'When It Went Double Platinum, Andy Burnham Rewarded Us': How the Courteeners Made Not Nineteen Forever

'In nightclubs, I could sit in a corner and scribble lyrics while others danced or drifted away.' Before the band formed, I had the poem Not Nineteen Forever. It lived in a small red book of poems and doodles, which helped me get into the creative writing program at the University of Salford. Most of the songs on our debut album, St. Jude, came from that book. Besides university, five nights a week I worked at the Night and Day bar in Manchester ...

I had the lyrics to Not Nineteen Forever before the band existed. They were in a little red book of poetry and scribbles that won me a place on a creative writing course at the University of Salford. Most of the songs on our first album, St. Jude, were in that book. As well as university, I worked in a bar in Manchester five nights a week, day and night, but in a nightclub, I was the guy in the corner scribbling while everyone else was dancing or dancing.

Not Nineteen Forever was probably inspired by a certain incident, although I don't remember exactly. The first line, "He had to pull me off the pavement," could have happened many nights back then. "You pull the crowd down the stairs from the front" is because the stairs at the 42nd Street Club were so narrow that you literally had to crawl up the front of people. The chorus: "You're not nineteen forever, pull yourself together," sounds like something someone might have told me, but I could easily have said to myself after waking up in a daze.

I got the chords when I tried to practice with Strokes, but the finger positions got messed up. I had taken a laundry bag over to my parents' house and was working on it in my old bedroom when my dad poked his head in and said, "That looks good, that's all." Not Nineteen Forever was one of the last songs I wrote before I convinced my three wives to form the band. I told them, "If you don't do this to me, I'll be playing acoustic guitar alone in Manchester pubs forever."

You'd never think a song would resonate 20 years later, but it's easily become the Courteeners' most popular song. Ironically, it initially charted at number 19, but years later, when it went double platinum, Andy Burnham - who comes to our gigs - presented us with the trophy in the British Preservation pub. This song has now become bitter. At concerts, I see our core fans with their kids - who are 17, 18, 19 - and they're all singing, "You're not nineteen forever, pull yourself together."

The Courteeners had just been signed by a major label who asked me if I could go to Manchester to meet them as they had expressed an interest in working with me. I saw them play in one of the university halls and it was interesting to me. They already had a devoted following who sang along to the lyrics the way Smiths audiences used to. I had produced The Smiths, so it was right up my alley.

In the mid-2000s, there was a resurgence of indie guitar bands: Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, and Kasabian. In a way, the Curtiners were the last of this very popular guitar group. The next thing I knew we were all at Olympic Studios in London recording the album. I was excited to work with them. Not Nineteen Forever was a ready-made anthem and stood out, but so was Cavorting or What Took You So Long?

With a band like the Courteeners, you want to capture their performance. Like the best bands, they were like a little band: us against the world so we recorded live and just used click tracks to set the tempo. Their arrangement was short and concise and did not require much editing. Liam and Cannon's [Daniel Morse] guitar parts were intrinsic to the sound—I lent Cannon an old, vintage Telecaster—and I found the feel in Liam's voice really appealing.

When they started working in a garage, Liam had to shout to hear the guitar, but in the studio I vaguely remember telling him he didn't need to. When I saw the lyrics to Not Nineteen Forever written it hit me how good they were. "Older Woman and Much Younger Man" always makes me laugh. He was 19 years old. The "older woman" was probably 21 or something like that.

When the album came out, I was confused by the lukewarm response from the press - probably because there were four other guys on guitar - but it's a really strong set that I think still holds up today. The reissue of St. Jude went to #1 15 years after its release. This had never happened to me before in my career: I was completely emotional.

God Bless the Band - The Best Courtiner is out now Ignition Music. A UK tour kicks off on November 6 at the First Direct Bank Arena, Leeds.