Liam Gallagher Doesn’t Know the Words to the Beatles’ “Come Together”

Liam Gallagher has spent the better part of the past 25 years trying to position himself as the musical heir to John Lennon. His obsession is well documented. His trademark nasal rasp was always an obvious nod to the Beatles frontman, and Oasis never made any secret of their debt to the Beatles’ songbook. (In fact, they regularly sampled it.) Gallagher named his first son Lennon in 1999 and (half-) jokingly told the Guardian that he was Lennon reincarnated in 2002.

So one would think that Liam Gallagher would be a safe bet as a guy who knows the words to “Come Together,” one of the Beatles’ most famous and most covered hits. That’s probably what Dave Grohl was thinking when he invited Gallagher to sing the song with Foo Fighters at the annual Cal Jam in San Bernardino, Calif., on Saturday. And yet, Gallagher made it clear from the get-go that he didn’t—at least, not on this night.

After opening the song with a close-but-no-cigar first verse—involving a mystery reference to orange soda and the line, “one is one, two is two”—Gallagher reaches for a conveniently located (if enormous) crib sheet and starts reading the words as he goes. Then he gives up and invites a woman from the crowd to sing the song while he goes crowd surfing. The whole thing is a little confusing.

Gallagher and Foo Fighters each have new records out—As You Were and Concrete and Gold, respectively—and Gallagher recently talked to Paste about his solo career and his wish to get Oasis back together.