"Stand by Me"
Single by Oasis
from the album Be Here Now
B-side
  • "(I Got) The Fever"
  • "My Sister Lover"
  • "Going Nowhere"
Released22 September 1997 (1997-09-22)
Length
  • 5:56 (album version)
  • 4:51 (French radio edit)
LabelCreation
Songwriter(s)Noel Gallagher
Producer(s)
Oasis singles chronology
"D'You Know What I Mean?"
(1997) 		"Stand by Me"
(1997) 		"All Around the World"
(1998)
Be Here Now track listing
12 tracks
  1. "D'You Know What I Mean?"
  2. "My Big Mouth"
  3. "Magic Pie"
  4. "Stand by Me"
  5. "I Hope, I Think, I Know"
  6. "The Girl in the Dirty Shirt"
  7. "Fade In-Out"
  8. "Don't Go Away"
  9. "Be Here Now"
  10. "All Around the World"
  11. "It's Gettin' Better (Man!!)"
  12. "All Around the World (Reprise)"

"Stand by Me" is a song by the English rock band Oasis, written by lead guitarist, Noel Gallagher. It was released on 22 September 1997 as the second single from the band's third studio album, Be Here Now (1997).

The song peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart in September 1997. Initially being certified gold in the UK in October 1997, the song would eventually reach platinum status in 2019. It was ranked number 46 on the year-end chart of the United Kingdom for 1997. The song also reached number two in Ireland and entered the top 10 in Finland, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden.

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 British 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."[1]

Release and reception

"Stand by Me" was first included as the fourth track on the band's third studio album, Be Here Now, which was released on 21 August 1997.[2][3] It was released as a single a month later, on 22 September 1997.[4]

The song is generally seen as one of the album's highlights. In a 2002 review, Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club called "Stand by Me" one of the only good tracks present, also naming "My Big Mouth" and "Don't Go Away".[5] Reviewing the album's 2016 deluxe edition, Laura Snapes of Pitchfork gave an overall distaste for the album, but called "Stand by Me" "genuinely touching".[6] Andrzej Lukowski of Drowned in Sound also considered "Stand by Me" one of the album's highlights, but felt that it, along with "Don't Go Away" and "The Girl in the Dirty Shirt" lacked the "romance" of the band's earlier works.[7]

Live performances

Due to Noel's general dislike of Be Here Now, "Stand by Me" was rarely played live by the band at their concerts after the Be Here Now Tour, as it was Noel who usually decided the set lists 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.

In 2019, Liam performed the song for the first time since 2001 as part of an acoustic set for MTV Unplugged, backed by former bandmate Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs. This recording would later be released in 2020 on the live album MTV Unplugged (Live at Hull City Hall).[8] The performance was praised by Jordan Bassett of NME, who called it the album's standout track: "[It] provides the show's emotional centrepiece; from the way the audience sings along with his wounded dispatch, you sense Liam Gallagher's not the only person in the room nursing a few regrets."[9]

It has since remained a consistent staple of Liam's solo setlists.

Music 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 and break into his car, when he is actually getting it open for the businessman who locked the key inside it. Similarly, the music video shows a shop appearing 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 goods. At the same time, a man who was earlier shown to be apparently running away from approaching police officers was actually rushing to save a girl from being run over by the motorcycle – the officers just happened to come by at that time.[10] The video was filmed in the district of Feltham, west London.

Other uses

Since February 2021, the song has appeared in adverts for British bank Halifax.[11]

Track listings

UK 7-inch and cassette single (CRE 278, CRECS 278)[12][13]

  1. "Stand by Me"
  2. "(I Got) The Fever"

UK CD single (CRESCD 278)[14]

  1. "Stand by Me"
  2. "(I Got) The Fever"
  3. "My Sister Lover"
  4. "Going Nowhere"

UK 12-inch single (CRE 278T)[15]

A1. "Stand by Me"
B1. "(I Got) The Fever"
B2. "My Sister Lover"

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for "Stand by Me"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)[36] Gold 25,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[37] Platinum 600,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release dates and formats for "Stand by Me"
Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United Kingdom 22 September 1997
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 Creation [4]
Japan 26 September 1997 CD Epic [38]

References

  1. ^ Noel Gallagher; Oasis: Be Here Now Special on YouTube; hosted by Molly Meldrum; 1997
  2. ^ Harris, John (2004). Britpop!: Cool Britannia and the Spectacular Demise of English Rock. London: Da Capo Press. p. 341. ISBN 0-306-81367-X.
  3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Be Here Now – Oasis". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 21 April 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  4. ^ a b "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 20 September 1997. p. 47.
  5. ^ Thompson, Stephen (29 March 2002). "Oasis Be Here Now". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 3 July 2007.
  6. ^ Snapes, Laura (8 October 2016). "Oasis: Be Here Now Album Review". Pichfork. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  7. ^ Lukowski, Andrzej (5 October 2016). "Album Review: Oasis – Be Here Now (Chasing the Sun edition)". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  8. ^ "Liam Gallagher Stuns Hull City Hall With Biblical MTV Unplugged Set | MTV UK". MTV. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  9. ^ Bassett, Jordan (11 June 2020). "Liam Gallagher – 'MTV Unplugged' review: live record offers warmth, hope and a sense of unity". NME. Archived from the original on 1 July 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  10. ^ "Oasis- Stand by me (original and official)". 5 July 2009. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2009 – via YouTube.
  11. ^ "Where is the new Halifax bank advert filmed in 2021?". 4 March 2021.
  12. ^ Stand by Me (UK 7-inch single sleeve). Oasis. Creation Records. 1997. CRE 278.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  13. ^ Stand by Me (UK cassette single sleeve). Oasis. Creation Records. 1997. CRECS 278.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ^ Stand by Me (UK CD single liner notes). Oasis. Creation Records. 1997. CRESCD 278.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. ^ Stand by Me (UK 12-inch single sleeve). Oasis. Creation Records. 1997. CRE 278T.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. ^ "Oasis – Stand by Me". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  17. ^ "Oasis – Stand by Me" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  18. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 14, no. 41. 11 October 1997. p. 12. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  19. ^ "Oasis: Stand by Me" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  20. ^ "Oasis – Stand by Me" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  21. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (18.9. '97 – 25.9. '97)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 19 September 1997. p. 22. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  22. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Stand by Me". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  23. ^ "Hits of the World – Italy" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 42. 18 October 1997. p. 52. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  24. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 42, 1997" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  25. ^ "Oasis – Stand by Me" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  26. ^ "Oasis – Stand by Me". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  27. ^ "Oasis – Stand by Me". VG-lista. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  28. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  29. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  30. ^ "Oasis – Stand by Me". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  31. ^ "Oasis – Stand by Me". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  32. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  33. ^ "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  34. ^ "Árslistinn 1997 – Íslenski Listinn – 100 Vinsælustu Lögin". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 2 January 1998. p. 25. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  35. ^ "Top 100 Singles 1997". Music Week. 17 January 1998. p. 27.
  36. ^ "Italian single certifications – Oasis – Stand by Me" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 4 October 2018. Select "2018" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Stand by Me" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  37. ^ "British single certifications – Oasis – Stand by Me". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  38. ^ "Oasis | Artist Information". Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Archived from the original on 7 April 2006. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
Categories