‘Lean on Me’ is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bill Withers. It was released in April 1972 as the first single from his second album, Still Bill. It was a number one single on both the soul and Billboard Hot 100 charts, the latter chart for three weeks in July 1972. Billboard ranked it as the No. 7 song of 1972. It was ranked number 208 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2010. Numerous other versions have been recorded, and it is one of only nine songs to have reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with versions recorded by two different artists. In 2007, the 1972 recording of the song by Bill Withers on Sussex Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Bill Withers' childhood in the coal mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, was the inspiration for ‘Lean on Me’, which he wrote after he had moved to Los Angeles, and found himself missing the strong community ethic of his hometown. He had lived in a decrepit house in the poor section of his town.
Withers recalled to SongFacts the original inspiration for the song: "I bought a little piano and I was sitting there just running my fingers up and down the piano. In the course of doing the music, that phrase crossed my mind, so then you go back and say, 'OK, I like the way that phrase, Lean On Me, sounds with this song.'" Withers stated in the same interview that he made an effort to keep the lyrics simple. Several members of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band were used for the recording session in 1972. A string section was also included.
Withers did not record his first song until he was 32 years old. He was in the US Navy for nine years, then worked at a factory making parts for airplanes. Says Withers: "Being from a rural, West Virginia setting, that kind of circumstance would be more accessible to me than it would be to a guy living in New York where people step over you if you're passed out on the sidewalk, or Los Angeles, where you could die on the side of the freeway and it would probably be eight days before anyone noticed you were dead. Coming from a place where people were a little more attentive to each other, less afraid, that would cue me to have those considerations. I think what we say is influenced by how we are, what's been our life experiences. Now, I notice young guys writing about shooting each other in the city and stuff like that, well I would never have said anything like that because it was not my experience, I'm not from a big city. I think circumstance dictates what people think."
Label – Sussex
Songwriter – Bill Withers
Producer – Bill Withers
SONG LYRICS
[Intro]Hmm
Hmm hmm hmm hmm
Hmm hmm hmm hmm
Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm
[Verse 1]
Sometimes in our lives, we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow
[Chorus]
Lean on me when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
[Verse 2]
Please swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill
Those of your needs
That you won't let show
[Bridge]
You just call on me, brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on
[Chorus]
Lean on me when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
[Bridge]
You just call on me, brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on
[Verse 3]
If there is a load you have to bear
That you can't carry
I'm right up the road
I'll share your load
If you just call me
[Outro]
(Call me) If you need a friend
(Call me) Call me, uhuh uhuh
(Call me) If you need a friend
(Call me) If you ever need a friend
(Call me) Call me
(Call me) Call me
(Call me) Call me
(Call me) Call me
(Call me) If you need a friend
(Call me) Call me
(Call me) Call me
(Call me) Call me
(Call me) Call me
(Call me)