Wonderwall

The word "wonderwall" means "the person you constantly find yourself thinking about". This song is simply about the feelings human beings get when they experience the initial stages of love and infatuation (limerence). It describes the volleying between euphoria and agony that a crush can make you feel.

In other words, the song "Wonderwall" is basically about the butterflies you get in your stomach when your crush walks into the room and the thoughts that stem from those feelings.

"Today is gonna be the day That they're gonna throw it back to you"

He's saying today is your opportunity to express your love. You're going to be in the presence of your secret crush, and you better make your move.

"By now you should've somehow Realized what you gotta do"

He's saying that it's obvious you need to approach your crush and tell them how you feel. There's no other way. Silence leads to nothing. This, of course, is much easier said than done, due to fear of rejection.

"I don't believe that anybody Feels the way I do, about you now"

He's saying that nobody else in the world could possibly have stronger feelings toward this person at this exact moment in time. His crush is the only thing that's on his mind. From the moment he wakes up until he goes to sleep. He's infatuated with his crush.

"Back beat, the word was on the street That the fire in your heart is out"

His crush has been hurt so badly by relationships in the past, that he fears cynicism will ruin his odds at casting the spell that will capture his crush's heart.

"I'm sure you've heard it all before But you never really had a doubt"

He's certain his crush has been through it all in the past. She's entered relationships without second guessing and has been hurt because of it. He's afraid that this will scare her away from him.

"I don't believe that anybody Feels the way I do about you now"

He's saying that nobody else in the world could possibly have stronger feelings toward this person at this exact moment in time. His crush is the only thing that's on his mind. From the moment he wakes up until he goes to sleep. He's infatuated with his crush.

"And all the roads we have to walk are winding And all the lights that lead us there are blinding"

Relationships are so complicated and hard to obtain and maintain

"There are many things that I Would like to say to you but I don't know how"

He means exactly what is stated. He has so many things to say to his crush but is afraid to open his mouth and express his feelings because he fears rejection.

"Because maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me And after all, you're my wonderwall"

It is possible that getting into a relationship with his crush will cure his loneliness and sadness and make him truly happy.

"Today was gonna be the day But they'll never throw it back to you"

In retrospect, he missed his opportunity to express his love. He remained silent and the opportunity to show his love is now gone. It's too late.

"By now you should've somehow Realized what you're not to do'

In retrospect, he realizes remaining silent and holding his feelings inside was the wrong thing to do, because now he is left wondering what could have been and it kills him inside.

"I don't believe that anybody Feels the way I do, about you now"

Still, he does not believe it is possible for anyone else on the planet to love her as much as he does, even though he was to scared of rejection to express his feelings.

"And all the roads that lead you there are winding And all the lights that light the way are blinding"

Relationships are so complicated and hard to obtain and maintain.

"There are many things that I Would like to say to you but I don't know how"

He means exactly what is stated. He has so many things to say to his crush but is afraid to open his mouth because he fears rejection.

"I said maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me And after all, you're my wonderwall"

It is still possible that getting into a relationship with his crush will cure his loneliness and sadness and make him truly happy.

"I said maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me And after all, you're my wonderwall"

It is still possible that getting into a relationship with his crush will cure his loneliness and sadness and make him truly happy.

"I said maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me You're gonna be the one that saves me You're gonna be the one that saves me"

He's now simply holding on to the fantasy that him and his crush will one day be together.

This song is about unselfish love. here is this girl, which for whatever reason (disfunctional famileis, abusive boyfreind, undecisive feelings or all of the above), cannot be with this guy. the guy is obviously crazy about her. no doubt, her not being with him is causing pain. through the line "your gonna be the one that saves me" we learn that he too struggles from problems of his own. yet he is putting the girl in front of himself. he is saying "you have prblms too and i refuse to be selfish and demand your time." to ease her pain (and his too i'm sure) he says 'all the roads we have to walk are winding, and all the lights that lead us there are blinding" suggesting it is not her fault. with so many obstacles in life, no one can be expected to be perfect. yet in the midst of her imperfection (and his) he loves her. and he will continue to wait for her. in the hopes that she will save him from his breaking heart, his disfunctional family, his abusive friends and/or all of the above. only one problem, we all know Jesus is the only one capable of this love. therefore, to ask that much from a person is insane. however, the attempts are sweet and the message strong. UnSelfish love. Real love. good stuff. -amy by the way: lets hear it for the man up stairs, plus five to Him.

