Stand By Me- Ben E. King

There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that “Stand By Me” by Ben E. King is one of the most covered songs of the sixties, and to this day, so many new covers of it keep coming up.

What is it about this song that makes so many musicians want to make it theirs?

“Stand By Me” was firstly performed in 1961 by King, and was written by him alongside Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.

The song is written in simple words, but in my opinion touches the deepest human feelings.

The song, which was also sang (beautifully) 3 years ago in Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding, puts in simple words the essence of everything a human wishes to have in life; another reliable, loving and caring person to go down the path of life alongside him.

(Stand By Me, sang at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding)

(the original version, by Ben E. King)

A fun fact:

Ben E. King first offered this song to his R&B group at that time “The Drifters”, but was told – “Not a bad song, but we don’t need it”.

Later that year, it reached the Billboards #1 position in “Hot R&B Singles.”

Later in 2012, the song’s royalties was estimated to have topped $22.8 million (£17 million), making it the sixth highest-earning song as of its era.

The Drifters might have not made the right call on this one…

As I have already stated before, this is one of the most covered songs in the sixties, with over 400 different recorded versions!

Perhaps, the most relevant one to our course is the one by John Lennon. (Well, according to Mel’s claims, he has the tendency to steal music, so not much of a surprise 🙂 )

Lennon recorded this version in 1975, and Billboard stated that his version is “the best version since the original.”

Some could argue this is what Lennon does best- takes good songs, and “makes them better”.

Personally, the paragraph I love the most is the first one:

“When the night has come

And the land is dark

And the moon is the only light we’ll see
No, I won’t be afraid
Oh, I won’t be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me”

This paragraph perfectly describes what a powerful love feels like; as long as the lovers are together, nothing else really matters. Things that would’ve been scary alone are nonesense when alongside her.

Ben then continues to sing the following words:

“If the sky that we look upon

Should tumble and fall

Or the mountains should crumble to the sea

I won’t cry,

No, I won’t shed a tear

Just as long as you stand,

stand by me”

As if the whole word collapsing doesn’t even matter as long as his darling stays by him, which is the most powerful feeling a man can feel when he is truly in love.

My favorite cover of this song was sang by Imagine Dragons in 2015. This cover was also sang by them on Billboard Music Awards in 2015, honoring Ben E. King.

Overall, this is one of my all time favorite songs, and therefore I did not have a single doubt in my mind that I will write my e-book on it.

I hope you enjoyed this e-book and the song itself 🙂

Itay.