Oasis - Live Forever (Acoustic) HQ

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Noel Gallagher wrote "Live Forever" in 1991, while working for a building company in his hometown of Manchester. After his foot was crushed by a pipe in an accident, he was given a less-strenuous job working in the storeroom, allowing him more time to write songs. One night he was listening to The Rolling Stones' album Exile on Main St. While playing one of his own chord progressions, Gallagher noted that it sounded good against one of the vocal melodies from the album: "It was the bit from 'Shine a Light' that goes [sings], 'May the good lord shine a light on you,'" Gallagher recalled. Gallagher incorporated the melody, changing the line to "Maybe I don't really want to know". For a period afterwards, that was the only part of the song Gallagher had completed.
Gallagher played the song to his younger brother Liam, who was impressed and asked Noel to join his band Oasis. The song was later instrumental in helping the band secure their record deal with Creation Records. Reflecting on when he first heard the song, Creation boss Alan McGee recalled "It was probably the single greatest moment I've ever experienced with them."
The demo version of "Live Forever" begins with an acoustic guitar intro. While recording the album version, the record's producer Owen Morris cut out this intro and replaced it with a drumbeat played by Tony McCarroll. Morris further cut a second section in Gallagher's guitar solo. Although Gallagher was upset, Morris felt the part had sounded "a bit like fucking Slash from Guns N' Roses"

"Live Forever" was released on 8 August 1994 as the band's third single, a month before the release of their debut album Definitely Maybe. The song had been part of the band's set for longer than a year at that point, and had amassed so many mentions in reviews of the group that "its release [as a single] had long seemed inevitable."In its review of the single, NME found "Live Forever" to be an improvement over Oasis' previous singles, concluding, "Basically, what thus far looked like obnoxious Manc arrogance suddenly looks like sheer effortlessness. A terrific record".