“Wonderwall” was released as the third single off of Oasis' classic album What’s The Story? (Morning Glory). It was supposedly written for Noel Gallagher’s then-girlfriend, Meg Matthews, as he told NME in 1996, “It’s about my girlfriend, Meg Matthews.” Bandmembers Bonehead and Guigsy seconded that in the documentary Live Forever, the Ups and Downs of Britpop. However, after Gallagher divorced Matthews in 2001 he said the song was not about Matthews: “[the song was] about an imaginary friend who’s gonna come and save you from yourself.” Some people believe it is about Noel talking himself (he is his own imaginary friend) out of leaving Oasis (or leaving life!). Others believe it is about the relationship between Noel and Liam and some say it is about his (then) imaginary friendship with Paul McCartney (they would later become friends in the mid-to-late 1990s).

The song’s title was appropriated from the 1968 film Wonderwall – from Psychedelia to Surrealism, which George Harrison provided the soundtrack (called Wonderwall Music) for. Before Noel had his “George Harrison revelation,” the song was titled “Wishing Stone.”

In 2006, it was included in the “Best Of”-compilation Stop The Clocks and in 2010 it was included in the singles collection Time Flies… 1994-2009.