D'You Know What I Mean?
| "D'You Know What I Mean?" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Oasis | ||
| From the album Be Here Now | ||
| Single Released | 7 July 1997 | |
| Single Format | CD | |
| Recorded | November 1996 to April 1997 | |
| Genre | Britpop | |
| Song Length | 7 min 42 s | |
| Record label | Creation Records | |
| Producer | Owen Morris & Noel Gallagher | |
| Chart positions | 1 (UK) | |
| Oasis single chronology | ||
| "Don't Look Back in Anger" 1996 |
"D'You Know What I Mean" 1997 |
"Stand By Me" 1997 |
D'You Know What I Mean? is a song by British rock band Oasis. It was the first single from their third album Be Here Now.In the UK, its highest chart position was #1. The song was written by Noel Gallagher.
At the time "D'You Know What I Mean" was released, Oasis were at the height of their fame, and as a result, the single, along with the album, was highly anticipated. Upon its release it was critically and commercially successful, but as was the case with Be Here Now, once the hype died down, the single was seen as bloated and indulgent, embellished with lyrics and guitar parts played backwards and strange morse code and helicopter sound effects. All Music Guide labelled it "Oasis' first boring single".
The song also exhibits some of Noel Gallagher's less admirable songwriting qualities. Many of the lyrics are meaningless and cliched, or lifted from other songs. For example, there is a reference to Bob Dylan ("Blood on the tracks must be mine"), The Beatles ("Fool on the hill and I feel fine"). The guitar chords on both the verse and the chorus are essentialy the same an the chords used for the verse in the Oasis single "Wonderwall" (Em7 G/Dsus2 Asus4).
However, despite the critical coldness to the A-side, one of the B-sides, "Stay Young", has become a popular Oasis song, so much so that fans voted it onto the B-sides collection The Masterplan - one of only two B-sides from the Be Here Now period which made the album. The song was originally intended to be the "Digsy's Dinner" of Be Here Now (the lighthearted novelty track, such as "She's Electric"), until Noel set it aside in favour of "Magic Pie". Gallagher claims not to be particularly fond of the track.
The title of the song comes from the phrase that Mancunians often uses in conversation.
Another B-side is a cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" sung by Noel.
Single Tracks
- "D'You Know What I Mean?"
- "Stay Young"
- "Angel Child" [Demo]
- "Heroes"