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‘Why Me? Why Not.’: Behind Liam Gallagher’s Bullish Second Album
Gary Mather / Alamy Stock Photo
In Depth

‘Why Me? Why Not.’: Behind Liam Gallagher’s Bullish Second Album

An album that mixed bravado with moments of tenderness, ‘Why Me? Why Not.’ cemented Liam Gallagher’s place as rock’s last great frontman.

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After springing back into the spotlight with his debut solo album, As You Were, Oasis’ frontman, Liam Gallagher, had shown the world that he was far from a spent force. With his solo career now in full swing, Gallagher’s second record, 2019’s Why Me? Why Not., continued his thunderous return to form, the singer wrapping himself in the comforting glow of his past musical influences while also embracing a future filled with new meaning. Defiant, uncompromising and unapologetically anthemic, Why Me? Why Not. didn’t just affirm Gallagher’s comeback – it cranked it up into something truly unstoppable.

Here, then, is the story of Why Me? Why Not., and how it proved that Liam Gallagher is rock’n’roll’s last great frontman.

Listen to ‘Why Me? Why Not.’ here.

The backstory: “It was like it was speaking to me”

By early 2018, after fronting both Oasis and Beady Eye, Liam Gallagher, had made a triumphant return to music with his debut solo album, As You Were. Going on to sell more than 300,000 copies, the album’s success – not to mention its well-received tour and companion documentary, As It Was – gave many critics resounding proof that the legendary Britpop singer still had plenty left to offer.

“As You Were was a weight off my shoulders,” Gallagher later told Los Angeles Daily News. “It has kept the wolf from the door. It was beautiful, the response that it got, and the fans lent me their ears again for another couple of years, so I could go and do another record.” This renewed confidence in pursuing a solo career laid the groundwork for Gallagher’s follow-up album, Why Me? Why Not. – a record whose story that stretches back further than most fans might realise.

Gallagher has never hidden his deep love for John Lennon. The rock icon has long served as both a musical and spiritual guide to Gallagher, who even named his son Lennon in the former Beatle’s honour. However, in 1997, two years before Gallagher’s son was born, Oasis were touring in Germany, where the singer happened upon a Munich exhibition showcasing the artwork of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. While perusing the gallery, one Lennon original – a hand-drawn self-portrait titled Why Me? – caught Gallagher’s attention. The image depicted a bearded Lennon from 1972, arms outstretched, as if reaching out to Gallagher. “It triggered something in me,” he later told Q magazine. “It was like it was speaking to me.” Gallagher bought the artwork without a further thought.

Fast-forward to 2005. Oasis were in New York City, touring their sixth studio album, Don’t Believe the Truth. The day before their performance at Madison Square Garden, Gallagher had the rare opportunity to visit John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, at the city’s famous Dakota Building. Ono, then 72, welcomed her guest with tea and biscuits, and offered him a tour of the ninth-floor apartment Lennon once called home. As Gallagher walked through the room where Lennon’s legendary white piano stood – on which he famously composed Imagine – he noticed more sketches drawn by his hero.

“I’ve got one of these,” Gallagher exclaimed. “I bought Why Me? a few years ago, at your exhibition in Munich.” Surprised by the coincidence, Ono told him about another drawing Lennon had created around the same time. “What was it about Why Me? that you liked?” she asked. Liam responded simply: “It just resonated with me.” Ono smiled knowingly, acknowledging the connection: “Yes, I can see that.”

A few weeks later, back in London, Gallagher was at home, enjoying some downtime with his cat. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door – a DHL delivery. To his surprise, it was a package from Ono. Sitting back in his armchair with his cat beside him, Gallagher excitedly opened the package, revealing another drawing. This time, the piece was titled Why Not.: a companion to Why Me?. The artwork depicted Lennon sitting on a chair in the clouds, with a cat by his side. Liam recounted this moment to Q magazine: “I’m looking at this drawing Yoko Ono sent me, that John Lennon drew in 1972, of him on a chair in the clouds with a cat on his arm… as I sit on a chair with a cat on my arm… and what is going on?”

The eerie coincidence of the drawings life left a lasting impression on Gallagher. The words “Why Me? Why Not.” became his own personal mantra, seemingly delivered from the afterlife through Lennon’s artwork. Gallagher kept these memories in the back of his mind for years, and when he returned to the recording studio after the success of As You Were, he knew it was time to immortalise those words.

