No matter how big the hit, a song’s stint at the top of the charts is only a fraction of its existence. After that, all bets are off. Some hits fade quietly into irrelevance. Some are lucky enough to live on as “throwbacks” or “classics.” And of course, some become memes. Songs like “Never Gonna Give You Up” or “All Star” have achieved a unique immortality: re-discovered and re-popularized as the punchlines of jokes, they’ve worked their way back into pop culture in a lower-profile but more enduring role.
But anyway, here’s “Wonderwall.” This song, released by Britpop band Oasis in 1995, is a different sort of meme. Instead of being ironically loved, it’s unironically hated. And “Wonderwall” has no one to blame but itself. I won’t get too into music theory here, but basically, “Wonderwall” is built around a very basic chord progression, with some tweaks to make the chords sound all fancy and dissonant. The disastrous result is an easy-to-play song that sounds complex, making it the go-to opening number for every guy who brings his acoustic guitar to house parties.
As with most big hits, “Wonderwall''s popularity attracted some backlash. It got overplayed, and people got tired of it. Not exactly front-page news. But unlike most big hits, “Wonderwall” had the meme factor. Radio stations played it. Coffee shop open mic’ers played it. People making fun of the open mic’ers played it. The “Wonderwall” meme became a feedback loop of annoyance. Any mention of the song could be operating on one of God knows how many layers of irony, which just makes the joke too much effort to possibly be worth it.
So what better song to be the subject of a Pop Pick?! No, really. Almost all “Wonderwall” discussion, especially amongst people my age, is tongue-in-cheek. Obscured by all the memes is the simple truth: “Wonderwall” is a good song. Yeah, it’s a little cheesy and simplistic, but it’s a damn solid pop song with beautiful instrumentation and emotion. To write it off as just the butt of too many bad jokes is just plain unfair.
I won’t lie, I went back and forth quite a bit before deciding on “Wonderwall” for this installment of Pop Picks. Although my appreciation for this song is genuine, I didn’t want to add more fuel to a fire that’s burned for far too long. But in the end, I decided the positives outweigh the negatives. “Wonderwall” deserves some real discussion. And even if this particular song isn’t your thing, Oasis has plenty of other great ones to choose from (“Supersonic” and “Don’t Look Back In Anger” are personal favorites). There are probably loads of young rock fans missing out on a band they’d love because of a little bad press. So maybe think twice before you sarcastically strum those opening chords, and show this great song the respect it deserves.
“All Star” is still fair game though.
Lyle B.