Wonderwall is one of Noel Gallagher’s most important and personal songs, and his evasiveness over the years in explaining it (the right of any artist, imho), exposes the song to a lot of interpretations. Despite what he said, Noel did indeed write this song to a real person: Paul McCartney, but it was the friendship at that point in his life that was imaginary, not the person. The film “Wonderwall”, which I will discuss shortly, gave him the pretext at a superficial meaning of speaking about Meg, his wife at the time. But the only way you could conclude it was written to her is if you didn’t understand what “Wonderwall” really meant to Noel, or overlooked the context of Oasis in ’93 being heralded as the next Beatles, with Noel being placed in the Paul McCartney typecast alongside Liam cast as Lennon. Liam named his first son "Lennon", so it's quite clear that this typecasting was and is present throughout Noel and Liam's lives at a basic and formative level, and that it precedes their fame and marital relationships.

The song was written prior to Noel and Paul becoming well acquainted and having a real relationship, as happened throughout the mid-late 1990’s. At this early stage Paul was Noel’s "Wonderwall" in fantasy and he sensed that Paul’s experience with fame and Lennon and the conflicts and ennui that played out served as a model for the identity crisis that he was facing after the hugely successful Definitely Maybe album and the stormy relationship with Liam in his own life. But most people are not aware of the movie Wonderwall which features a score called Wonderwall Music, composed by George Harrison.

The Movie, “Wonderwall” (1968) is about an aging, absent-minded biologist named Collins who has spent a lifetime peering through the small aperture of a microscope. Then, a young model named Penny Lane moves in next door. One night he sees a ray of light coming from the wall in his darkened flat and discovers a peephole into which he can observe Penny’s apartment. Peering through this aperture opens a completely fantastic and alien world of sex, drugs, psychedelia, and of course Penny naked. Collins gradually withdraws further and further into the wonderwall; or perhaps with a different perspective, allows his mind to expand into this new universe untethered by “ego” or “reality”. As he begins to drill more peepholes, and his observations become increasingly more fantastic and psychedelic. The act of observing another life unobserved by the subject (similar to the relationship of artists to their fans) has become transformational- it’s not really just about his love interest in Penny anymore- the wonderwall opens up an entirely new reality where none of the banality or limitation of actual life applies. Noel’s Wonderwall is therefore "music", and his Penny Lane is Paul McCartney. Like Collins, he has spent his whole life peering into the light coming through the narrow aperture of media- observing his artistic hero living a public life.

Through music Noel is having an imaginary dialogue with Paul, much as Collins did with Penny Lane. Who wrote Penny Lane? Paul McCartney. "Today, is gonna be the day" (as opposed to Yesterday, Paul's famous solo song). "Backbeat" (a direct Paul reference, and title of a 1994 film), "the word is on the street that the fire in your heart is out." One of McCartney's many artistic pseudonyms in this period was "The Fireman". Recall in the song Penny Lane "‘there is a fireman with an hourglass". "All the roads were winding" refers to The Long and Winding Road, reputedly Lennon's favorite Macca work. Note that the orchestration and arrangement of the song "Wonderwall" is dominated by the Cello (Just as in Eleanor Rigby- another Paul solo work), and that in orchestral settings the Cello is the analog of the Bass Guitar- just like Paul's instrumental role in the Beatles.

Paul McCartney is therefore named throughout the song explicitly as Noel's imaginary listener. The relationship of the Noel and Paul is that of role model and apprentice. Noel is struggling internally with the idea that songwriting and performance has nothing to do with artistic authenticity- it’s just acting and burlesque to the Collins’ of the world- the word on the street. Noel wishes Paul would respond to criticism of his later work by producing new great material but that's a bit ironic if satisfying the masses means being inauthentic to one's artistic self. Maybe Paul likes the stuff that the fans and Noel didn't? Maybe he's not compromising anymore? He doesn't really yet know Paul well enough to ask why the fire seems to have gone out. That's why there "are so many things that (Noel) would like to say to (Paul) but (Noel) doesn't yet know how."

