Liam long-awaited solo debut album is out today (October 6) and listeners are already noticing telling lyrical references to other bands’ work. Below you’ll find 19 of the most noticeable lyrical call-outs – to The Beatles, Noel Gallagher, Joy Division, Neil Young and more…
1. “You were sold a one direction“
Song: ‘Wall of Glass’
Reference: One Direction
2. “There’s no love worth chasing yesterday“
Song: ‘Bold’
Reference: ‘Chasing Yesterday’, the 2015 album by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.
3. “Look for the girl, the world is surreal“
Song: ‘When I’m In Need’
Reference: The Beatles’ trippy ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’, which runs “Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes“.
4. “She’s so ‘Purple Haze’“
Song: ‘When I’m In Need’
Reference: Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Purple Haze’
5. “Angels, give me shelter“
Song: ‘You Better Run’
Reference: The Rolling Stones’ ‘Gimme Shelter’
6. “Stone cold, Helter Skelter“
Song: ‘You Better Run’
Reference: The Beatles’ ‘Helter Skelter’
7. “It’s only love“
Song: ‘I Get By’
Reference: The Beatles’ ‘It’s Only Love’
8. “Only love can break my heart“
Song: ‘I Get By’
Reference: Neil Young’s ‘Only Love Can Break My Heart’
9. “Only love they say will tear us apart“
Song: ‘I Get By’
Reference: Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’
10. “There’s no love lost, sycophant“
Song: ‘I Get By’
Reference: Joy Division’s ‘No Love Lost’
11. “Never look back, go where you’re going to“
Song: ‘I Get By’
Reference: Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’
12. “Cause happiness is still a warm gun“
Song: ‘Chinatown’
Reference: The Beatles’ ‘Happiness Is A Warm Gun’.
13. “God told me: ‘Live a life of luxury’“
Song: ‘Chinatown’
Reference: The Kinks’ ‘Sunny Afternoon’, which runs: “I love to live so pleasantly, Live this life of luxury”
14. “I give you universal gleam“
Song: ‘Universal Gleam’
Reference: Beady Eye’s ‘Flick of the Finger’, which contains the lyric: “I saw my universal gleam”.
15. “All things must pass“
Song: ‘I’ve All I Need’
Reference: George Harrison’s debut solo album.
16. “Tomorrow never knows“
Song: ‘I’ve All I Need’
Reference: The Beatles song from ‘Revolver’.
17. “I hibernate and sing while gathering my wings“
Song: “I’ve All I Need’
Reference: When Liam went to meet Yoko Ono in America, she had a big banner in her kitchen with an inscription that read “While I’ve been hibernating, I’ve been gathering my wings.” Liam said that Yoko said John Lennon first saw it “when he stopped making music. So I thought, write that down. So anyway, years go by, I’ve been trying to get it in to a song, could never get it in, and then it happened on [‘I’ve All I Need’].”