"Some Might Say" is a song by the English rock band

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentCreation Records as the first single from their second studio album, '' (What's the Story) Morning Glory?'' (1995), on 24 April 1995. The song was written by the band's lead guitarist

Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Gallagher is the primary songwriter, lead guitarist and a co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis. After leaving Oasis, he formed Noel ...

. "Some Might Say" provided Oasis with their first number one on the UK Singles Chart and reached the top 10 in Finland, Iceland, Ireland and Sweden. The single was also the last to feature all five original members, as drummer Tony McCarroll was fired shortly after its release. The single release was also named an EP in the '' Stop the Clocks'' booklet. It is thus one of the only Oasis singles to officially be also categorised an

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

Background

The track was inspired by the song " Fuzzy" by Grant Lee Buffalo. Its b-side "Headshrinker" was the last Oasis track to feature original drummer Tony McCarroll, who was asked to leave the band before the main recording sessions for '' (What's the Story) Morning Glory?'' when tensions came to ahead between McCarroll and

. The rest of the tracks on the album feature his replacement, Alan White, on drums. Oasis performed the song on two episodes of ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'', the first being McCarroll's final performance with the band and the second being White's first.

Demo

"Some Might Say" was one of three songs from '' (What's the Story) Morning Glory?'' for which Noel Gallagher recorded a demo (the others being "She's Electric" and "Hey Now!"). He recorded it in July 1994 at Maison Rouge Studios, on the recording of the single "Whatever" with producer Owen Morris, who was at the time in Wales recording

The Verve The Verve were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones (musician), Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Sim ...

's ''

A Northern Soul ''A Northern Soul'' is the second studio album by English rock band the Verve, released on 3 July 1995 through Hut Records. With the tumultuous promotion for their debut studio album, '' A Storm in Heaven'' (1993), combined with their friends ...

'' album; Noel used The Verve's equipment in the studio, playing guitar, the bass and the drums himself. However, no parts from the demo were eventually used in the album version; Noel played the demo to the band who then re-recorded everything, speeding up the tempo. The demo version of the song lasts 6:33 while the final version is 5:26 long.

says he prefers the demo version of "Some Might Say" to the final version, describing the demo as "dirtier and sleazier" than the Oasis version which is "more

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

". The demo version was later released as a bonus track on the Japanese CD single.

Single artwork

The sleeve artwork was created by Brian Cannon of Microdot. It was shot on the disused platform of Cromford railway station in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, England, with much of the imagery being inspired by lyrics taken from the single. The overall concept was based on the lyrics, "... standin' at the station, in need of education in the rain"; education being required to learn the station was, at the time, disused. It features Cannon's father with a wheelbarrow - which he created by welding a wheel and handles onto a sink - full of fish, from the lyrics, "The sink is full of fishes". Cannon's mother is also present, holding a mop, as well as Carla Knox, barmaid of Cannon's local pub. The silverware on Knox's head is a play on the lyric, "She's got dirty dishes on her brain." Liam Gallagher can be seen on the bridge whilst Noel can be viewed with a watering can on the platform. Matthew Sankey, Cannon's aide, plays a homeless man, a reference to the lyrics "... the man who cannot shine" and "... the man who lives in hell". Cannon considers the art to be his favourite of all the Oasis sleeves he designed.

Critical reception

David Stubbs from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' named the song Single of the Week, writing, "'Some Might Say' is Oasis' best yet. Initially, like some, I thought Oasis were merely Mancunian chancers keeping

The Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist I ...

' seat warm but now I'm utterly hooked on those hooks. This just climbs and climbs and then the way that note just hangs there in the final crescendo and trails off, onward and upward, all the way to heaven...aahhh!!" Both Leesa Daniels and Jordan Paramor from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' gave it a top score of five out of five. Daniels named it "a complete knicker elastic-snapping rock tune", and said, "This is tremendous. It's one of those tunes where you'll hit the dancefloor, rip all your clothes off and get taken away for being a public nuisance." In 2024, '' Paste'' and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' ranked "Some Might Say" number four and number ten, respectively, on their lists of the greatest Oasis songs.

Promotional video

The planned promo video for the song was cancelled due to Liam not turning up for the shoot. Instead, a makeshift video was created using footage from the " Cigarettes & Alcohol", US "Supersonic" and UK "Whatever" videos.

gave the Gibson Les Paul guitar he plays in the music video to Gerry Mckay, Gallagher's doppelgänger in the official Oasis tribute band, No Way Sis.

