Then a couple of months ago, Noel heard Liam tell a foreign journalist that his song was about the Biblical parable of ill-starred brothers Cain and Abel.
“Eh?” said Noel, his face screwing into a familiar mask of bewildered incomprehension. “Yeah,” said Liam, leaning over to his elder brother and muttering that it was actually called Guess God Thinks I’m Abel.
Noel to Liam [bushy eyebrow a-waggling]: “Doesn’t Cain kill Abel in the end?”
Liam to Noel [grunting]: “Yeah.”
Noel to Liam [getting more confused]: “Isn’t the first line of your song, “I could be your lover…”’
Liam to Noel [blithely unconcerned]: “Yeah.”
Noel to me: “Now, if that’s not banned in this country, it’s certainly frowned upon. Brother-on-brother sex: it’s not right is it? So I’m kinda looking at Liam a bit differently lately. Strange kid…”
Would Noel say his relationship with Liam was now good?
“Well, to me he seems to have matured. And I’ve got a lot more respect for him – he doesn’t contribute in terms of working man hours. But gone are the days of their being any more fillers on the albums, “cause the three songs that he gives are the best songs. His three best songs are better than my three fillers. And Andy’s two best songs are better than…”
Noel Gallagher stops, as if that might be praise too far. But yes, creatively, within themselves, Oasis are motoring along quite nicely. “So I can forgive Liam freak-outs about music; I can rise above those arguments. I didn’t really respect Liam before. He was just some buffoon who sings my songs.”
Is he jealous of you?
“You’d have to ask him.”
Are you jealous of him?
Noel Gallagher gives an uncharacteristic pause and thinks.
“Jealous of his hairdo,” he decides. “Liam’s always had good hair.”
Yes, wildly unpredictable singer Liam Gallagher has written three songs on the Manchester band's new album, Don't Believe The Truth, including one about his relationship with older brother and Oasis guitarist Noel called Guess God Thinks I'm Abel.
But Noel, who is also sharing songwriting duties this time with rhythm guitarist Gem and bassist Andy Bell, says the first time he heard Abel, just one thing went through his head.
"Who the fook is Mabel?" joked Noel, 38, seated opposite Gem in a Toronto hotel boardroom yesterday prior to their sold-out show tonight at the Molson Amphitheatre. "God thinks that Liam is a woman called Mabel."
Seriously, Noel said he would love to perform the song live, but rehearsals of it haven't gone well.
"We tried to rehearse it with Liam and it turned into an Abbot and Costello sketch," said Noel. "It was very funny. We had to abandon it. We'd rehearsed it a couple of times at the sound check, when he wasn't there and it sounded fooking amazing. And then he turns up drunk saying, 'You're playing it too slow, because I'm slurring me words.' It didn't register in his head that he'd been up all night the night before, drinking lager."
Noel sums up the relationship with his brother this way: "You can pick your singers. And you can pick your nose. But you can't pick your singer's nose."
— 17/06/2005 Toronto Sun
そう、極めて予測不可能なシンガー、リアム・ギャラガーが、 マンチェスターのバンドのニューアルバム 「Don't Believe The Truth」に3曲を書き下ろした。 その中には、オアシスのギタリストである 兄のノエルとの関係を歌った 「Guess God Thinks I'm Abel」も含まれている。 しかし今回、リズムギタリストのゲム、 ベーシストのアンディ・ベルと曲作りを分担しているノエルは、 初めて"Abel"と耳にした時、 頭の中には一つのことしか浮かばなかったという。
Noel: First and foremost it's a top tune. I thought it was“Guess God Thinks I'm Mable”for ages. But it's Abel with an e-l, so it's quite biblical and very pretentious. The chorus is really heartbreaking.
— 24/05/2005 Evening Standard
Guess God Thinks I'm Able
ノエル: まず言いたいのは、これが最高の曲だってことだ。 俺はずっと“Guess God Thinks I'm Mable”だと思ってたんだけど、 実際は"e-l"が付く"Abel"だから、聖書的で、かなり仰々しい感じだな。 コーラス(サビ)は本当にグッとくるものがあるよ。
— 2005年5月24日 Evening Standard
And Guess God Thinks I'm Abel is your love letter to Our Kid? Lines like: "You could be my best friend/ Stay up all night long/ You could be my railroad/ We go on and on"...?
Liam: He's alright.
Come on...
Liam: There's no, "come on." I fucking hate people who go, "come on." I wish I could explain myself better. He doesn't come into my thoughts very much. He'll come into my mind for about a minute and I'll think, "Uggghhh" and think about summat else.
You love him.
Liam: I adore him.
— August 2005 Q
それで『Guess God Thinks I'm Abel』は うちの子(ノエル)へのラブレターなの? 歌詞には「お前は俺の親友になれる/一晩中起きていよう/ お前は俺に進むべき道を示す/ 俺たちの関係はずっと続く」とあるけど…?