“Stand by me – Ben E King 

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

So darlin’, darlin’
Stand by me, oh, stand by me
Oh, stand, stand by me
Stand by me

If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
Or the mountain 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

And darlin’, darlin’
Stand by me, oh, stand by me
Oh, stand now, stand by me
Stand by me

Darlin’, darlin’
Stand by me, oh, stand by me
Oh, stand now, stand by me
Stand by me
Whenever you’re in trouble, won’t you stand by me?
Oh, stand by me
Won’t you stand now?
Oh, stand, stand by me

“Stand by me father”

Oh, Father You’ve been my friend
Now that I’m in trouble
Stand by me to the end, oh, oh
I want You to stand by, stand by

Well, all of my money and my friends are gone
God, I’m in a mean world
And I’m so all alone, oh, oh
I need You Jesus, stand by, stand by

Well, they tell me that
Samson killed in ancient times
I know that You helped
Him kill 10, 000 Philistines, oh
Whoa I need You, stand by, stand by

Here’s another thing
They tell me that they put Daniel
Down in the lion’s den
I know You went down there, Father

You feed Daniel once again
That’s why I said
Do me like You did Daniel
And stand by, stand by

Well, sometimes I feel like
The weight of the world is on my shoulders
And it’s all in vain
When I begin to feel weak along the way
You come and You give me strength again

The Hebrew children have been in fire
Ten times hotter that it ought to be
Just like You delivered them, Father
I know You can deliver me, oh Lord
I’m calling You Jesus, stand by, stand by

When I’m sick, Father, stand by
When they doctor walk away from my bedside
Stand by me father
When it seem like I don’t have a friend
I wonder would You be my friend
Stand closer, stand by

Songwriters: JAMES W ALEXANDER, SAM COOKE

with the song being linked and used in the film stand by me, I personally believe this is a song of friendship and trust held within each of the 4 main characters in the film  Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern, once they grew up and lived there own lives, in the ending of the book and film Chris dies in a fist fight trying to help someone (maybe trying to stand by them and help)  he gets to caught up and is killed Gordie wonders if they had all stuck together and stood by each other things like this may not have happened. I also think with that trust comes the safety of one another how each of them looks out for one another and make sure they are safe even in times of danger, the phrase stand by me makes me think of someone standing by your side no matter what the circumstance is,

“I won’t be afraid” shows in the song that the person is telling themselves they will not be afraid of anything if it will help out a friend and then they said it again for the encouragement to themselves making them believe they won’t be afraid. I think this relates to people nowadays in friendships and relationships the song to me personally tells me that if you have someone who sticks by your side no matter what circumstance you are in they are a true friend they stand by you ” If the sky that we look upon, Should tumble and fall, Or the mountain should crumble to the sea”. I think I could personally relate to this song it makes me think of my friends and family in my life that have stuck by m, the person I think of when I hear this song is my dad he has stuck by my side through thick and thin “Whenever you’re in trouble, won’t you stand by me? and when the other person is in trouble I would want them to come to stand by my side and I will support with them with my strength as they did for me and are doing for me.

the song by Ben E King originally was inspired by a spiritual written which is a negro gospel-which is a genre of Christian music, in this case, the song “stand by me father” an area of the song was based around the psalm “will not fear, though the Earth be removed, and through the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea” which is a quote from the bible which is linked to why it would be made into a Christian gospel type of song. The song was for negro people to come together in the name of there god in church. Ben E King changed the song to suit the movie I can see a resemblance in the two different sets of lyrics and were most likely inspired by the original song “Stand by me father” its more of a song that inspired negro people who back then may have not been treated as fairly as they should so church was a place for them to come together and inspire them to carry on the song stand by me father repeats that exact lyric more to engrave the message of the most important thing that needs to be said and brought upon to people.

The two different lyrics show a similar meaning the words stand by me speak for themselves its sort of a question stand by me? is repeated multiple times throughout both songs one in the name of father/Jesus and the new song is more of a friendship type of committed stand by me “I won’t be afraid Just as long as you stand, stand by me” this lyric tells me being alone and trying to be strong in a tough situation is sometimes frightening and when there is someone by your side to support you and stick by you in bad times, its less frightening then battling something on your own the comfort and support of another person positively influences the person in struggle. “I won’t cry, I won’t cry, No, I won’t shed a tear, Just as long as you stand, Stand by me” I can see from this emotion is linked to the song crying is a sign of sadness, stress etc basically from what I can see you won’t be sad or alone if you have someone standing by you, comforting you. Although the song is very short and repetitive we stll get the idea and meaning behind the song again as “stand by me father” repeats the most inportant thing we need to know in the song.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Join the conversation! 1 Comment

  1. Shawna, it is good that you had started with the historical context of this song, but you could make your connection to the “history” and the words of “Stand by Me” clearer. I.e. How do these texts connect? What are they trying to say? Consider this as you develop your ideas.

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