The general consensus is that this song is about Noel Gallagher's then-girlfriend Meg Mathews, who is compared with a schoolboy's wall to which posters of footballers and Pop stars are attached. He told
Select
magazine at the time: "It's about my girlfriend. She was out of work, and that, a bit down on her luck, so it's just saying, 'Cheer up and f---in get on with it.'" Noel later married then divorced Meg Mathews.
However, according to
Q
magazine's 1001 Best Songs Ever, this was not about Mathews. Noel is quoted as saying, "The meaning of that song was taken away from me by the media who jumped on it. And how do you tell your Mrs. it's not about her once she's read it is? It's about an imaginary friend who's going to come and save you from yourself."