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Noel Gallagher and Johnny Marr Join Forces for ‘Ballad Of The Mighty I’

Noel Gallagher, Johnny Marr, Ballad of the Mighty I

Johnny Marr joined Noel Gallagher’s flock of High Flying Birds for “Ballad of the Mighty I,” a new song off of the former Oasis member’s upcoming album. The collaboration is an energetic, yet introspective and almost somber track, featuring the two Manchester guitarists doing what they do best. In an interview with the Guardian, Gallagher explained that he wanted to get Marr to appear on his last album, but nothing came of it. The second time around he had better luck.

“So when I put this track together and knew he would be perfect for it I called him and asked if I could send him the rough mix,” Gallagher told the Guardian. “He said: ‘No, I don’t want to hear it. I’m just going to react to it on the day.’ He didn’t even want any pointers. Well, that was brave of him. He just arrived with two guitars and a bag of effects pedals. And I have to say, he’s unbelievable. He’s way up there, on another level to the rest of us.”

“The result is a burst of energy that helped make ‘Mighty I’ one of the best songs I’ve ever written,” Gallagher concluded. 

The new song is the second track he’s shared from Chasing Yesterday (following “In the Heat of the Moment”), which arrives on March 2. “Ballad of the Mighty I” also came with a video, which unfortunately does not feature Johnny Marr. It does, however, really make it clear that Gallagher hates making music videos, as he’s said before. There’s a slightly pompous director character in the beginning and the end of the video, and Gallagher’s total disinterest in doing a second take makes for a pretty good joke. Watch it above.