The recording: “They bring in the music, and I breathe the fire into it”

Mostly written and recorded in Los Angeles, with later sessions taking place at London’s Abbey Road and RAK Studios, Why Me? Why Not. saw Gallagher reunite with the songwriting duo Greg Kurstin and Andrew Wyatt. Since Kurstin and Wyatt had performed wonders at the helm of his debut solo album, Gallagher was keen to keep the wheels of his career comeback moving. “The way that we work together is that they bring in the music, and I breathe the fire into it,” he told Junkee. “It doesn’t matter what kind of song we’re making, I can make it sound like me.”

Picked as the album’s lead single, the bluesy rocker Shockwave was, indeed, 100 per cent Liam Gallagher: as he lashes out at backstabbers, the song explodes like a stick of dynamite in a classic-rock diamond mine. Released in June 2019, Shockwave would go on to peak at No.22 in the UK, giving Gallagher his biggest solo hit yet. “I prefer to come back with a rocking tune more than a ballad,” he told Los Angeles Daily News. “I like to kick the doors off the engines and let people know that I’m back. You want to make a noise on your first tune, don’t you?”

Despite the air of indifference he often conveys in interviews, Gallagher was far more involved in the songwriting process for Why Me? Why Not. than he let on. Not only did he brief his collaborators on exactly what sound he was looking for (“Let’s do a tune a bit like Faces or the Stones”) but he also came up with melodies that got the ball rolling (“I’m good at verses. I can bang out verses all day long”). However, the input of professional songwriters such as Kurstin and Wyatt certainly helped to take Gallagher’s ideas to the next level.

“When it comes to the choruses, I need someone else to do that,” the singer later admitted to Paste magazine. “That’s only because of the guitar playing really, so I prefer to pass it on for the choruses.” Nonetheless, Gallagher was an active participant during the album’s writing sessions: “I love watching a song grow from nothing to something beautiful,” he confessed. “And when people get hold of it and take it into their lives, for me it’s almost a miracle.”

As miracles go, the song Once seemed to have fallen out of the sky. A stately Lennon-esque piano ballad with a genuinely affecting vocal performance, it was, in Gallagher’s own estimation, “one of the best songs I’ve ever sung”, with lyrics that sagely reflect upon his breakthrough years with Oasis (“When the dawn came up you felt so inspired to do it again/But it turns out you only get to do it once”). “It’s got a bit of the Floyd thing,” he told Paste. “It’s got a bit of Bowie, a bit of Lennon. It’s just classic, man!” Released as a single in July 2019, Once capped off a royal return for Gallagher, its music video featuring the Manchester United football legend Eric Cantona wearing a crown.

Despite long gaps between recording sessions – which took place across five different studios in LA and London – the bulk of Why Me? Why Not. came together remarkably quickly. “We did half of the album in a week,” Gallagher told Los Angeles Daily News. “It’s different. I’ve got a lot more to say and I’ve got a lot more input this way round than what I did when I was in Oasis, so that’s nice.” Characterised by this spirit of collaboration, Gallagher’s second studio album was shaping up to be a huge step forward.

Over the course of the year, Gallagher flew back and forth between LA and London whenever he was required to lay down his vocals, though he shied away from getting too involved behind the mixing desk. “I love being in the studio,” he told GQ, before explaining why he left all the button pushing to the pros: “Even now, looking at a desk I ain’t got a fuckin’ clue how that works. I never want to become a fuckin’ muso. That’s too time consuming.”

With very little ego getting in the way, production duties were shared between Greg Kurstin, Andrew Wyatt, Simon Aldred and Adam Noble, who all helped by enlisting the best and brightest musicians they knew. Even heavy-hitters such as Nick Zinner, of garage-rock revivalists Yeah Yeah Yeahs, lent his talents to half a dozen of Why Me? Why Not.’s songs, including the swampy, Beatles-esque title track, which Gallagher described as having “a Come Together vibe”.

The last song recorded for the album, One Of Us was the icing on the cake. A heartfelt ballad about “family, friendship and a sense of belonging”, it featured Gallagher’s son Gene on bongos, bringing an element of father-son bonding to the song’s wistful groove. Despite carrying a nostalgic tone, the song’s lyrics invited speculation from fans, with many perceiving them as being directed toward Liam’s estranged brother Noel (“You were always one of us/Act like you don’t remember/You said we’d live forever/Who do you think you’re kiddin’?”).

“That one is a bit of an angry tune, and I like that,” Gallagher later told The Fader. “I guess people will think it’s about Noel.” Musically, however, One Of Us is a gorgeously arranged piece, with lush strings and a gospel influence that give the song a dreamy feel. “It’s got a lot of things, really,” Gallagher told Los Angeles Daily News. “I like the groove of it. I like the gospel singing at the end. It sounds fresh.”

