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TL;DR:

  • Oasis’ Noel Gallagher discussed the “magic” of The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus” and what would ruin it.
  • He revealed he wasn’t a big fan of journalists.
  • The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus” was more popular in the United States than it was in the United Kingdom.

It’s interesting that a classic rock star would say music shouldn’t be analyzed too hard! Oasis’ Noel Gallagher is a big fan of The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus.” In addition, he said listeners shouldn’t think about the track too hard. Notably, he said Oasis’ cover of “I Am the Walrus” is substantially different from the original.

Oasis’ Noel Gallagher said nobody knew why The Beatles’ ‘I Am the Walrus’ was awesome

According to a 2009 interview in the book  The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters, Gallagher gave his opinions on musical criticism. “It would take all the magic out of it to break down ‘I Am the Walrus’ to its basic components,” he said. “I listen to it and go, ‘It’s f****** amazing; why is it amazing? I don’t know, it just is.'” 

He revealed he wasn’t a big fan of journalists. “That’s why I find journalists such joyless f****** idiots,” he added. “They have to break music down and pull it apart until there’s nothing left, until they know it all; they analyze it down until it’s bland nonsense. They don’t listen to music like the rest of us.” 

How Noel Gallagher reacted when Oasis’ cover of The Beatles’ song wasn’t like the original

In addition, Gallagher discussed some of the Fab Four sheet music he owned. “I had the Red and Blue Beatle songbooks like the two albums,” he added. “I actually found the Blue one easier to get into than the early stuff; those chords are mental.” For context, The Beatles’ Red Album includes their early hits while The Beatles’ Blue Album features their later hits. The latter includes “I Am the Walrus.”

“I used to have this with Gem [Archer] — who I used to be in Oasis with — a lot; we’d be playing around with Beatle covers in the dressing room and he’d go, ‘You’re doing that chord wrong, it’s this one,'” he said. “It’s like, ‘So what, I’m singing it for me.'” Gallagher remarked he wasn’t in a Beatles cover band. Because of this, he didn’t mind that Oasis’ “I Am the Walrus” had a different conclusion than the original song.

Related

The Beatles’ ‘I Am the Walrus’ Was Inspired By a ‘F*cking Bastard’

How ‘I Am the Walrus’ performed in the United States and the United Kingdom

The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus” reached No. 56 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for four weeks. The tune appeared on the album Magical Mystery Tour. That album topped the Billboard 200 for eight of its 93 weeks on the Billboard 200.

According to The Official Charts Company, The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus” did not chart in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, the album version of Magical Mystery Tour reached No. 31 in the U.K. and stayed on the chart for 10 weeks.

The Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus” is a great song — even though Gallagher doesn’t want to think about it very deeply.

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