Half The World Away

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"Half the World Away" is a song by English rock band

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

. It is well known as the theme tune to the popular

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

sitcom ''

The Royle Family ''The Royle Family'' is a British sitcom produced by Granada Television for the BBC, which ran for three series from 1998 to 2000, and specials from 2006 to 2012. It centres on the lives of a television-fixated Manchester family, the Royles, com ...

''. The song was written by Oasis' lead guitarist

Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the chief songwriter, lead guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis until their split in 2009. After leaving Oasis, he formed ...

, who also provides lead vocals. The song is an acoustic tune with accompanying keyboards, and the lyrics – much like "

Rock 'n' Roll Star "Rock 'n' Roll Star" is a song by English rock band Oasis. It is the opening track from their debut album, '' Definitely Maybe'' (1994). Like the majority of the band's songs from this era, it was written by lead guitarist Noel Gallagher, wh ...

" – expresses a desire to leave a stagnant life in a boring city. The song is primarily in

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

. Recorded at The Congress House Studio,

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, Texas, in October 1994, "Half the World Away" was first released as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to " Whatever" on 18 December 1994, reaching number 3 in the UK charts. 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 Compilation may refer to: *In computer programming, the translation of source code into object code by a compiler **Compilation error **Compilation unit *Product bundling, a marketing strategy used to sell multiple products *Compilation thesis M ...

album ''

Stop the Clocks ''Stop the Clocks'' is a compilation album by English rock band Oasis. It was released on 20 November 2006 by Big Brother Recordings. The "retrospective collection" is an 18-track double album with the featured songs chosen by Noel Gallagher ...

'', which also reached number 2. The song reached number 56 in the UK charts in 2015 following the release of

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

's cover version, marking their first top 100 song since the release of "

Falling Down ''Falling Down'' is a 1993 American action film directed by Joel Schumacher, written by Ebbe Roe Smith and released by Warner Bros. in the United States on February 26, 1993. The film stars Michael Douglas in the lead role of William Foster, a di ...

" in 2009. During a Q & A session at

Salford Lads' Club Salford Lads' Club is a recreational club in the Ordsall area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The club, on the corner of St. Ignatius Walk and Coronation Street, was established in 1903 as a boys' club but today welcomes people of both ...

in October 2019, Gallagher revealed that the song was the favourite of the B-sides he had made.

Background

Oasis' sound engineer Mark Coyle introduced the band to

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

's song "

This Guy's in Love with You "This Guy's in Love with You" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and recorded by Herb Alpert. Although known primarily for his trumpet playing as the leader of the Tijuana Brass, Alpert sang lead vocals on this solo recording, arr ...

". Coyle was in charge of musical intake while on tour, and this song was often played during his eclectic sets. Drummer

Tony McCarroll Anthony McCarroll (born 4 June 1971) is an English drummer and one of the founding members of the English rock band Oasis, as their drummer from 1991 until his dismissal in April 1995. He played the drums on their debut album, ''Definitely May ...

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.McCarroll, Tony (2010). ''Oasis: The Truth'',

Blake Publishing John Blake (born 6 November 1948) is an English publisher and former journalist. ''John Blake Publishing'' was acquired by Bonnier Publishing in May 2016. Blake joined ''Soho Friday'', launched in November 2018, a venture with Richard Johnson ...

, Conversely, producer

Owen Morris Owen Morris (born in Caernarfon, Wales) is a Welsh record producer who has worked with rock bands including Oasis (band), Oasis, the Fratellis, Ash (band), Ash, The View (band), the View, Loso and the Verve. Biography Morris started working in t ...

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". 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 Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He grew up in New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David ...

. He commented "It sounds exactly the same. I'm surprised he hasn't sued me yet!" 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"), a song that would later itself be reworked by the Chemical Brothers as " Setting Sun", with Noel's vocals and lyrics retained.

''The Royle Family''

The song gained mass public exposure when it was selected by

Caroline Aherne Caroline Mary Aherne (24 December 1963 – 2 July 2016) was an English actress, comedian and writer. She was best known for performing as the acerbic chat show host ''The Mrs Merton Show, Mrs Merton'', in various roles in ''The Fast Show'', and ...

and

Craig Cash Craig Cash (born 11 September 1960)
Retrie ...

to be the theme tune to their sitcom ''

''. The series revolved around the sitting room of a working-class family and was set in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, 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 In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...

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 Coda or CODA may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * Movie coda, a post-credits scene * ''Coda'' (1987 film), an Australian horror film about a serial killer, made for television *''Coda'', a 2017 American experimental film from Na ...

. 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 ''Married... with Children'' is an American television sitcom created by Michael G. Moye and Ron Leavitt for Fox. Originally broadcast from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997, it is the longest-lasting live-action sitcom that aired on Fox. ''Marr ...

" 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''. After Caroline Aherne died in July 2016,

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds are an English rock band formed in 2010 as the solo moniker of former Oasis songwriter, lead guitarist, and backing vocalist Noel Gallagher. The touring band consists of former Oasis members Gem Archer (guitar ...

paid tribute to her by performing "Half the World Away" on a few occasions. In similar vein the episode of ''

Gogglebox ''Gogglebox'' is a British reality television series created by Stephen Lambert, Tania Alexander and Tim Harcourt, and broadcast on Channel 4. The series documents families and groups of friends around the United Kingdom who are filmed for thei ...

'' broadcast after Aherne's passing had ''Half the World Away'' play over the closing credits in her memory.

Charts

Certifications

Aurora version

In 2015, Norwegian singer-songwriter

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 The John Lewis Christmas advert is an ongoing television advertising campaign released by British department store chain John Lewis & Partners in the build-up to Christmas. John Lewis & Partners launched their first Christmas advert in 2007. It ...

. It was later accumulated for the deluxe version of her debut album ''

All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend ''All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend'' is the debut studio album by Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora. It was released on 11 March 2016 by Decca and Glassnote Records. The album followed the release of her debut extended play (EP) '' Running ...

'', which was released on 11 March 2016.

Track listing

Charts

Release history

Personnel

*Noel Gallagher – vocals, guitars, drums *Paul Arthurs – electric piano *Owen Morris – bass guitar"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/

Notes

{{authority control Oasis (band) songs 1994 songs Songs written by Noel Gallagher Song recordings produced by Noel Gallagher 2015 singles Comedy television theme songs