Old Song Review: Don't Look Back In Anger

Yesterday(or however many day's it's been since I posted it) I did a review of Wonderwall, calling it a good song that maybe gets too much praise for what its worth(figures that even quoting myself, I'm too lazy to look up my actual work). So today, I'm going to review for you another Oasis song, for your pleasure, the song that mentioned kept Wonderwall off Number One in England, Don't Look Back in Anger.
This song on the album comes right after the previously reviewed song, so for many of you, this may just be the "song after Wonderwall" on that album, What's the Story Morning Glory. For me however, this song is one of two songs on the album that I'd call as being the best.
The song is once again Beatles influenced, as the opening chords are (supposedly) lifted from John Lennon's Imagine. Is this true? Yes and no. While they may very well have been the same chords from Imagine, doesn't it seem likely that in the world of music, someone was bound to use them again at one point? I think many songs if you look hard enough have the same chords(which you can all do, cause again, I'm too lazy to list off examples this time); this song is the only one that gets attention because it was a hit song off a hit album, just like Imagine. Other then the opening chords though, there really isn't anything similar to the two songs.
The song itself is beautifully written, with an organ that comes in at the chorus to give it that feel-good feeling that we get when we hear certain songs. Noel Gallagher sings this and he never sounded better. This song was his masterpiece, the one song that he knew he could always point to when people may have doubted him as a writer/singer cause both here are spot on. I've heard rumors that the line in the chorus "So Sally can wait..." was inspired by his brother, but if this is actually true or not I'm not too sure. Noel has said that it was true and his brother was next to him, but the manner they discuss it makes me unsure. In any case it doesn't take anything away from the song and if anything, it's nice to see that Liam might have been coming to his own as a writer by giving the odd idea to his brother on his songs.
This song is the one that you have to hear it live to really understand how great Oasis were as a band as well as how devoted their fans were. Most times, the crowd would sing in unison to the chorus and when I say crowd I really mean audience, cause literally, the whole place sings along with it. I should know.
I was at one of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds shows late last year in November at Massey Hall in Toronto. He ended with this song and it was one of the coolest things I'd seen at a concert. The entire audience stood up(all 2000 of us, myself included) and basically sang the entire song with him. I remember looking around as this was going on and I don't remember seeing a single person sitting at the end. It was something not to be believed. He had done a few Oasis songs that night, including Wonderwall, but nothing got a response like Don't Look Back In Anger did. That's magic.
Overall, I'd for sure put this at the top of my favorite Oasis songs off all time(maybe Live Forever or Some Might Say being other top contenders). Everyone's always looking at the crown on the Queen's head, but only a few look at the jewels on her hands. This song is the jewel on Oasis's hand, perfect and sometimes overlooked.
Rating: 5/5