Blogocentric Formulations

Wonderwall

** Image ID #2009874 Unavailable **

Song: "Wonderwall"
Original: Oasis
Cover: Ryan Adams


I'm super excited to have found this cover because there are a couple of really cool factoids involved, and you all know I love factoids.

I should preface this by saying that I pretty much hate Oasis. I don't particularly like their music, and the fact that their entire career was rife with internal conflict, massive egos, suing each other over the rights to their songs, and claims that they were going to be bigger than the Beatles (although New York Times writer Neil Strauss certainly didn't help when he basically echoed the sentiment in a 1996 article) certainly didn't help me like them any more. Still, they had incredible popularity and (Factoid #1) many of popular artists cite them as a major influence, including: The Killers, Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay, The Strokes, Maroon 5, and Keane. So I guess they can't be all bad?

Anyway, the thing that I think is really cool about this Ryan Adams cover (Factoid #2) is that Noel Gallagher was apparently so impressed with Ryan Adams' rendition of his song, that he actually used to sing the Ryan Adams version of his own song while he was touring. I don't think I've heard of many instances where the original artist liked a cover so much that they performed someone else's version of their own song!

And finally, here are two last parting details.

Factoid #3: The song is one of the most covered recordings in history and had immense popularity with cover artists immediately. Mike Flowers Pops actually put out their own version a mere two months after Oasis put out the original, and it was remarkably similar in its level of success, which led many to asking Oasis why they chose to cover Mike Flowers Pops' song.

Factoid #4: Noel Gallagher, ever the congenial gentleman, criticized Jay-Z for agreeing to perform at the 2008 Glastonbury Festival which, although technically open to all contemporary performing arts, is usually rather rock-centric. In response, Jay-Z encouraged the crowd to sing "Wonderwall" after his song "Jockin' Jay-Z," which in turn led Noel to liken Jay-Z's razzing to "the behavior of an eight-year-old girl." In what might be the biggest jab of all, though, after Oasis broke up and Jay-Z's success increased exponentially, he mentioned that he would consider working with Noel's brother Liam, who Noel viewed as an enemy and the reason he left the band.