The release: “They’re bigger, they’re a lot deeper”

Released on 20 September 2019, Liam Gallagher’s second studio album, Why Me? Why Not., peaked at No.1 in the UK, achieving a gold certification in its first week. Outselling the rest of the Top 10 combined, Gallagher had single-handedly proven that rock’n’roll was not dead – it just needed resuscitating. Having made his name with Oasis, the singer was now reasserting his status as the last true rock’n’roll frontman, courtesy of a new batch of modern rock anthems. “They’re better songs,” he explained to Entertainment Weekly. “They’re better written songs. I think they’re bigger, they’re a lot deeper. It’s sort of the natural progress.”

One of the more surprising singles to be released from the album was Now That I’ve Found You, a touching ode to Gallagher’s daughter, Molly Moorish, with whom he had just reconciled for the first time since her birth, 21 years earlier. “I haven’t had a relationship with her since she was born, for crazy reasons, so I wanted to get those feelings out,” Gallagher told The Fader. “It’s a love song letting it all out.” An ardent expression of paternal pride, Now That I’ve Found You opened the door for Gallager to play a more active role in Molly’s life.

In fact, the running theme of Why Me? Why Not. is the importance of family. From professing his undying love for his partner, Debbie Gwyther (Halo), to heeding his mother’s words to slow down (Be Still), there’s a sense that the Britpop wildman’s rock’n’roll spirit has finally been tamed. “Family is good,” he said to GQ. “That’s the most important thing. Fuck everything else. Once that’s nailed, everything is a bonus.”

Just like his idol, John Lennon, Gallagher had finally reached a point in his life where love was all he needed. But that’s not to say he’d lost his savage tongue: the psych-rock jam The River is a howl of protest against “the money-suckin’ MPs” and a generation beholden to “the device in your hands, imitation beauty”. “It’s a beast,” Gallagher later said of the song. “It sounds horrible in a good way, you know what I mean?”

However, as the springy, sunshine-pop of Alright Now gives way to a George Harrison-esque guitar solo, and the woozy, introspective balladry of Meadow evokes the psychedelic textures of early Pink Floyd, Gallagher’s mood on Why Me? Why Not. seems refreshingly wholesome. “There’s a lot of nice songs on there,” he told Junkee. “But there’s totally a rock’n’roll side there.”

For once, music critics had no complaints whatsoever. Gallagher was on commanding form – still sharp and loaded with snarl, but boosted by a renewed confidence. Imbuing his innate star power with a sense of purpose and maturity, Why Me? Why Not. reintroduced fans to a Liam Gallagher who was finally comfortable in his own skin, creating music that felt both timeless and yet true to himself.

The legacy: “I’ll be doing it forever”

Selling more than 100,000 copies in the UK, Why Me? Why Not. proved that Gallagher’s first solo effort, As You Were, was just the tip of the iceberg. Knowing that the public were clamouring for an Oasis reunion, the singer not only began including more Oasis songs in his setlists during his subsequent tour, but he also invited the band’s former bassist, Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, to join him on stage. With arenas across the nation bursting at the seams with fans of all ages, it was the closest many thought would ever get to seeing Oasis play live again.

It may well be a mistaken belief, but there was always a feeling among music critics that Gallagher’s wild antics had been a factor in jeopardising Oasis’ success. Most famously, he dropped out of the group’s 1996 MTV Unplugged show at the last moment, heckling from the balcony as brother Noel played a solo acoustic set. What could have been a moment that made Oasis more popular in North America turned into a missed opportunity.

Keen not to let history repeat itself, Liam Gallagher preceded the release of Why Me? Why Not. with a one-off MTV Unplugged show at Hull City Hall, in August 2019. Running through classic Oasis hits such as Some Might Say and Stand By Me, as well as recent solo cuts Now That I’ve Found You, Once and Gone, Gallagher not only proved how comfortable he was with the acoustic format, but also how his former band’s crowd-pleasers could sit alongside his new solo material. “I’m thankful for these new sounds, man,” he told Junkee. “I’m in my comfort zone when I’m playing those songs. It’s perfect.”

Despite his tumultuous past, which saw him frequently at odds with the demands of fame and the inner workings of Oasis, Gallagher has matured into a no-nonsense uncle of sorts: as a solo artist, he has emerged stronger and more self-aware while remaining as authentic and compelling as ever. This evolution is evident on Why Me? Why Not., but it’s as a live performer that he’s been building the strongest legacy. Appealing just as much to younger generations of “parka monkeys” as he does to Oasis fans of yesteryear, Gallagher now commands national-treasure-levels of admiration. “As long as they want me to keep fuckin’ singing and I can keep fuckin’ do it,” he has said, “I’ll be doing it forever.”

Find out why Liam Gallagher is the last true rock’n’roll frontman.

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