“Lyla” by Oasis
The lyrics of Oasis’ “Lyla” indicate in a subtle way that we are dealing with a love song. The narrator clearly adores the addressee (Lyla). He even goes as far as calling her the queen of all he’s seen in this world. This clearly shows just how much he adores and cherishes her. On top of that, she apparently inspires him to face this world and achieve his goals in life.
It should be noted that other than the addressee’s name, nothing is really known about her/it. Simply put, Lyla could be a person or an animal or even just an object that the narrator treasures. Noel Gallagher even once oddly said in an interview that he wrote the song about a pet bird of his named “Sara”. Very interesting! But whether bird or human, the bottom line is that the addressee in this song is so precious to the narrator that it/she has the power to blow his mind in such an amazing manner!
In one other interview, Noel lightly said Lyla is the sister of “Sally”. This was after he was asked who she was. It should be noted that “Sally” is a character Noel created for the Oasis classic hit “Don’t Look Back in Anger“.
Who wrote “Lyla”?
This track was exclusively composed by Noel Gallagher. He also co-produced it with D. Sardy of Barkmarket fame.
When did Oasis release “Lyla”?
Oasis officially released “Lyla” as an international single on the 16th of May, 2005. It was the first single they brought out from their acclaimed “Don’t Believe the Truth” album.
The release of the song as a single greatly strained the already rock relationship that the band had with their record label (Sony Music). And why? This was because the band never wanted to release the track as a single. They were practically forced by Sony to release it as such. This beef was one of the primary reasons Oasis parted ways with Sony.
The song’s original title was “Smiler”. However, Noel was forced to change the title because a band named Heavy Stereo had already earlier released a song also titled “Smiler”. And interesting to note is that Oasis’ own Gem Archer was once a member of Heavy Stereo.
How successful was this song?
On multiple occasions in the past, Noel stated that he isn’t the biggest fan of this song. This is obviously the reason why he and his band never wanted it to be released as a single. But despite Noel feeling the song was one of the weakest tracks on “Don’t Believe the Truth”, it was very successful. For example, it hit the top position on UK’s official Singles Chart. This gave Oasis their seventh number one hit in their home country. The song’s success didn’t end there. It also appeared on two notable singles charts in America, including the famous Hot 100. Today, “Lyla” is considered one of Oasis greatest songs. And it is widely loved by fans of the band all over the world. Owing to this, the band frequently played it during their live shows and concerts.
Actually Noel once even said that he never knew how good the song was until he and his band played it live.
Does “Lyla” sound similar to a song you have heard before?
Any listener who has heard The Turtles’ 1967 hit song “Happy Together” would notice there is a slight similarity between it and “Lyla”. The similarity between the two songs is very prominent in the guitar and drums section.
Liam Gallagher’s hatred for the official Music Video
Liam Gallagher has never liked the song’s official music video. In a 2011 interview he had with Spin magazine, he referred to the video as one of the many Oasis music videos he hated. He went as far referring to it as “shocking”. According to him, the video made the band look like “f***ing Culture Club” on acid. FYI: Culture Club is an English pop band whose music Oasis wasn’t a fan of.
