Travis frontman Fran Healy has shared an interesting revelation regarding Noel Gallagher’s reaction to the band “absolutely lifting” chords from Oasis’ iconic song ‘Wonderwall’ for their track, ‘Writing To Reach You’. The song appeared on Travis’ second album, ‘The Man Who’, which had a major role in the band’s meteoric rise to international stardom. In a recent interview on ‘Tim’s Listening Party’, hosted by The Charlatans’ singer Tim Burgess on Absolute Radio, Healy recounted how he had happened upon the same famous chord progression as ‘Wonderwall’ while working on ‘Writing To Reach You’ and revealed that he had expected to never meet Noel Gallagher because he was on the dole and “nothing’s gonna happen.”
However, six months later, Gallagher appeared in the same bar as Healy, looking like he was in the Velvet Underground and a “rock star”. While the very idea of meeting the legend seemed highly unlikely, Healy went ahead with his plans and used the same chord progression as ‘Oasis’ iconic song. “The verse chords are absolutely lifted massively, as we do, and as he does! I thought, ‘I’m never going to meet Noel Gallagher in a million years because I’m on the dole, nothing’s gonna happen,” he said about the use of the chords. In keeping with Gallagher’s influence, Healy even composed an Oasis reference in the lyrics of the track that goes, “It’s ‘what’s a ‘Wonderwall’ anyway?’” as a little nod to try to impress the Oasis songwriter.
Fortunately for Healy, he did not have to wait as long as he expected to test his new chord progression out because, a year and a half later, Travis ended up touring with Oasis on their upcoming concert schedule as a support band. The members of Travis were unsure about how Gallagher would react to their song, fearing he would leave a black eye on Healy, never seeing the humorous side of it. However, when the group got offstage, Gallagher came up to Healy and gave him a compliment: “Nice chords, mate,” he whispered, smiling. That was it, no black eye, just a moment to be treasured, as Healy seemed relieved.
In a recent interview with NME, Healy spoke out more about the band’s relationship with Oasis and the influence that the legendary band had on Travis: “They were the fucking best band we ever toured with. Every night Noel [Gallagher] would be at the side of the stage plugging in and playing along to [Travis’ debut single] ‘All I Want To Do Is Rock,’ he stated. Travis has a new album coming out called ‘L.A. Times,’ which will be their tenth studio album, set to release on July 12. Fans eagerly await the release as Travis is set to thrill their audience once more with their trademark indie rock style
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