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"Stand By Me" is a song by Oasis, written by lead guitarist, Noel Gallagher.
It was the second single to be released from the band's third album, and peaked at number two 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 1997", re-recorded and released in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, who had died three weeks before the release of "Stand By Me". Despite this, Stand By Me still went Gold in the UK.
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 my 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 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 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."
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 as part of Be Here Now 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.
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