Released on August 8, 1994.
Written by Noel Gallagher.
Produced by Oasis, Mark Coyle & Owen Morris.
3rd single from Oasis' debut album Definitely Maybe (1994).
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Gallagher wrote the song in 1991, while working for a building company in his hometown of Manchester, before he joined Oasis. Inspired by The Rolling Stones' "Shine a Light", "Live Forever" features a basic song structure and lyrics with an optimistic outlook that contrasted with the attitude of the grunge bands popular at the time. The song was the first Oasis single to enter the top ten in the United Kingdom, and garnered critical acclaim.
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The song is interpreted to be an ode to Noel and Liam Gallagher's mother Peggy. Noel Gallagher explained that "At the time . . . it was written in the middle of grunge and all that, and I remember Nirvana had a tune called 'I Hate Myself and Want to Die', and I was like . . . 'Well, I'm not ****ing having that.' As much as I ****ing like him [Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain] and all that ****, I'm not having that. I can't have people like that coming over here, on smack, ****ing saying that they hate themselves and they wanna die. That's ****ing rubbish. Kids don't need to be hearing that nonsense." Gallagher considers the line "We see things they'll never see" the most important line of the song, explaining that old friends tend to laugh at jokes and stories that "no one else gets".
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In its review of the single, NME found "Live Forever" to be an improvement over Oasis' previous singles, concluding, "Basically, what thus far looked like obnoxious Manc arrogance suddenly looks like sheer effortlessness. A terrific record." "Live Forever" became Oasis' first top ten hit, reaching number ten on the British singles charts in 1994. In 1995, the song became the band's first chart success in the United States, reaching number two and ten on Billboard* 's Modern Rock Tracks and Mainstream Rock Tracks charts, respectively.
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"Live Forever" has garnered additional acclaim years after its release. In 2006, "Live Forever" was named the greatest song of all-time in a poll released by Q; the song had ranked ninth in a similar Q poll three years prior. In 2007, "Live Forever" placed number one in the NME and XFM poll of the 50 "Greatest Indie Anthems Ever". Pitchfork labeled the song as Oasis' best ever track and said of the song; "It's an honest, aspirational sentiment just as the photo of John Lennon's childhood home on the single's sleeve is an honest, tasteful exhibition of fandom." The music site went on to praise the song for its 'fearless optimism'.
"Up In The Sky" (acoustic version) and "Cloudburst" were the b-sides.