Track information

In an interview promoting the compilation album '' Stop the Clocks'', Noel stated "Some Might Say" is the "archetypical Oasis song" and "defines what Oasis is". He added "Some Might Say"'s B-side, "Acquiesce", was also the song that defined Oasis. In the 2003 documentary '' Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop'', journalist Jon Savage recalls watching Oasis perform "Some Might Say" for the first time on ''Top of the Pops'' with tears in his eyes as he believed it marked a turning point in British culture, coinciding with the May local elections where the then-Conservative Government of

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

were trounced in the local elections. "Some Might Say" was the 31st-biggest-selling single of 1995 in the UK. It has sold over 458,000 copies the UK as of April 2015. There is a banner at Etihad Stadium that reads "Some might say we will find a brighter day" in reference to a line of the song.

Track listings

All songs are written by

except where noted.

United Kingdom

* CD single # "Some Might Say" # " Talk Tonight" # " Acquiesce" # "Headshrinker" * 7-inch and cassette single # "Some Might Say" # "Talk Tonight" * 12-inch single :A1. "Some Might Say" :B1. "Talk Tonight" :B2. "Acquiesce"

Australia

* CD single # "Some Might Say" # "Listen Up" # "Bring It On Down" (live)

Japan

* CD single # "Some Might Say" – 5:27 # "Talk Tonight" – 4:21 # "Acquiesce" – 4:24 # "Headshrinker" – 4:39 # "Some Might Say" (demo) – 6:47 # " You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" (

Lennon–McCartney Lennon–McCartney is the songwriting partnership between the English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) of the Beatles. It is widely considered one of the greatest, best known and most successful musical collabo ...

) – 2:16

B-sides

Most of the single's B-sides were included in '' The Masterplan'' album. " Talk Tonight", is one of many acoustic B-side tracks sung by Noel. It was inspired by the near-breakup of the band in Los Angeles in autumn 1994, when Noel walked out without telling anyone and headed for San Francisco. Noel was inspired to write the song after he met a girl while in San Francisco and talked to her for hours about his troubles with the band and life. " Acquiesce" was released as part of the '' Stop the Clocks EP'' in promotion of their compilation album, '' Stop the Clocks''. "Headshrinker", a fast tempo punk rockesque track, was apparently written about a girl that Liam was dating at the time, who Noel thought was weird and annoying because she would follow the band everywhere they went. Although rarely performed live, perhaps most famously at their '' Live by the Sea'' gig, it became a fan favourite, and in 2022, Liam released it as part of his '' Down by the River Thames'' live album recorded in 2020 when the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

caused venue closures. "Listen Up" was originally released as a B-side to " Cigarettes & Alcohol". "Bring It On Down - (Live)", a recording from the band's first ever radio session in 1993, was originally released as a B-side to " Shakermaker". Noel's rendition of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

track " You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" was recorded during a radio session in 1995 prior to the release of '' (What's the Story) Morning Glory?".

Personnel

Liam Gallagher William John Paul Gallagher (born 21 September 1972) is an English singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer and co-founder of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis and fronted the rock band Beady Eye from 2010 to 2014, before starting a succes ...

– vocals,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

– lead guitar, backing vocals * Paul Arthurs – rhythm guitar * Paul McGuigan – bass * Tony McCarroll – drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Appearances in other media

* "Some Might Say" is a playable track in both ''

Guitar Hero World Tour ''Guitar Hero World Tour'' is a 2008 rhythm game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fourth main installment and the sixth overall installment in the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series. The game was launched in North A ...

'' and the European version of '' Guitar Hero: On Tour''. The song, as it appears on Guitar Hero, is the full version without the early fade from the album edit, which is not available on any other official or promotional Oasis release. * It is played in an episode of ''

Jonathan Creek ''Jonathan Creek'' is a long-running British mystery fiction, mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the title character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician whi ...

'', "The Reconstituted Corpse".

References

{{Authority control 1995 songs 1995 singles Oasis (band) songs Creation Records singles Epic Records singles Number-one singles in Scotland Song recordings produced by Noel Gallagher Songs written by Noel Gallagher UK singles chart number-one singles UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles