Roll with It (Oasis song)
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"Roll with It" 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 ...
, written by lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. It was released on 14 August 1995 as the second single (the lead single being "Some Might Say") from their second studio album ''
(What's the Story) Morning Glory? ''(What's the Story) Morning Glory?'' is the second studio album by English rock band Oasis. Released on 2 October 1995 by Creation Records, it was produced by Owen Morris and the group's guitarist and main songwriter Noel Gallagher. The struc ...
'' (1995). In a highly publicised chart battle with Blur's single "
Country House An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
" dubbed "
The Battle of Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the U ...
," "Roll with It" reached number 2 on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. The song was described by American music critic
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
as, "an assured stadium rocker that unabashedly steals the crown from
Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...
".


'Battle' with Blur

"Roll with It" received a great deal of attention when
Food Records Food Records was a British rock record label set up in 1984 by David Balfe (formally of Zoo Records), who later took on Andy Ross as his partner. Originally formed as an independent record label with distribution going through Rough Trade Distr ...
, the label of Britpop rivals Blur, moved the original release date of the single "
Country House An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
" to beat it on the charts, sparking what came to be known as "
The Battle of Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the U ...
". The British media had already reported an intense rivalry between the two bands and this clash of releases was seen as a battle for the number one spot. The media sensation was spurred on by verbal attacks from the respective camps (in particular Noel and Liam Gallagher,
Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...
and Alex James), that extended beyond the music industry to the point where the two bands were regularly mentioned on the evening news. In particular, public imagination was sparked by the contrast between the "working class" Oasis and the "middle class" Blur. In the end, Blur's "Country House" single sold 274,000 copies to Oasis' 216,000 copies of "Roll with It". The singles charted at number 1 and number 2 respectively. In 2019, Noel Gallagher reflected on the battle on Dermot O'Leary's ''Reel Stories'', dismissing both songs as "shit", and proclaiming that "'Roll With It' has never been played by anybody since the band split up". He suggested that a chart race between Oasis's "
Cigarettes & Alcohol "Cigarettes & Alcohol" is a song by English rock band Oasis, written by Noel Gallagher. It was released on 10 October 1994 as the fourth and final single from their debut album ''Definitely Maybe'' (1994), and their second to enter the UK top te ...
" and Blur's " Girls & Boys" would have had greater merit.


''Top of the Pops'' performance

When Oasis played "Roll with It" on British chart show ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
'' on 17 August 1995, they were required to mime the song, and in doing so the Gallagher brothers switched roles with Liam pretending to play guitar and Noel pretending to sing (equipped with Liam's tambourine).


Marketing

The single artwork features a photograph of the band on the beach at Weston-super-Mare. Many potential locations were examined along the Somerset and Avon coastline (Oasis were playing Glastonbury that weekend, so a beach within striking distance of the festival site had to be found).


Themes

The song is like several other
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 ...
songs, such as "
Supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...
", in that it preaches the importance of being oneself.


Uses

The song had made it back into Oasis' live set-list, being played on their 2009 stadium tour. When
Manchester City 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 tw ...
won the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
final in 2011, "Roll with It" was played through the PA of Wembley Stadium. It has since been played at the end of most of the home games at the
Etihad Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...
. The song was used by Team England ( Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis) as their walk-on music at the
2012 PDC World Cup of Darts The 2012 Cash Converters World Cup of Darts was the second edition of the PDC World Cup of Darts which took place between 3–5 February 2012 at the Alsterdorfer Sporthalle in Hamburg, Germany. The Netherlands were the defending champions after th ...
. The melody for this song also appears in part in
The Lemonheads The Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily, and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member. After their initial punk-influenced releases and tour ...
' song "Purple Parallelogram", which was co-written between Noel Gallagher and Evan Dando . The song's chorus is frequently played as background music for the Fox Sports English Premier League adverts in Australia. "Roll with It" is regularly played after matches at Celtic Park. "Roll with It" featured at the end of the
Red Nose Day 2015 Red Nose Day 2015 was a fund-raising event organised by Comic Relief, broadcast live on BBC One and BBC Two from the evening of 13 March 2015 to early the following morning. It was part of the "Face the Funny" campaign and was held on BBC One ...
sketch titled "Who's Got What It Takes to Be a National Treasure", which featured a cameo appearance from Liam Gallagher who was made a National Treasure by Stephen Fry, Miranda Hart and
Sheridan Smith Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith OBE (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress, singer and television personality. Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as ''The Royle Family'' (1999–2000), ''Two Pints o ...
. In Mexico was used for a 1997
CONACULTA The Secretariat of Culture ( es, Secretaría de Cultura), formerly known as the National Council for Culture and Arts ( es, Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes or CONACULTA), is a Mexican government agency in charge of the nation's museums ...
TV Spot.


Track listing

*UK CD single # "Roll with It" # "It's Better People" # "Rockin' Chair" # " Live Forever" (Live at
Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...
'95) *UK 7-inch single :A. "Roll with It" :B. "It's Better People" *UK 12-inch single :A1. "Roll with It" :B1. "It's Better People" :B2. "Rockin' Chair" *UK cassette single # "Roll with It" # "It's Better People" *Australian CD single # "Roll with It" # "
Talk Tonight "Talk Tonight" is a song by English rock band Oasis, written and sung by the band's lead guitarist Noel Gallagher. It was originally released on 24 April 1995 as the B-side of their UK number one single "Some Might Say" along with "Acquiesce" an ...
" # "
Acquiesce "Acquiesce" is a song by English rock band Oasis, written by Noel Gallagher. The song originally appeared as the B-side to Oasis' first UK number-one single, "Some Might Say", on 24 April 1995. Its popularity led to it being included on the B-s ...
" # "Headshrinker" * "Headshrinker" was a B-side of the band's previous UK single "
Some Might Say "Some Might Say" is a song by English rock band Oasis. It was released as the first single on 24 April 1995 from their second studio album, ''(What's the Story) Morning Glory?'' (1995). The song was written by the band's lead guitarist Noel Gal ...
" and was one of the last tracks to feature original Oasis drummer Tony McCarroll. * "Live Forever" was recorded live at the
Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...
on 23 June 1995.


Personnel

* Liam Gallagher – lead vocals, tambourine * Noel Gallagher – lead guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals * Paul Arthurs – rhythm guitar *
Paul McGuigan Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
– bass guitar * Alan White – drums, percussion


Charts and certifications


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


References

{{Authority control 1995 singles 1995 songs Creation Records singles Number-one singles in Scotland Oasis (band) songs Song recordings produced by Noel Gallagher Songs written by Noel Gallagher