This programme contains very strong language
Good evening. Tonight, we welcome a great ambassador and icon of British
popular music, a man whose previous performances on this show
have pleasured and delighted the British public,
a man whose reputation for great songwriting, wit, vocalisation
and charm travel before him.
Tonight, he returns with great classics and songs
from his new album, Council Skies.
Before we bask in his delightful musical fragrance, let's reflect
and enjoy some of his previous triumphs on this show.
# Today was gonna be the day
# But they'll never throw it back to you
# By now, you should have somehow realised what you're not to do
# I don't believe that anybody
# Feels the way I do about you now... #
# So Sally can wait
# She knows it's too late
# And I'm walking on by... #
# What a life
# What a life... #
# Beautiful dream, beautiful night
# Beautiful world when we dance in the light
# All that is real, all that is mine is right... #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
And now I'm delighted to welcome the man himself.
Noel Gallagher, High Flying Birds!
# Catch a falling star, then we might drink to better days
# Hiding what we find behind the sun
# Thinking of what might have been and what the future says
# Waiting on a train that never comes
# Taking the long way home
# So we can be alone
# Catching the butterfly
# Under the council sky
# Watching the world go by
# Cos I believe in magical
# I'm dedicated to it all
# And underneath the council sky I found you
# Life is unpredictable
# You can win and lose it all
# And underneath the council sky I found you
# I found you
# Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
# Taking the long way home
# Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
# So we can be alone
# Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
# Catching the butterfly
# Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
# Under the council sky
# Watching the world go by
# Cos I believe in magical
# I'm dedicated to it all
# And underneath the council sky I found you
# Life is unpredictable
# You can win and lose it all
# And underneath the council sky I found you
# I found you
# Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
# Catch a falling star and we might drink to better days
# Hiding what we find behind the sun
# Thinking of what might have been and what the future says
# Waiting on a train that never comes. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
I'll play for you a song that I've never, ever, ever played before,
not to my knowledge, anyway.
This is for the connoisseurs.
# I hate the way that you've taken back
# Everything you've given to me
# And the way that you always say
# It's nothing to do with me
# Different versions of many men
# Have come before you came
# All the questions were similar
# The answers just the same
# Going to get me a motor car, maybe a Jaguar
# Maybe a plane or a day of fame
# I'm gonna be a millionaire
# So can you take me there?
# Wanna be wild cos my life's so tame
# Here am I going nowhere on a train
# Here am I growing older in the rain
# Hey, hey
# I hate the way that you've taken back
# Everything you've given to me
# And the way that you always say
# It's nothing to do with me
# Different versions of many men
# Have come before you came
# All the questions were similar
# The answers just the same
# Going to get me a motor car, maybe a Jaguar
# Maybe a plane or a day of fame
# I'm gonna be a millionaire
# So can you take me there?
# Wanna be wild cos my life's so tame
# Here am I going nowhere on a train
# Here am I growing older in the rain
# In the rain
# Going nowhere on a train
# Here am I getting lost and lonely
# Sad and only
# Why sometimes
# Does my life feels so tame? #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Thank you!
So that was from the '90s.
This is from about...four months ago.
# Beneath the starry sky
# Of a distant moon
# At the magic moment
# It's gonna come too soon
# There was a girl like me
# There was a boy like you
# She made him sing like Elvis
# When she's feeling blue
# You tell me that you want it, yeah, yeah
# You tell me that you need it, yeah, yeah
# But you know you can't have it, yeah, yeah
# So get your head down, pretty boy
# You got the dreams of children
# You got your eyes of gold
# I hope you live to see them
# Before you get too old
# You tell me that you want it, yeah, yeah
# You tell me that you need it, yeah, yeah
# But you know you can't have it, yeah, yeah
# So get your head down, pretty boy
# She was a lot like me
# She's a lot like you
# No matter what you say
# No matter what you do
# You bring the whole world down
# I'll make your dreams come true
# You tell me that you want it, yeah, yeah
# You tell me that you need it, yeah, yeah
# But you know you can't have it, yeah, yeah
# So get your head down, pretty boy
# She was a lot like me
# She was a lot like you
# No matter what you say
# No matter what you do
# You bring the whole world down
# Can you delete my number?
# I wanna get me free
# I wanna change my star sign
# Because it don't suit me
# Because it don't suit me. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds!
Noel, please come and join me.
Great to see you here on the show.
The band are sounding great.
Come and flop down in the comfy chair.
It's great to see a band that's sounding great, great record,
but we'll discuss that in a moment. Thank you very much.
But welcome, first of all, to this room. Have you seen this...?
I've only seen it on the telly, but it's amazing. It's great, innit?
Yeah, it's great, yeah.