Noel is living in both worlds at the time of the songwriting: just like Collins at his Wonderwall (While looking at "Penny Lane", yet another Paul song reference), Noel feels himself being drawn into the same vortex of alternate reality now that he has been crowned “the next Paul”, and he’s scared he’ll follow Paul’s winding road where "all the lights were blinding". He’s met the real Paul, and so he has to square his fantasy version to a new reality- one which ultimately will help him define his own artistic identity. But the dialogue from Noel's perspective is still internal- the Paul inside his head is not the real Paul. Paul is to Noel, as Penny Lane is to Collins. Hence Noel titled the song "Wonderwall", to allow access to the song's deeper layers for his more informed and attentive listeners.

The dialogue’s subtext is that of disenchantment. You can almost hear Noel saying “Paul, you’re the greatest singer songwriter of the 20th century and it’s been 15 years since London Town. "Buck up man, because people are saying you’ve gone soft, and I’m afraid if I follow your steps I’ll get the same. And Liam! He's worse than Lennon! But ultimately it’s a road I must follow, maybe by continuing to place my faith in your guidance I’ll ultimately save myself from what happened to you and John. If I go off the path now, I’m lost: since you've always been my Wonderwall."

[Edit: typo]

I just like the lyric, "there are many things that i would like to say to you, but i don't know how." Isn't that the point of this web-site, to look at the lyrics, not to argue about which is less shite, the Beatles or Oasis.

This was my husband's fav. song ever. He passed away in November. The night before he died, I was driving home and the song came on the radio. It was unnerving. The lyrics spoke to me a in very different way that night. I truly believe that there are many references to Beatles music in the song, and some of the other interpretations are spot on, but here is was mine from that night.

Today is gonna be the day That they're gonna throw it back to you (you are in charge of my decisions now as I am in a coma) By now you should've somehow Realized what you gotta do (you have some plan in your head formulating) I don't believe that anybody Feels the way I do, about you now (I loved you more than anyone loved you)

Back beat, the word was on the street That the fire in your heart is out (you are so numb, there is nothing) 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

And all the roads we have to walk are winding And all the lights that lead us there are blinding (this is going to be a very rough trip and you must make it on your own). There are many things that I Would like to say to you but I don't know how (I can't communicate now, and before because of my brain tumor I could express myself properly.

Because maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me And after all, you're my wonderwall (you've always been there for me holding me up while I have been so sick)

Today was gonna be the day But they'll never throw it back to you By now you should've somehow Realized what you're not to do I don't believe that anybody Feels the way I do, about you now

And all the roads that lead you there are winding And all the lights that light the way are blinding There are many things that I Would like to say to you but I don't know how

I said maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me And after all, you're my wonderwall

I said maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me And after all, you're my wonderwall

I said maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me You're gonna be the one that saves me You're gonna be the one that saves me

this song def. brings back memories of 95 when it came out, i remember singing this song to some girl at the beach, she was my wonderwall and my summer fling. i wonder what happened to her? hey girls out there, if you've ever been to Oc, NJ and had a summer fling way back in like 8th grade it was me!!!! ha ha!

i figure it means that when finding someone you truely care about, it's not always easy and you've got to be careful when with this person cause you might lose them. also that relationships can be confusing and hard to determine.

i think this song is sort of saying that the singer loves a person and that he's the only one who will love her after she fucked up her one chance. also liam gallager sucks, he is a rude, obnoxious bastard. his brother is ok though.

I was thinking that maybe "wonderwall" could be thought as a wall. Not a wall as in a boundary, but giving a sense of security. So wonderwall could be translated into a guardian for security for life in which one loves.

Also, what does the line "Today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you" mean? It doesn't seem to make sense in the context of "you're my friend and i secretly love you" deal.

^oh yeah, your cool.