B-side "I Stayed Long Enough" Recorded August 28, 1968 Length 2:38 | Format 7" Genre Country | |
Released September 1968 (U.S.)
1975 (U.K.) | ||
"Stand by Your Man" is a song co-written by Tammy Wynette and Billy Sherrill and originally recorded by Wynette, released as a single in the United States in September 1968. It proved to be the most successful record of Wynette's career, and is one of the most recorded songs in the history of country music. The song was placed at number one on CMT's list of the Top 100 Country Music Songs.
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Released as a single in late 1968, the song reached number one on the U.S. country charts in late 1968 for three weeks. "Stand by Your Man" also crossed over to the U.S. pop charts, peaking at number nineteen. It elevated Wynette—then one of many somewhat successful female country recording artists—to superstar status. It reached number one in the UK Singles Chart when the record was finally released in Britain in 1975, subsequently also reaching number one in the Netherlands. An album of the same name—which was also quite successful—was released in 1968.
The song was selected by the Library of Congress as a 2010 addition to the National Recording Registry, which selects recordings annually that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Background and writing
"Stand by Your Man" was reportedly written in 1968 at Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville in all of 15 minutes. The song came from an idea that originated with Wynette's producer, Billy Sherrill, who along with Wynette is one of the two writers credited. Tammy was not very fond of the song at first because it was unlike anything she had ever written before, and because there is a high note that was hard for her to sing. She said that, over time, she got to love the song, and came to the point where she "couldn't do a show without it." Sherrill originally stated that, before "Stand by Your Man"'s release, he thought that Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" would be Wynette's signature song. However, after witnessing how successful the song came to be in America during that time, Sherrill then agreed that "Stand by Your Man" was definitely Wynette's career-defining hit.
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Derided by the Feminist movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Wynette in later years defended the song as not a call for women to place themselves second to men, but rather a suggestion that women attempt to overlook their husbands' shortcomings and faults if they truly love them (and in fact, the last line in the final verse says "after all, he's just a man"). Wynette always defended her signature song. The song remained contentious into the early 1990s, when soon-to-be First Lady Hillary Clinton told CBS' 60 Minutes during the 'Gennifer Flowers' interview that she "wasn't some little woman 'standing by my man' like Tammy Wynette." The condemnation from the public was immediate, even coming from Wynette herself.
In popular culture
The song appeared at the beginning of the Academy-Award nominated 1970 film Five Easy Pieces, starring Jack Nicholson and Karen Black. It also appeared in The Blues Brothers (1980) (in which it was sung by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi), 1987 film The Fourth Protocol, starring Michael Caine and Pierce Brosnan, and at the end of the Academy-Award-winning 1992 film The Crying Game (in which it was sung by Lyle Lovett). The song resurfaced again in a string of other early 1990s films, including Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), and GoldenEye (1995).
A 1976 answer song by Ronnie Milsap "(I'm A) Stand by My Woman Man" also topped the country music charts.
The song is referenced in songs by British punk rock groups The Slits ("Typical Girls") and The Clash ("Train in Vain").
"Stand by Your Man" is the title song of the German comedy show Dittsche.
The song appears on the game Karaoke Revolution Country.
In 2003, "Stand by Your Man" was rated number one on CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music. In 2004, "Stand by Your Man" was rated number sixteen on CMT's 100 Greatest Country Love Songs.
In 1968, Italian singer Palma Calderoni recorded this song with Italian text, written by Mogol and Claudio Daiano (title is Io voglio te).
The song was spoofed on Sesame Street as "Stand By Your Can". It was performed by Hammy Swinette, a porcine parody of Wynette, who—with the help of a Muppet trash can—urges people to put their trash in a trash can.
The song was also used during the episode "Hatless" of the first season of Justified.
The song also appears in an episode of the popular 2008 show "Gossip Girl", where an embarrassing video of Blair Waldorf singing "Stand By Your Man" is played at her 21st birthday party.
In 2016, the song appeared in the fourth season premiere of Masters of Sex where a drunk Virginia Johnson (played by Lizzy Caplan) is shown singing along in a hotel bar.