Lean on Me (song)

Bill Withers' childhood in the coal mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia,[5] 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.'" [6]

Withers stated in the same interview that he made an effort to keep the lyrics simple.[6]

Several members of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band[7] were used for the recording session in 1972. A string section was also included as well.

Withers' version is noted for its bridge section: ("Just call on me, brother"), as well as the coda section, where the words ”call me” are repeated a total of 14 times, before the song ends on a cadenza on the strings. Several radio stations, as well as the single version, fade out during the repeated coda, due to time limits as well as the repetition of the lyrics. Some radio versions cut the number of "Call Me's" to six times before the song's end.

• Bill Withers – Piano, Vocals
• Benorce Blackmon – Guitar
• Raymond Jackson – Wurlitzer electric piano, string arrangement
• Melvin Dunlap – Bass
• James Gadson – Drums

7-inch single

1. "Lean on Me" – 3:45
2. "Better Off Dead" – 2:13

"Lean on Me"
Single by Club Nouveau
from the album Life, Love & Pain
B-side	"Pump it Up (Reprise)"
Released	1987
Recorded	1986
Genre	R&B soul funk go-go
Length	6:01 (LP version) 3:58 (radio edit)
Label	Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)	Bill Withers
Producer(s)	Jay King
Club Nouveau singles chronology
"Situation #9" (1986) "Lean on Me" (1987) "Why You Treat Me So Bad" (1987)
Music video
"Lean on Me" on YouTube

The R&B group Club Nouveau covered the song with go-go beat and took it to number one for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in March 1987.[17] It also reached number one on the dance charts,[17] and number two on the Black Singles charts, kept out of the top spot by Jody Watley's "Looking for a New Love". It won a Grammy award in 1987 for Bill Withers, as the writer, for Best R&B Song.[18] This version of "Lean on Me" is known for the addition of the faux-reggae refrain "We be jammin'! We be jammin'!".

The song ranked at number 94 in VH1's 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders of the 80s.[19]

In 1999, 2-4 Family released "Lean on Me (With the Family)", a remake with a hip hop arrangement and additional lyrics. Epic Records published a 12-inch single and a CD maxi single in Germany.[32]

In 2008, several years after the dissolution of 2-4 Family, founding band-member Mike Johnson performed the song with backing vocalists and dancers at the Eurovision Song Contest in Bulgaria.

• A choir performing an acoustic version of the song appeared in the episode 'It Was Panning' from the BBC Sitcom Miranda. During this scene, the lyrics are briefly altered to 'She's not obese! It was pa-a-anning!', as part of the episode.
• The song is frequently played at charity events. Avril Lavigne and Heart made a duet singing this song at the 17th Race to Erase MS event in May 2010.[37] Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow and Keith Urban performed the song at the 2010 Hope for Haiti earthquake relief telethon. Celeste performed the song as part of The Big Night In telethon in order to raise funds to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic.[38]
• Mary J. Blige performed this song at the HBO We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial (January 18, 2009).[39] The next day, a crowd spontaneously began singing the song in the Purple Tunnel of Doom under the National Mall as they waited to gain entrance to the inauguration ceremonies.[40]
• On October 3, 2015, Hillary Clinton, during her presidential candidature, made a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live in a comedy sketch alongside Kate McKinnon, who regularly parodied Clinton for the show. At the end of the sketch, the duo sang "Lean on Me" together.[41]
• In the Amphibia episode "Reunion", the song plays when Anne was forced to let Sasha fall on Toad Tower.

• "Lean on Me" has been interpreted by various other artists including Mud (1976), Tina Turner w/ Ike Turner and Home Grown Funk (an up-tempo version, 1984), Al Jarreau (1985), DC Talk (1992), Michael Bolton (1993), Bonnie Tyler (1999), Anne Murray (1999), The Temptations and Mark Medlock (2011).
• In 1989, remakes of "Lean on Me" by The Winans and Sandra Reaves-Phillips provided the emotional uplift for the film, Lean on Me. For the same film, the song was adapted by Big Daddy Kane in "hip hop" form.[42] That same year Kids Incorporated covered "Lean on Me" in the Season 6 episode "The Cover Up".[43]
• Curtis Stigers sings it on Gene Harris blues infused gospel album, In His Hands (1996).
• Australian born Irish singer Johnny Logan recorded the song on his album, We All Need Love (2003).
• In 2004, Glen Campbell recorded the song on his album Love Is the Answer: 24 Songs of Faith, Hope and Love.
• Jack Vidgen recorded a version of the song for his 2012 album Inspire.
• Mitchel Musso recorded a version of the song for the 2008 film Snow Buddies.[44]
• Glee recorded a version of the song for the "Ballad" (November 18, 2009) episode, in which the glee club sings it to fellow members Finn and Quinn.[45]
• The Canadian Tenors released their own version in the album Under One Sky published in 2015.[46]
• In 2020, the song was recorded by an ad hoc supergroup of Canadian musicians credited as ArtistsCAN, both in tribute to Withers' recent death and to raise funds for the Canadian Red Cross during the COVID-19 pandemic.[47] Participating artists included Bryan Adams, Jann Arden, Justin Bieber, Michael Bublé, Fefe Dobson, Scott Helman, Shawn Hook, Avril Lavigne, Geddy Lee, Marie-Mai, Sarah McLachlan, Johnny Orlando, Josh Ramsay, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Tyler Shaw, Walk Off the Earth, Donovan Woods, and Olivia Lunny.[48]
• During the same pandemic, John Fogerty recoded the song on his album Fogerty's Factory, with a video of the song anticipating the album.[49]

• "Lean On Me" at the 2015 Induction Ceremony on YouTube
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics