While Oasis' first two singles, "Supersonic" and "Shakermaker", were modestly received, it was "Live Forever" that "got the world's attention".
The song illustrates Noel Gallagher's habit of borrowing from the past: the chords are a simple twelve-bar blues progression (albeit with the V (F#) raised to a flat-VII (A)) and the melody for the verse was originally taken from "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" (the song made famous from its use on Coca-Cola adverts in the 1970s) by Roger Cook, Roger Greenaway, Bill Backer and Billy Davis.