but it turned out to be just an excuse so Gallagher could record the drum track himself.[4]
Conversely, producer Owen Morris recalled the Congress House session as "very weird, very strange", as tensions between Gallagher and McCarroll reached a breaking point. Gallagher insulted McCarroll for taking six attempts to put down the drum track for "(It's Good) to Be Free", and Morris reported that Gallagher told McCarroll "You aren’t going near the drum kit on this one. Fuck off, right now" before recording "Half the World Away".[5]
In interviews, Gallagher has admitted the tune to "Half the World Away" was adapted from "This Guy's in Love with You" by Bacharach and Hal David. He commented "It sounds exactly the same. I'm surprised he hasn't sued me yet!"[6] Gallagher sang "This Guy's in Love with You" live in 1996 at a Burt Bacharach concert at the London Festival Hall while Bacharach accompanied him on piano and conducted the orchestra.
Some of the borrowing in the song is from Gallagher's own work: the line "My body feels young but my mind is very old" was adapted from the second line of the earlier song "Comin' On Strong" ("You said body was young but your mind was very old"),[7] a song that would later itself be reworked by the Chemical Brothers as "Setting Sun", with Noel's vocals and lyrics retained.
Use in "the Royle Family"
The song gained mass public exposure when it was selected by Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash to be the theme tune to their sitcom The Royle Family. The series revolved around the sitting room of a working-class family and was set in Manchester, the hometown of Oasis. Although it had modest beginnings, the series soon became popular and its theme became well known. The opening credits of the series edited together the first stanza of the first verse and the second stanza of the first chorus. The end credits, which would cut in immediately after the final joke of the episode – so as to add weight to it – began with the second stanza of the final chorus and would see the song through to the coda. When Gallagher was originally approached about using an Oasis song for a series about a working-class family in Manchester, he suggested "Married with Children" and was confused when "Half the World Away" was chosen. On tour in America when The Royle Family was first screened, he claims the penny did not drop until he returned to the United Kingdom to find the series a huge success and viewed it, feeling the song was perfect for the series. He now claims not to think of "Half the World Away" as an Oasis song, but rather as the theme tune to The Royle Family.[8] After Caroline Aherne died in July 2016, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds paid tribute to her by performing "Half the World Away" on a few occasions. In similar vein the first episode of Gogglebox broadcast after Aherne's death had Half the World Away play over the closing credits in her memory.
Musical style
"Half the World Away" is characterized by a slow tempo and exhibits a intricate, contemplative, and poetic composition. When singing the song, Noel Gallagher incorporated elements from both American and British English standard dialects. Notably, words like "half" and "can't" were pronounced using the American pronunciation.[9]
Charts
Weekly chart performance for "Half the World Away"
In 2015, Norwegian singer-songwriter AURORA released a cover version of the song. It was released on 6 November 2015 as a digital download. The song was selected as the soundtrack to the 2015 John Lewis Christmas advert. It was later accumulated for the deluxe version of her debut album All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend, which was released on 11 March 2016.
↑ "Half the world away I mixed back at Loco while the Verve were having a weekend off onetime….I overdubbed a bass on it….to give it credibility I told Noel that Si from The Verve played it…" http://owenmorris.net/oasis/Archived 12 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine
Definitely Maybe is the debut studio album by English rock band Oasis, released by Creation Records on 29 August 1994. The album features Noel Gallagher on lead guitar, backing vocals and as chief songwriter, Liam Gallagher on lead vocals, Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs on rhythm guitar, Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan on bass guitar and Tony McCaroll on drums.
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as the Rain, the group initially consisted of Liam Gallagher, Paul Arthurs (guitar), Paul McGuigan and Tony McCarroll (drums), with Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher joining as a fifth member a few months after their formation. Noel became the de facto leader of the group and took over the songwriting duties for the bands first four albums.
The Masterplan is a compilation album by English rock band Oasis. It was released on 2 November 1998 by Creation Records, the band's final release through the label. It comprises B-sides which never made it onto an album up to that point. Originally intended for release only in areas such as the United States and Japan, where the tracks were previously only available on expensive European-import singles, The Masterplan reached number 2 in the UK, where it initially went platinum, and number 51 in the United States. However, it did reach the Top 20 in various charts around the world, going on to sell 3 million copies. It has since been certified triple platinum in the UK. Four songs from the album appear on the 2006 compilation album Stop the Clocks.
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"Whatever" is a song by English rock band Oasis. Written by the band's lead guitarist, Noel Gallagher, it was released on 18 December 1994 by Creation as the band's first non-album single. A subsequent lawsuit awarded a co-writing credit to Neil Innes.
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"Supersonic" is a song by English rock band Oasis, released as their debut single on 11 April 1994. It appeared on their debut studio album, Definitely Maybe (1994). The single reached number 31 on the UK Singles Chart, number two on the UK Independent Singles Chart, and number 11 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It also charted in the top 30 in Ireland and New Zealand, as well as the top 40 in Scotland and France.
"Shakermaker" is a song by the English rock band Oasis. It was written by lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. The song was first released as a second single on 20 June 1994 and later released on Oasis' debut album Definitely Maybe (1994). The single peaked at number eleven in the UK. It was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry in 2013, having previously been their only single of the 1990s not to be certified in the UK. As of 2021, it remains the only single from the band's first two albums not to reach at least platinum status in the UK, and their only single of the 1990s not to be certified gold.
"Some Might Say" is a song by English rock band Oasis. It was released as the first single on 24 April 1995 by Creation from their second studio album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995). The song was written by the band's lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. "Some Might Say" provided Oasis with their first number one on the UK Singles Chart and reached the top 10 in Finland, Iceland, Ireland and Sweden. The song is also the last to feature all five original members, as original drummer Tony McCarroll was fired shortly after the song's release.
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