Stand by Me (Oasis song)
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| “Stand by Me” | |||||
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.jpg/200px-Stand_By_Me_(Oasis).jpg) |
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| Single by Oasis from the album Be Here Now |
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| Released | September 22, 1997 | ||||
| Format | CD, 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, cassette | ||||
| Recorded | November 1996 - April 1997 | ||||
| Genre | Britpop, Rock | ||||
| Length | 5:56 | ||||
| Label | Creation | ||||
| Producer | Owen Morris and Noel Gallagher | ||||
| Oasis singles chronology | |||||
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"Stand by Me" is a song by British rock group Oasis, written by lead guitarist, Noel Gallagher. It was the second single to be released from the band's third album, Be Here Now, and peaked at number 2 in the UK charts in September 1997. It was kept from the top-spot by the record breaking Elton John single "Candle in the Wind," re-recorded and released in memory of Princess Diana, who had died in August of that year. Despite this, "Stand By Me" still went Gold in the UK. "Stand by Me" was acknowledged as one of the stand-out tracks from Be Here Now.
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[edit] Interview
In a 1997 interview promoting Be Here Now, Noel Gallagher had the following to say: "It starts, 'Made a meal and threw it up on Sunday'. When I first moved to London my mam kept on ringing up and asking was I eating properly. Yes, man. So I tried to cook a Sunday roast and puked up for two days with food poisoning. It was back to Pot Noodles after that.It's a bit like Live Forever, I suppose, with a touch of All The Young Dudes in the background -- though I made sure I changed the chords."
[edit] Live Performances
However, due to Noel Gallagher's general dislike of Be Here Now, "Stand by Me" is rarely played live by the band at their concerts, as it is Noel who generally decides the song listings for Oasis' tours. A live version of the song from this tour can be found on the double-CD version of Familiar to Millions.
A critically acclaimed acoustic version of "Stand by Me" was shown on television the night before the release of Be Here Now as part of a BBC1 documentary, featuring Noel, Liam Gallagher and drummer Alan White sitting by the side of a swimming pool, with Liam on vocals, Noel on acoustic guitar and White holding a tambourine.[1]
[edit] Writing
Noel Gallagher claims to have written the song whilst suffering from food poisoning when he first moved to London. His mother Peggy would phone him to check on him and repeatedly told him to ensure he was eating properly. This spurred Gallagher to cook himself a proper English Sunday dinner, which resulted in a bout of food poisoning. Gallagher claims that the song's first line—"Made a meal and threw it up on Sunday/I've got a lot of things to learn"—came to him as he lay on the floor and it was then that he began to pen the lyrics to the song.[1]
The title for the song probably comes from the song "Stand By Me", which was covered by the Gallaghers' idol John Lennon. In a characteristic example of Noel Gallagher lifting elements from songs of which he is fond, the rousing seuence of chord changes between the repeated chorus lyrics 'Stand by me/Nobody knows the way it's gonna be' bears a remarkable similarity to a similar chord sequence in Mott the Hoople's All the Young Dudes, written by David Bowie.
[edit] Video
The video for the song was a reworking of a famous series of adverts for The Guardian newspaper. Entitled The Whole Picture, the adverts showed people appearing to be engaging in criminal and/or anti-social acts—only to revealed that they are actually helping someone else. For example, a scruffily-dressed skinhead rushes at a businessman; it appears he is making an effort to mug him; only the "whole picture" reveals that he is fact dashing to push him away from a load of falling bricks. Similarly in the video for "Stand By Me", a shop appears to be being burgled—its window smashed and people taking away electrical goods—only for it to be revealed that in fact the victim of a motorcycle crash has gone through the window and is buried under the televisions.
[edit] Track listing
- CD CRESCD 278
- "Stand by Me" – 5:55
- "(I Got) The Fever" – 5:14
- "My Sister Lover" – 5:58
- "Going Nowhere " – 4:41
- 7" CRE 278
- "Stand by Me" – 5:55
- "(I Got) The Fever" – 5:14
- 12" CRE 278T
- "Stand by Me" – 5:55
- "(I Got) The Fever" – 5:14
- "My Sister Lover" – 5:58
- Cassette CRECS 278
- "Stand by Me" – 5:55
- "(I Got) The Fever" – 5:14
- "My Sister Lover" - Some fans believe the title to be a reference to the band Sister Lovers, a group that invited Oasis to a May 1993 gig at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow, Scotland, where they were spotted by Creation Records chief Alan McGee, who reportedly offered Oasis a recording contract on the spot after the gig.
- "Going Nowhere" - apparently Noel's attempt at a Burt Bacharach style song - can be found on The Masterplan, a collection of Oasis B-sides. It is one of only two B-sides from the Be Here Now era to be included on the album. Although it was not released until 1997, the song was written in 1990, before Noel even joined Oasis, let alone before they were signed. Despite this, it shows an uncanny level of perceptiveness from Noel with lines like I'm gonna get me a motor car/Maybe a Jaguar/Maybe a plane/Or a day of fame/I'm gonna be a millionaire.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Noel Gallagher; Oasis: Be Here Now Special; hosted by Molly Meldrum; 1997
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