Stand by Me (Oasis song)

History

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. 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 me mam kept on ringing up and asking was I eating properly. Yes, Mam. 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."

The title for the song likely 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 sequence 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 David Bowie's "All the Young Dudes", acknowledged by Gallagher: "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."

Live performances

Due to Noel Gallagher's general dislike of Be Here Now, "Stand by Me" was rarely played live by the band at their concerts, as it was Noel who usually decided 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 well-known acoustic version of "Stand by Me" was shown on television the night before the release of Be Here Now as part of a BBC One 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 playing tambourine. This version became available with the 2016 "Chasing The Sun" edition of Be Here Now.

Video

The video for the song was shot on 20 September 1997. It 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 for it to be 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. A man also appears to be breaking into a car. Only the "whole picture" reveals that the bald man is in fact trying to warn him that someone is forcing his car lock while the "thief" is actually helping the businessman open his stuck car door. Similarly in the video for "Stand by Me", a shop appears to be being burgled—its window is smashed and people are 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. The video was filmed in the suburban town of Feltham, Middlesex.

Track listing

1. "Stand by Me" (Radio Edit) – 4:51

1. "Stand by Me" – 5:55
2. "(I Got) The Fever" – 5:14
3. "My Sister Lover" – 5:58
4. "Going Nowhere" – 4:41

1. "Stand by Me" – 5:55
2. "(I Got) The Fever" – 5:14

1. "Stand by Me" – 5:55
2. "(I Got) The Fever" – 5:14
3. "My Sister Lover" – 5:58

Personnel