The Empty Seat Across The Table Is Staring Back

Liam Gallagher “Moscow Rules”

I first heard “Moscow Rules” totally aware that the song’s primary author is Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend but even if I went in unaware I find it hard to imagine I wouldn’t have suspected that by the first chorus. Koenig’s melodic style is unmistakable to me even when he’s clearly aiming to emulate Paul McCartney, as he definitely is on this song. And like, if you’re asked to write for Liam Gallagher why wouldn’t you do that? “Moscow Rules” has a generous melody well suited to Liam’s matured voice, but also gives him something to work with that’s notably different from what Noel ever wrote for him even if they’re both inspired by the same muse. Noel certainly never pulled this sort of pathos from Liam’s voice, but it could be that he’s simply grown into being the sort of singer who can believably convey the alienation, paranoia, and abject loneliness of a Cold War era spy. I prefer to hear this as more of a metaphor though, where it’s not literally a spy but rather someone who’s found themselves embracing and internalizing rules like “everyone is potentially under opposition control” and “lull them into a state of complacency.”

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