What's the science behind Oasis songs being so popular, and is there a formula other artists can replicate?

They have amassed eight UK number ones in the singles chart alongside eight albums reaching the top spot, including “Definitely Maybe” once again. 

So what is it about Oasis’ catalogue of music that still to this day has many a grown man go weak at the knees belting out the iconic “Live Forever” or “Wonderwall” during a night out, and no doubt a huge amount of their catalogue when the Gallagher’s reunited for their tour in 2025? 

“I think there are a host of compositional reasons for Oasis’s continuing success: catchy melodies, both in the lead vocal lines and in the arrangements more broadly; memorable, sometimes quite poetic lyrics, often about heartache or life’s other difficulties; and a real era-defining ‘sound’ to their record production,” explains Doctor Jacob Downs, Departmental Lecturer in Music and Chair of Faculty in the Faculty of Music at Oxford University.

“But ultimately, what makes an artist or band stand the test of time comes down to more than just the structural properties of the music: it’s the personae the artists adopt, the clothes they wear, the rivalries they have – even among themselves!” 

“We might also consider the connections that, say, families forge in relation to Oasis’s music, like when kids discover their parents’ favourite tunes from their own youths”

Which is admittedly how I recall first “really” getting into Oasis. Asides from their music videos being played on New Zealand television during the tail end of “Definitely Maybe” and their subsequent global take over after “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?,” it was through my godfather Uncle Brian when I finally got to listen to the album in full… less said how, the better.

“Psychologists have found that songs that were meaningful to a parent when they were young – the kind that they’d hear and immediately be jolted back to a specific place and time in their memories – often become important for a child, too. During the recent reunion tour frenzy, I heard a few lovely stories about parents and children trying to score tickets to go along to the shows together.“

The “anthemic appeal” of Oasis

Casual fans of the group might liken some of the songs to that found on football terraces across the United Kingdom, with it’s anthemic nature regarding the choruses for many Oasis songs. 

It’s a concept Dr Jacob agrees with: “I think the anthemic sound is a huge part of what makes these records iconic,”  and part of that is to do with the number of catchy tunes throughout them, as well as the way those tunes are sung. Also, these records came at the early peak of Oasis’s fame, and the media hype and relentless promotion surely helped to sediment them in listeners’ minds.”

But with that anthemic sound comes a familiarity with some of their songs, including some claims that a couple of songs from “Definitely Maybe” had been “borrowed” composition wise from other artists such as T. Rex and The New Seekers. 

“Ah, yes – ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’, with that iconic riff,” Dr Jacob immediately brings up. “ I certainly hear why people have raised eyebrows in response to that track. T. Rex’s ‘Get It On’ riff is just so recognizable: the rhythms used and how they’re stressed, as well as the off-beat chords that punctuate those accents.” 

“But these are often the hallmarks of a good rock-‘n’-roll riff. I don’t think Marc Bolan would dream of saying he was being wholly original with those chords! Plus, the Gallagher brothers have often mentioned in interviews a desire to manifest that carefree, rock-‘n’-roll spirit in tracks like ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’. 

So should there be such as “cause celebre” about the band cribbing some tenets of rock music from previous artists? “Even the classical composers of centuries past used to pinch each other’s tunes all the time. I think Oasis wear their influences on their collective sleeve quite proudly, and on the whole, I think they do something sufficiently different to T. Rex with this riff.” 

“It’s definitely worth thinking about, though, as what we deem to be the difference between plagiarism and emulation will surely plague us more and more as we move deeper into the era of generative artificial intelligence in music.”

The Britpop Formula?

With Oasis and Blur considered the “forefront” of the Cool Britannia movement (at the risk of upsetting Suede and Pulp fans - apologies), was there a certain sound or music theory that others adopted as Britpop seemingly took over the music world in the ‘90s?

“I think there are certain commonalities among Britpop groups, but I wouldn’t say it’s as simple as having a single blueprint to work off,” Dr Jacob remarked. “When we think of Britpop, we think not only of nostalgic evocations of ’60s Britain, as was at the core of the Cool Britannia movement, but also something of a reaction against what was happening in the United States at the time with grunge.”

“There was a nationalist sentiment, certainly, but it was even more granular than that: there was a celebration of the sounds and cultures of different regions of England, with Oasis in Manchester, Pulp in Sheffield, and so on. And this celebration was also of working-class aesthetics, especially those of working-class men – lad culture, binge-drinking, and the like. I think all these themes are audible to varying degrees in the music produced by the titans of Britpop.”

“There’s a lot of fun in what’s being sung – a real focus on sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll – but also shades of emotion and darkness, too”

So what is the “formula” for aspiring musicians to emulate when it comes to writing an Oasis-style hit? Dr Jacob laughs before exclaiming “If I had that formula, I’d be a millionaire!”

“But I’ll say this. Anthems by male-dominated bands like Oasis often find their ways into football chants, or they share characteristics with such chants. To be sung by a crowd of half-cut fans, a tune needs to be simple and repetitive enough to be memorable and shoutable, but not so repetitive as to be boring.” 

“Some of Oasis’s big hits have long, held syllables, and these are easier – and more enjoyable – to belt out in the stands. So, if you’re looking to write the next anthem, why not workshop it with a crowd of football supporters? What’s the worst that could happen?”

The interview with Dr Jacob Downs was conducted thanks to the help of Simply Business, who commissioned him to help with their study on earworms for their most recent advert. For more details on Simply Business and how they can help your business needs, visit their website this weekend.