Song Comparison: Imagine and Don't Look Back in Anger

Oasis' principal songwriter Noel Gallagher has been both criticized and applauded for copying the work of other songwriters to make his own "original" songs. As a huge fan of Oasis and Noel Gallagher's songwriting, I think this is nothing short of exemplary; in my opinion, songs are supposed to be written by reinventing the music you like. For songwriters and creators of any kind, the best way to make something your own is to reinvent something that was already done.

There are countless examples of how Noel Gallagher has refashioned his favorite British rock songs to create his own original tunes; Gallagher himself admits to viewing the Beatles as his heroes, and the similarity in their sounds is hard to deny. On what is perhaps Oasis' most beloved track -- "Don't Look Back in Anger," a song used as the encore to their live performances -- Gallagher "borrows" the opening piano riff to John Lennon's "Imagine."

Compare:

Don't Look Back in Anger:


Imagine:


The lyrics to the song were also inspired by Lennon. The Wikipedia entry for "Don't Look Back in Anger" quotes Noel:

I got this tape in The United States that had apparently been burgled from the Dakota Hotel and someone had found these cassettes. Lennon was starting to record his memoirs on tape. He's going on about 'trying to start a revolution from me bed, because they said the brains I had went to my head". I thought 'Thank you, I'll take that'!

For songwriters, listening to music is just as important to writing music. Find your favorites and look for ways that you can reinvent their songs to make them your own.