Stand by me

Stand by Me

A song by Ben E. King

“Stand By Me” is a single released by the singer Ben E. King in 1961, and later included in King’s album “Don’t Play This Song!” in 1963.

It was written by King, together with the award-winning partners lyricist Jerome “Jerry” Lieber and composer Michael Stoller.

Cover art for “Don’t Play This Song!”

Ben E. King

(September 28, 1938 – April 30, 2015)

King was an American soul and R&B singer and record producer.

He was born in North Carolina under the name Benjamin Earl Nelson and moved to New York at the the age of nine in 1947. King began singing in church choirs, and in high school formed the Four B’s, a doo-wop (sub-genre of R&B) group.

In 1958, King joined a doo-wop group called the Five Crowns, which later replaced the members of the Drifters’.

In May 1960, King left the Drifters and started a solo career with the stage name ‘Ben E. King’.

King returned to the Drifters in late 1982 in England, and sang with them until the group’s break-up and reorganization in 1986.

As a Drifter and as a solo artist, King had achieved five number one hits: “There Goes My Baby”, “Save the Last Dance for Me”, “Stand By Me”, “Supernatural Thing”, and the 1986 re-issue of “Stand By Me”. He also earned 12 Top 10 hits and 26 Top 40 hits from 1959 to 1986. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a Drifter; he was also nominated as a solo artist.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
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

[Chorus]
So darlin’, darlin’, stand by me
Oh, stand by me
Oh, stand
Stand by me, stand by me

[Verse 2]
If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
Or the mountains should crumble to the sea
I won’t cry, I won’t cry
No, I won’t shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

[Chorus]
And darlin’, darlin’, stand by me
Oh, stand by me
Woah, stand now
Stand by me, stand by me

The chords

“Stand By Me” features a very popular and basic chord progression, which can be heard in many songs throughout the history and even in classical music. One recent example is the song “Zahav” by the Israelis Static & Ben-El. It is clearly inspired by the 50’s-60’s, so we can assume that choosing this progression, with the intent of the song being successful, was not by chance.

The chord progression:

I (2 bars) > vi (2 bars) > IV (1 bar) > V (1 bar) > I (2 bars)

*Lowercase letters for minor chords

The popularity of the song eventually caused this chord progression to also be known as the “Stand By Me progression”.

In “Stand By Me” the progression is strongly highlighted by the Bass, which outlines the changes by playing mainly the root note of each chord plus a few passing tones. The signature bassline and its catchy rhythm is also one of the main reasons for the song’s success.

The song’s success

The song was ranked the 122nd out of Rolling Stones “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”. In 2012 it ranked as one of BMI’s top 5 most performed songs of the 20th century, with more than 11.6 million performances.

When it debuted in 1961, it reached the Billboards #1 position in “Hot R&B Singles.”

The song success’s can be measured also by the many versions The song has been recorded into – more than 400 other versions, including John Lennon, Tracy Chapman, Warren Zevon, Florence & The Machine, Mickey Gilley, Prince Royce, Otis Redding and even Muhammad Ali.

Here are a few versions:

John Lennon’s version:

U2 and Bruce Sprigsteen’ version:

Andddd one of the funniest versions is this one:

Especially the auto-tune at the end 😉