And also, you've got an enormous band with you, almost more people
than I've got in my band. It's not a competition, but it is amazing.
Well, it IS a competition when you get to our age, Jools.
JOOLS CHUCKLES
How many people have you got? I bet you don't even know.
I've got nine core, is that right?
Ten, including Pep, and the string section that played
on my record. And the new record,
Council Skies, great record. Thank you.
Where does the title come from?
I was writing the title track and I was falling down writing it
at the place where it needed a hook.
I just happened to be at home, noodling away,
and there was a book from an artist friend of mine called Pete McKee,
from Sheffield, who is an illustrator, a painter,
and he paints these imaginary characters from council estates.
And the book was called Council Skies, and Council Skies
is a particular colour of blue that he mixes to do these backdrops
for his skies in his pictures.
And I just called him and I said, "Could I use the title?"
And he said, "Yeah," and that was it. And that set off a whole kind
of chain of events, where it's like, "Oh, God, Council Skies,
"it's an amazing title for a..." It IS an amazing title. Yeah.
In the recording day,
I wonder, how does the recording days now compare to a day recording
in the '90s?
HE LAUGHS
Is it a very different way of recording?
Maybe you can't have no memories of the '90s, I don't know.
Well, I don't have a great deal of memory of it,
but recording then, I mean, it was great cos you had nothing
else to compare it to, so it was amazing.
But, like, the difference now is there's no compromise now.
So I put the foundations in on my
own with a couple of core guys -
Paul Stacey, who's here tonight, and my studio guy, Callum.
And then we get the band in for, you know, whatever
parts are needed.
But in the '90s, you know, bands are, they're brilliant,
and bands change the world, right? And...
But, you know, they can be very rigid, like the bass player
has to play the bass and the keyboard player has to do this,
and so the difference now is that anything goes in the studio.
Out of interest, for instance,
when you record this record,
what time of day do you sort of start and finish?
Well, I always start at midday and finish at six. I don't work
past six. If you can't say it in six hours, there's no point.
I do the same. And then you need your dinner.
Yeah, yeah, I can't work after dinner.
No. But, for instance, in the '90s, did you have the same working hours?
No.
LAUGHTER
No. We would probably start around the same time,
but, funnily enough, though, we would work through the night.
But everything that we did after dinner, we'd always
have to redo... Yeah. ..because there'd be drinking involved
and the rest of it. But now 12
to six, I can't be bothered working after six o'clock.
There's football to watch and stuff.
What about your average day? Cos that was your working day,
but how about your average day now to your average day in the '90s,
is that dramatically different? Yeah!
JOOLS LAUGHS
Not getting chased around the streets by the paparazzi, for one.
The '90s was, you know, you've got so much power
when you're young that you can take on anything.
When I think about the things now that we used to do and some
of the states we used to do gigs in, great, amazing, iconic gigs,
I'd have a nervous breakdown thinking about it.
We wouldn't be going to bed till the sun came up
and then... You'd do it again?
Yeah, well, it just felt like nothing.
But that's the power of youth, you know?
Yeah. Well, next year, it will be 30 years since
Oasis released their first record.
Will you be doing anything to celebrate or ignoring it?
Well, I don't know. I think, hopefully, I'll still be on the road
with this, but I think I'm doing...
I mean, I'm not sure we'll be doing anything live,
but we'll be doing something to acknowledge it.
And you did Going Nowhere, an Oasis song, earlier. Yeah.
I don't think I've ever played that before.
Some guy somewhere now will be on the Internet going, "Oh, he played
"it in Cincinnati in 1999."
Yeah, breakfast telly.
I did that, I'm going to play a song before
that I said that I'd never done live before,
and then I got home and I thought to myself, "I'll just check if
"I've played that live before,"
and there's about 104 versions of it on the Internet.
LAUGHTER
But, no, Going Nowhere I've never played.
When we had the strings and that, we was like,
"Well, maybe we'll try it." And we kicked it around in rehearsals
and it kind of sounded all right.
I mean, I've got a lot of B-sides and stuff from the years
which I've never really looked at,
you know, cos the albums were so iconic.
And we'll be visiting some of it on the road this year,
so we're looking forward to that. You're touring a lot.
Do you take anything special on tour with you?
Well, I take my own pillow. Nice.
But if I do, if I'm in, like, a hotel and I see a better pillow,
I'll just swap it and steal it, yeah.
LAUGHTER That's why I always get one pillow.
"Would you like Noel's room, it's a really top room?"
And then you keep the bloomin' pillow.
I am a confirmed pillow thief, yeah, I will do it.
You're about to go to Europe with your big tour,
are you looking forward to that?
Not really. Why?
