loch all the doors

Background/Context/DM through SOTSOG

In Noel's 2024 interview with John Robb, the relevant clip of which is here, Noel and Robb discuss how Liam's delivery of the word "shine" became so iconic--as Noel tells the story, they were recording "Cigarettes & Alcohol" for a radio show when Liam sang "sunshine" as "sunshiiiiiiiiiiiiine" for the first time (click here to hear an earlier recording of C&A where Liam sings the word normally), and Alan McGree jumped on it and told Liam that he sounded like Johnny Rotten, and from there Noel says that there was no going back. When Robb notes that it became Liam's "trademark," Noel responds, "Yeah, of course!"

Also on Definitely Maybe, Liam exaggerates the word on "Rock 'n' Roll Star" ("I need some time in the sunshine") and "Up in the Sky" ("I've heard that the shine's gone out of your life"). The word also appears, not quite as exaggerated, on "Slide Away" ("Let me be the one who shines with you").

With (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, there are other examples: "Hello" ("'Cause the sun don't shine"), "Some Might Say" ("Go and tell it to the man who cannot shine"), "Acquiesce" ("I only wanna see the light that shines behind your eyes"), and "Round Are Way" ("Round are way the sun shines bright").

For Be Here Now, Noel gives Liam a very obvious "shine" on "All Around the World" ("These are crazy days and they make me shine"), and the word also appears, though not quite as exaggerated, on "Fade In-Out" ("I don't see no shine"). And Liam sings "shining" on "The Girl in the Dirty Shirt" and "It's Gettin' Better (Man!!)."

But now Noel's doing more singing, and he uses the word on the (coincidentally, I'm sure) Liam-inspired "Magic Pie" ("My star will shine" and "'Cause my star's gon' shine"), as well as on "Flashbax" ("There shines a light like dynamite").

The number of "shine"s given to Liam dwindles further on Standing on the Shoulder of Giants--there's just "Who Feels Love?" ("Thank you for the sun / The one that shines on everyone who feels love"). The word pops up in the Noel-sung "One Way Road" as well ("And are we gonna see the heavens shine / like diamonds in the sky?").

Of course, SOTSOG was the cocaine-comedown album, and a new era is on the horizon.

"Wait 'Til You Hear the New Album": HC through DOYS

When the Much Music interviewer called out Noel's reliance on the word "shine," Noel enthusiastically responded, "Wait 'til you hear the new album!" That would be Heathen Chemistry, which boasts Liam singing on Noel songs "The Hindu Times" ("You're my sunshine, you're my rain" and "There's a light that shines on / Shines on me and it keeps me warm") and "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" ("May your smile / Shine on").

Noel also gives himself a few shine references: "She is Love" ("When the sunshine beckons to you"), "Shout it Out Loud" ("I hope the light shines on, we as one"), and then a use of "shining" in "Idler's Dream."

After Heathen Chemistry, though, the "shine"s once again dwindle considerably--Noel gets just one "shine" in on Don't Believe the Truth, and it's not for Liam but rather for his own vocals on "The Importance of Being Idle" ("As long as there's a bed beneath the stars that shine"). He doesn't use the word again until giving it to Liam for one song on Dig Out Your Soul: "Bag it Up" ("Gold and silver and sunshine is rising up").

So what changed post-HC?

The most obvious change is that with DBTT and DOYS, Liam, Andy, and Gem were taking on more in the way of songwriting duties, so there are fewer Noel songs to pick apart.

And, obviously, there could be other behind-the-scenes factors at play that affected the way Noel wrote for Liam.

Maybe he was also just tired of "shine" and wanted a break.

Speaking of a break.

The First NGHFB Album

Noel and Liam have both confirmed that the first NGHFB album was made up primarily of songs that were supposed to be for Oasis, which is why it's not a huge surprise that there are a few strong instances of "shine" on the album.

I'm going to highlight three songs here, the first two of which Liam is confirmed to have recorded demos for, one which is suspicious for other reasons, and all of which use "shine" at the end of a line, so the word is exaggerated in the way Liam made iconic, which Noel appears to have tried to mimic in the demos he would have given Liam.

"(I Wanna Live in a Dream in My) Record Machine": Here's a clip of Noel on the demo:

"The Good Rebel": Here's a clip of Noel on the demo--again, notice the exaggerated "shine," especially on the last bit:

That brings us to "The Death of You and Me." As far as I'm aware, Liam didn't actually record this song (which Noel insisted at his first NGHFB press conference is not about him and Liam, really it's not, but he won't stop people from saying it if they want to), and Noel's said in a few interviews that Liam didn't like it when Noel brought it to him. Noel also claimed later that he had an epiphany about needing to leave Oasis when he realized he couldn't imagine Liam singing the song or playing it in a stadium.

Listen, though, to how Noel sings this line on the demo:

To me, it sounds like Noel is drawing out the word "sunshine" in imitation of how Liam might have done it, which I'm going to go ahead and take as possible evidence that the song was originally meant for Liam.

-

For the sake of completion, I'll also note that Noel uses the phrase "shine a light" in "AKA Broken Arrow," "Let the Lord Shine a Light on Me," and "I'd Pick You Every Time." The word is not exaggerated in any of these like it is in the examples above.

The Rest of NGHFB

Would it surprise you to know that the number of "shine"s suddenly, maybe-inexplicably-to-the-kind-of-people-who-wouldn't-be-reading-this-post-or-aren't-the-Much-Music-interviewer, drops off a cliff the moment Noel is no longer writing for Liam?

No?

Let's take a look anyway.

Chasing Yesterday "Shine"s: 1

"While the Song Remains the Same": "Find me a place where the sun shines through the rain"--The only "shine" reference on CY is from the same song that inspired Liam to respond in "Bold."

Who Built the Moon? "Shine"s: 1*

"Keep On Reaching": "You'll find sunshine and showers and maybe love to behold." This is one of Noel's big "secret keeping" songs of the cosmic-pop era and also includes the line "I can play it on an old guitar / You can sing it like a monkey man." Mm.

*The album does of course include "Black & White Sunshine," but the word "sunshine" doesn't appear in the actual song; nor does "shine."

The EP "Shine"s: 1

"Black Star Dancing": "You make me shine like a black star dancing." Included here for the sake of completion.

"Council Skies": 0

On the one hand, if this is his big love letter to Liam/Oasis (as I think it is), you might think he'd throw in some random "shine"s as an homage. On the other hand, while he may be reflecting on the past, he's still not writing for Liam.

-

So those Liam-esque "shines" on the NGHFB-album-that-was-meant-for-Liam stand in pretty stark contrast to Noel's minimal use of the word for the entire rest of Noel's HFB discography--his later three full albums, three EPs, and a whole slew of b-sides and bonus tracks.

Some Math

Out of curiosity, I went to the Wikipedia list of all Oasis songs sorted by singer and counted up the Noel-penned-for-Liam songs and the Noel-penned-for-himself songs and got the percentages. Assuming I didn't miscount, these are the percentages:

Noel-penned-for-Liam songs: "shine" or "shining" appears 16 times in 63 songs = 25.39% of the time

Noel-penned-for-himself Oasis songs: "shine" or "shining" appears 7 times in 44 songs = 15.9% of the time

I'm not including Noel's NGHFB songs in his count because, as noted above, half of the NGHFB "shine"s were meant for Liam. The low number of "shines" in the rest of the NGHFB output speaks for itself, no percentage needed.

Conclusion