Released on August 8, 1994 as the third single from Oasis’s debut album Definitely Maybe, Live Forever has become one of the band’s most iconic tracks. From the moment it hit the airwaves, the song captured hearts with its message of optimism and resilience, standing out in a decade dominated by darker, more pessimistic music.
Now, more than three decades on, Live Forever still echoes through pubs, stadiums, and playlists around the world. And in 2025, with Oasis reunited at last, the song feels more powerful and more fitting than ever.
A Song with a Positive Twist
Written by Noel Gallagher before Oasis had even signed a record deal, Live Forever was his rallying cry against the prevailing mood of the early 1990s. Grunge, led by Nirvana and Pearl Jam, explored themes of despair and alienation. Noel admired those bands, but he wanted to write something that celebrated life instead of tearing it down.
In fact, Noel has said that Live Forever was written as a direct answer to Nirvana’s “I Hate Myself and Want to Die.” Where grunge leaned into self-destruction, Oasis delivered an anthem of joy, resilience, and defiance.
Driven by Noel’s uplifting guitar riff and paired with Liam Gallagher’s soaring, sneering vocal delivery, the song perfectly combined grit and grandeur. It didn’t just stand out on Definitely Maybe—it became a defining song of the entire Britpop era.
Manchester Spirit
Oasis embodied the spirit of Manchester—resilient, creative, and unbreakable. That spirit is woven into Live Forever: the belief that no matter how hard life gets, there’s something worth holding onto.
In the 1990s, Manchester had already produced The Smiths, The Stone Roses, and Happy Mondays. But Oasis, with Live Forever as their calling card, carried that tradition further, taking the sound and attitude of the city global.
Chart Success and Breakthrough
Upon release, Live Forever became Oasis’s first UK top 10 single, peaking at number 10. But its significance went beyond chart numbers: it was the moment Oasis moved from upstarts to cultural leaders.
The track helped establish Oasis as the face of Britpop, alongside Blur and Pulp, but with a more universal anthem that spoke to people far outside the UK. Its blend of defiance and hope made it both a youth anthem and a stadium-filling classic.
The Music Video
The UK promo for Live Forever, directed by Carlos Grasso, is as memorable as the song itself. Shot in July 1994, it features surreal and haunting imagery—most famously the scene of the band burying drummer Tony McCarroll. Liam Gallagher is shown singing while perched on a chair bolted to a wall, giving the video a disorienting, dreamlike quality. Some sequences were filmed at Strawberry Fields in New York’s Central Park, tying Oasis back to one of their biggest influences, John Lennon. Even the single’s cover art nodded to Lennon, featuring a photograph of his childhood home at 251 Menlove Avenue in Liverpool.
For the American market, a second version was filmed by Nick Egan, featuring Oasis performing in a stark office space with portraits of icons like John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, and Sid Vicious adorning the walls. While the US cut was designed to introduce Oasis visually to MTV audiences, it’s the UK version—with its graveyard imagery and unsettling atmosphere—that fans most often associate with the song.
Why Live Forever Still Matters
For many fans, Live Forever is the definitive Oasis song. It balances Noel’s gift for melody with Liam’s unparalleled ability to deliver a vocal that feels both vulnerable and defiant.
It’s also one of those rare tracks that grows with its audience. In the ’90s, it was a song of youth and ambition. Decades later, it resonates as a reminder of resilience, a promise that music can endure as life changes.
Critical Legacy
Live Forever has consistently been ranked among the greatest songs of all time. In 2010, it was voted the best British song ever by readers of Q magazine, ahead of classics by The Beatles, David Bowie, and The Rolling Stones. It regularly appears in NME and Rolling Stone lists of the most important songs of the 1990s.
Even more than its accolades, Live Forever remains a communal experience. Whether sung in a Manchester pub, at Glastonbury, or in a packed arena, it unites people in a way few songs can.
Oasis Reunited: A Song Reborn
In 2025, Oasis shocked the music world by reuniting for the first time in over 15 years. The reunion tour—celebrating the Definitely Maybe anniversary—has been hailed as a triumph, with Noel and Liam finally sharing a stage again.
At these shows, Live Forever has taken on a new meaning. Once a song about youthful optimism, it now feels like a reflection on survival, brotherhood, and endurance. Fans old and new have described hearing it live in 2025 as a spine-tingling, emotional experience—proof that some songs truly never age.
As Noel himself recently admitted, “He’s [Liam] been amazing.” That reconciliation makes Live Forever the perfect soundtrack for Oasis’s second chapter.
Three Decades On
More than three decades since its release, Live Forever feels as vital as it ever did. Its message of hope and defiance continues to resonate, and now, with Oasis reunited, it’s once again the anthem of a generation—old and new.
For Oasis, it was the song that gave them their first taste of success. For Manchester, it was another cultural milestone. And in 2025, it has become a reminder that the music—and the band—truly do live forever.
Legacy of a Classic
Live Forever is more than just an Oasis single—it’s a cultural landmark. It helped define Britpop, gave a generation its anthem, and secured Oasis as the band that would dominate the 1990s.
Today, with Oasis back on stage and fans singing louder than ever, the song feels renewed. Its promise of endurance and joy has come full circle.
Live Forever wasn’t just the beginning of Oasis—it’s now the anthem of their rebirth.