Cos it's a ball ache to get around now after Brexit, innit?
It's just a pain...
Even, like, setting up the tour now is just...
I feel sorry for fans because we used to do a lot of gigs
in Europe and now it's like one gig in each country.
And, particularly for musicians, it's become very, very difficult
just to do that thing.
And now round Europe, it's like, you know, you've got to deal
with separate visas and all that.
I feel for kids starting out now, I really do feel...
If I think what it was like in the '90s, it was just free and easy.
And, you know, the rules that had been set the previous 50
years of rock and roll were still in place,
and now they seem to be shifting every three or four months.
When we spoke in 2015, you told me that rock and roll wasn't
in the best place. What's your view now, in 2023?
There is great music out there, but it doesn't come to you any more,
you've got to go find it, you know?
The best bands I've seen recently,
you wouldn't really class them as rock and roll or guitar music.
Speaking of rock and roll groups, one of the great rock and roll
groups of all time, of course, the Rolling Stones. Yeah.
And I believe you bumped into Keith in a hotel.
Well, it was New Year's Eve about five years ago,
and we were in the Caribbean,
and Keith Richards and his family happened to be there.
And I know some of Keith's kids are huge Oasis fans, and I seen one
of them by the pool, and he was like, "Oh, my dad's here."
And I was like, "Get the fuck out."
So he said, "Oh, we're going up to the bar tonight, you
"want to come and meet my dad."
I've never met Keith Richards, and I go up to the bar and there
he is, you know, dressed as a pirate, you know...?
Absolutely. Keith being Keith. Yeah, yeah.
And he's drinking this drink, vodka and Ting. What's Ting?
Ting is like Lilt, but out there they call it Ting, right?
Nice. And... Great man. ..his son,
Marlon, said, "Oh, Dad, this is Noel," and he turned and went...
GRUFF VOICE: "Ah, you're still around, are you?"
That's very good, that does sound like him.
And I was like, "Why?"
And he said, "Yeah, that band you were in, you were interesting
"for a while."
And I was like, "Well, thanks."
What do you say to that?
Well, I said, "I could say the same to you, really, couldn't I?"
LAUGHTER
And he said to me...
HE CHUCKLES
"I've always wanted to ask you,
"who do you think's the bigger cunt, your singer or mine?"
LAUGHTER
And I was like, "Well, your singer wrote some of the best
"lyrics of all time. I'm gonna say mine."
LAUGHTER
And he said, "I thought so."
What a lovely... I know. But he was brilliant.
That guy restores your faith in everything. Yes.
He's just...he's the GOAT, you know?
Yeah, he's the proper thing.
You're going to do a cover for us tonight. Yeah.
What one are you going to do?
Well, I'm going to do a cover of the first song I ever learnt
to play. When I first picked up the guitar,
I couldn't play it, but I used to play along, on the top strings,
to Joy Division basslines... Ah. ..and I'm going to do a cover
of Love Will Tear Us Apart.
And when I told my people
I was going to do it, they were like, "Are you sure?"
LAUGHTER
And I was like, "I'm going to give it a fucking good go, yeah."
And we got the strings on it,
and, well, you can decide whether it's any good or not,
but I happen to think it's absolutely, totally adequate.
I think it sounds great. Well, I'm with you.
Yeah, perfectly adequate.
I'm with you. Well, it's really great having you here.
I'd like to invite you to go back now to your wonderful band.
Thank you very much, it's great to be here.
Thank you very much, Noel Gallagher, for joining us!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
So this next song is called Love is a Rich Man.
# I'll be your dancing horse if you let me
# I'll be the last man standing
# I'll be your clown
# I'll give you what's left of my dreams in the morning
# I'll bring you the catwalk, girl
# You'll be the talk of the town
# Caught in the crosshair by the side of the road
# Love is a rich man
# Or so we are told
# You can run and hide to your happy place
# But you can't deny what's on your pretty face
# That what we knew, it's not coming back
# Me and you will be lovers
# And that's a fact
# That's a fact
# And you might help me rule the world
# Rule the world
# All of the love and the power and the glory
# Every time we kiss heaven is here
# You are the star of my favourite story
# And I must confess
# Let me be clear
# Caught in the crosshair by the side of the road
# Love is a rich man
# Or so we are told
# You can run and hide to your happy place
# But you can't deny what's on your pretty face
# That what we knew, it's not coming back
# But me and you will be lovers
# And that's a fact
# That's a fact
# And you might help me rule the world
# Rule the world
# Love is a rich man
# Love is a rich man. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# I've drifted from the shore
# As the night is slipping out of my hands
# I fall into the sea
# Like the empire I built out of sand
# I've been thinking 'bout the days when we had no money
# The photograph of you that I keep seems funny
# I'm trying to get back to the promised land
# Don't walk away, love
# There's never enough
# Could make me crash on the broken glass
# Let the storm rage
# I'd die on the waves
# But I will not rest while love lies dead
# In the water
# Dead in the water
# In the water
# Dead in the water
# I've been waiting for the calm as the storm's getting under my skin
# I've tried to fix the hole in my head where the rain gets in
# But it's dripping in my ear and it don't sound funny
# I'm going to take you out when I get some money
# I'm trying to get back to the promised land
# Don't walk away, love
# There's never enough
# Could make me crash on the broken glass
# Let the storm rage and die on the waves
# But I will not rest while love lies dead
# In the water
# Dead in the water
# So don't walk away, love
# There's never enough
# Could make me crash on the broken glass
# Let the storm rage and die on the waves
# But I will not rest while love lies dead
# In the water
# There's never enough
# Could make me crash on the broken glass
# Let the storm rage and die on the waves
# But I will not rest while love lies dead
# In the water
# Dead in the water
# In the water
# Dead in the water. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Here's another one you won't know yet,
but you'll fucking love this in about a year.
