CD - RKIDSCD 29
01: Lyla
02: Eyeball Tickler
03: Won't Let You Down
7" - RKID 29
01: Lyla
02: Eyeball Tickler
DVD - RKIDSDVD 29
01: Lyla
02: Lyla (demo)
03: Can You See It Now?
Release Date: May 16th 2005
Highest UK Singles Chart Position: 1
Lyla is a song by Oasis. It was released on May 16th 2005 as the first single from their sixth studio album, Don't Believe the Truth. Lyla was the band's first single following the departure of their long-time drummer Alan White, and replaced by Ringo Starr's son and the Who drummer Zak Starkey as an additional drummer of the band.
The song was written by Noel Gallagher, who has varyingly described the track as "specifically designed for pogoing", "annoyingly catchy", and the "poppiest thing since Roll with I". Noting the varied influences of the song, Gallagher says that it's "a bit like... The Soundtrack Of Our Lives doing The Who on Skol in a psychedelic city in the sky, or something".
Similarities
However critics have argued that Lyla is perhaps more than simply influenced by other bands, noting the striking similarities between the song and Confrontation Camp by The Soundtrack Of Our Lives and to a lesser extent Street Fighting Man by the Rolling Stones. The first line of the song reinforces the notion that the song was also partially inspired by The La's.
Noel has also joked with the fact that the Lyla in the song is actually the sister of the Sally mentioned in the Oasis single Don't Look Back In Anger. Also, he had said that the song is a "love song", being about Sally Cinnamon's sister.
Originally claiming that he wasn't very fond of the song, Noel has said that Lyla isn’t "even the fifth best track on the album". The song had existed as a demo since the early recording sessions for the album but was all but forgotten until practically the last minute. However, on the Lock The Box feature on the Stop The Clocks, Noel admitted that he "didn't realise how good it was until [we] played it live," and admitted he loved the "guitars, the drums, and the vocals" of the song.
Origins
Noel says that the song existed in an early form as a song called Sing and dated from the Heathen Chemistry-era. He also says that the title for the final song should have been "Smiler", but was changed seeing as guitarist Gem Archer's previous band, Heavy Stereo, also had a song called Smiler.
Sony's insistence that it should be released as the first single from the album has helped to fuel the tension between the band and their record label, which has led to Oasis not renewing their contract with the record label following the release of Don't Believe the Truth.
Lyla became the band's seventh UK number one when it reached top spot in its first week of release. The song also debuted at number thirty one on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart and reached as high as number nineteen. It is the first Oasis song to appear on any US singles chart since 2000 when Go Let It Out hit number fourteen on the Modern Rock chart.
Live Performance
When performing on the UK music chart show Top Of The Pops, Liam, who was forced to mime to the music, made no secret of the fact, walking away from the microphone with his mouth closed mid-way through lines that he was supposedly 'singing'. It would be Liam's last performance on the programme before its demise in late 2006. However, Noel and the rest of the band would return in August 2005 to perform The Importance Of Being Idle.
Lyla leaked on the internet during late March 2005, weeks before its May release date, after an unauthorised early airing on Polish radio station Radiowa Trójka.
Lyla was covered by Foo Fighters during a performance at BBC Studios.