Songfacts®:

• Noel Gallagher made up this story about a teenage love affair. In an interview on the bonus DVD of Stop The Clocks, Noel Gallagher comments that this track contains Liam's best ever singing. Also in the interview, Noel claimed that he was told to release it as a fifth single from Definitely Maybe, but he refused because it would be ridiculous to have 5 singles from a debut album. >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Jackson - Koala Beach, Australia
• This was inspired in part by Noel's stormy relationship with his then girlfriend, Louise Jones. Noel lived with her for 6 years, moving out of his family home in 1989 to move in with her. They had a tumultuous relationship, and split up several times, only each time to get back together again. Louise also inspired the song "Married With Children" and was the first person ever to hear Live Forever, although Gallagher said that she was "very uninterested."
• According to All Music Guide, Noel Gallagher once described this song as trying to combine the Smiths' "Reel Around the Fountain" with Neil Young-style guitar heroics.
• Noel Gallagher wrote this after Smith's axeman Johnny Marr lent him the guitar that he wrote The Queen Is Dead on. He recalled to Mojo magazine February 2013: "The first night I got my hands on I, I wrote 'Slide Away,' fully formed, like the song was already on the guitar."
• Noel Gallagher said of the album's title: "It's a phrase I use all the time. It's contradictory and I like that. It doesn't mean anything. Or does it? Definitely maybe." >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Bertrand - Paris, France
• "Slide Away" entered the UK Singles Chart for the first time in 2025, debuting at #31 on the listing dated August 14, 2025. The surge in streaming and sales was triggered by the reunited Oasis' Live '25 Tour.