Ben E. King's signature song was written with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. King recalls, “The song came about, because we had some studio time left over during one of the sessions that we were doing. I was with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and they came to me and said, ‘We have a few minutes of studio time and the musicians; do you think that we can do something with it?’ I played a little amateur piano, so I played some little chords and I started singing and before I knew it they started recording. They started putting bits and pieces together for this particular song and then they called me back to the microphone and they said let’s try this out. Before I knew it 'Stand By Me' was born."
In 1961, it reached the top of the R&B chart and made it to number four on the pop chart. Twenty five years later it was re-released as a single in conjunction with the movie 'Stand By Me' and made it to number nine on the US pop chart. It was also used in a Levi's commercial, which led to the song reaching number one in the UK chart in 1987. It was also voted as one of the Songs of the Century by the Recording Industry Association of America.
When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh now now stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me
If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
And the mountains should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me, stand by me-e, yeah
Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me, oh now now stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me
Darlin', darlin', stand by me-e, stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me
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