When Oasis released “Wonderwall” in 1995, the band’s biggest hit exported Britpop around the world. Written by guitarist Noel Gallagher, the song helped define the 1990s and has reemerged this year as England’s World Cup anthem. But if you have no idea what “Wonderwall” means, you are not alone.
George Harrison
The song was originally called “Wishing Stone”. Then Gallagher spotted a poster for the 1968 film Wonderwall, and suddenly “Wishing Stone” had a new name. George Harrison wrote the film’s soundtrack, which became Harrison’s first solo album, Wonderwall Music.
So what does “Wonderwall” mean? Gallagher told SiriusXM, “I have no f***ing idea, but I’m going to be able to afford one very soon.”
Today is gonna be the day,
That they’re gonna throw it back to you.
By now, you should’ve somehow,
Realized what you gotta do.
I don’t believe that anybody,
Feels the way I do about you now.
Still, he has given various explanations about the song’s meaning over the years. He told Uncut that the song was written for his then-girlfriend Meg Matthews. (Gallagher and Matthews married in 1997 and divorced in 2001.)
But he later gave Q a different explanation. He said “Wonderwall” is about “an imaginary friend who’s going to come and save you from yourself.”
Backbeat, the word is on the street,
That the fire in your heart is out.
I’m sure you’ve heard it all before,
But you never really had a doubt.
I don’t believe that anybody,
Feels the way I do about you now.
England’s World Cup Anthem
“Wonderwall” became a massive Britpop hit in 1995, but it has endured as something much larger than a smash from the U.K.’s pop culture movement. And without getting into the politics of how one identifies as a Brit versus English patriotism, the song is now England’s World Cup anthem.
For Gallagher, who’s not an England fan (“I’m Irish”), the song, he said, “belongs to the people, and it was a magical moment between the people and the players.”
Because maybe,
You’re gonna be the one that saves me.
And after all,
You’re my wonderwall.
So what does Gallagher’s brother, Liam, think of England’s new anthem? The singer wrote on X: “Cmon England cmon Wonderwall.”
Photo by James Fry/Getty Images