Noel Gallagher was thrilled to hear hundreds of thousands of Mancunians sing his 1995 tune Don't Look Back in Anger at a vigil following Monday's (22May17) bomb attack in his native Manchester, England.
The rocker wrote the stirring song for Oasis' album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? and it became the first single on which he sang lead vocals.
Noel admits it wasn't a big deal at the time - just another song - but over the past two decades it has taken on a life of its own, and on Thursday (25May17), the track became a symbol of Manchester's spirit as thousands of people sang it in tribute to the victims of a terror attack at Ariana Grande's concert at the Manchester Arena on Monday.
"As the years have gone by, it's like that song is now more important than I'll ever be," Noel tells Radio X presenter John Kennedy. "There's footage on the internet now of people singing it in Manchester with candles and all that...
"It is incredible to think that a few generations now have attached some kind of importance to that song. There was mine, and it was passed on to another generation and that song now has become a hymn to something or other.'
The famously cocky rock star admits fans' connection to his song have humbled him, and he insists sometimes he feels he didn't really write the song at all.
"I don't ever sit there and think that I wrote that, you know," he explains. "I think it came from somewhere else. I think it was a song that was there somewhere, and if I hadn't have written it, you know, Bono would have written it.
"It's like those great songs, One and Let It Be, and, yeah, I did just compare myself to Paul McCartney there. You know, they're (great songs) there. If they fall out the sky and land on your lap, then lucky you.'
What A Life! Noel Gallagher at 50 - the rocker's full interview with Kennedy, will air on Radio X on Sunday (28May17), the day before the former Oasis star turns 50.
