CD - CRESCD 278
01: Stand By Me
02: (I Got) The Fever
03: My Sister Lover
04: Going Nowhere
7" - CRE 278
01: Stand By Me
02: (I Got) The Fever
12" - CRE 278T
01: Stand By Me
02: (I Got) The Fever
03: My Sister Lover
Cassette - CRECS 278
01: Stand By Me
02: (I Got) The Fever
03: My Sister Lover
Release Date: September 22nd 1997
Highest UK Singles Chart Position: 2
Stand By Me is a song by Oasis written by Noel Gallagher. It was the second single to be released from the band's third album, Be Here Now, 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. The track was acknowledged as one of the stand-out tracks from Be Here Now.
Live performances
Due to Noel Gallagher's general dislike of Be Here Now, Stand By Me didn't feature in the bands setlist after 2001.
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 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.
Writing
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. Gallagher claims that the song's first line—"Made a meal and threw it up on Sunday/I've got a lot of things to learn"—came to him as he lay on the floor and it was then that he began to pen the lyrics to the song.
Video
The video for the song 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 to 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; only the "whole picture" reveals that he is fact dashing to push him away from a load of falling bricks. Similarly in the video for Stand By Me, a shop appears to be being burgled - its window smashed and people 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 someone is buried under the televisions.
B-sides
Going Nowhere - apparently Noel's attempt at a Burt Bacharach style song - can be found on The Masterplan, a collection of Oasis B-sides. It is one of only two B-sides from the Be Here Now era to be included on the album. Although it was not released until 1997, the song was written in 1990, before Noel even joined Oasis, let alone before they were signed.