LAUGHTER
# Sunrise in the palm of your hand
# Think twice, don't put your head in the sand
# All right, dream it if you wanna
# All night, down on the corner
# Sunrise in the palm of your hand
# Open the door, see what you find
# Don't look away
# Open the door, see what you find
# Don't look away
# Ooh, la, la, la, la
# See all that I will ever know
# Ooh, la, la, la, la
# See all that I will ever be
# Ooh, la, la, la, la
# And it's warm outside
# Ooh, la, la, la, la
# Open the door, see what you find
# Don't look away
# White light in the palm of your hand
# Think twice, don't put your head in the sand
# All night, dream it if you wanna
# All night, down by the river
# Think twice, don't put your head in the sand
# Open the door, see what you find
# Don't look away
# Open the door, see what you find
# Don't look away
# Ooh, la, la, la, la
# See all that I will ever know
# Ooh, la, la, la, la
# See all that I will ever be
# Ooh, la, la, la, la
# And it's warm outside
# Ooh, la, la, la, la
# Open the door, see what you find
# Don't look away
# Open the door, see what you find
# Don't look away. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
OK, so...
..this is a song by Joy Division.
# When routine bites hard and ambitions are low
# And resentment rides high but emotions won't grow
# And we're changing our ways
# We're taking different roads
# Love, love will tear us apart again
# Why is the bedroom so cold?
# You turn away on your side
# Then is my timing that flawed?
# Has our respect now run dry?
# Yet still this appeal
# We've kept through our lives
# Love, love will tear us apart again
# When you cry out in your sleep
# All of my failings exposed?
# And there's a taste in my mouth
# As desperation takes hold
# And it's something so good
# I can't function no more
# Love, love will tear us apart again
# Love, love will tear us apart again. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Thank you.
Thank you, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.
Thank you to all of the wonderful guests who've been on this series.
We will be back in the autumn.
But, before we go, Noel, will you play one more for us, please?
Of course. "Of course."
I think you'll agree we've had some
superb performances and we'd like one more, wouldn't we?
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
In that case, I'll leave you with
Noel Gallagher and his High Flying Birds.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
This song needs no introduction.
# Maybe I don't really want to know
# How your garden grows
# Cos I just wanna fly
# Said lately, did you ever feel the pain
# In the morning rain
# As it soaks you to the bone?
# Maybe I just wanna fly
# I wanna live, I don't wanna die
# Maybe I just wanna breathe
# Maybe I just don't believe
# And maybe you're the same as me
# We see things they'll never see
# You and I are gonna live forever
# Said maybe I don't really want to know
# How your garden grows
# Cos I just wanna fly
# Said lately, did you ever feel the pain
# In the morning rain
# As it soaks you to the bone
# And maybe I will never be
# All the things that I wanna be
# But now is not the time to cry
# Now's the time to find out why
# I think you're the same as me
# We see things they'll never see
# You and I are gonna live forever
# Ah, ah, ah
# Ah, ah
# Ah, ah, ah
# Ah, ah
# Said maybe I don't really want to know
# How your garden grows
# Cos I just wanna fly
# Said lately, did you ever feel the pain
# In the morning rain
# As it soaks you to the bone?
# Maybe I just wanna fly
# I wanna live, I don't wanna die
# Maybe I just wanna breathe
# Maybe I just don't believe
# Maybe you're the same as me
# We see things they'll never see
# You and I are gonna live forever
# Gonna live forever
# Ah, ah
# Ah, ah. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
# Wanna change my star sign
# Because it don't suit me
# Because it don't suit me. #