Stand By Me chords

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Stand By Me | Chords + Lyrics

Intro

| A | A | F#m | F#m |
| D | E | A | A |

Verse 1

| A | A | F#m | F#m |
When the night has come, and the land is dark.
| D | E | A | A |
And the moon, is the only, light we’ll see.
| A | A | F#m | F#m |
No, I won’t, be afraid, oh I won’t, be afraid.
| D | E | A | A |
Just as long, as you stand, stand by me.

Chorus 1

| A | A | F#m | F#m |
So darlin’, darlin’, stand by me, oh, stand by me.
| D | E | A | A |
Oh, stand, stand by me. Stand by me.

Verse 2

| A | A | F#m | F#m |
If the sky that we look upon, should tumble and fall.
| D | E | A | A |
Or the mountain, should crumble to the sea.
| A | A | F#m | F#m |
I won’t cry, I won’t cry, no I won’t, shed a tear.
| D | E | A | A |
Just as long, as you stand, stand by me.

Chorus 2

| A | A | F#m | F#m |
And darlin’, darlin’, stand by me, oh stand by me.
| D | E | A | A |
Oh stand now. Stand by me, stand by me.

Solo

||: A | A | F#m | F#m |
| D | E | A | A :||

Chorus 3

| A | A | F#m | F#m |
And darlin’, darlin’, stand by me, oh stand by me.
| D | E | A | A |
Oh, stand now, stand by me, stand by me.

Outro

| A | A | F#m | F#m |
Whenever you’re in trouble won’t you. Stand, by me? Oh, stand by me, woah won’t you,
| D | E | A | A |
Stand now? Oh, stand, stand by me.

Stand By Me’s chords and progression

Dubbed the 50s progression or even the Stand By Me changes(!), we have the I – VI – IV – V. In the key of A, Stand By Me’s chords by Ben E. King are:

||: A | A | F#m | F#m |
| D | E | A | A :||

As they never change, and everybody in the entire world knows this tune, we may have the perfect emergency addition to any covers band’s set list in Stand By Me.

Compulsory to know how to play it, you could use this as an opportunity to see if you know your CAGED chord shapes well enough. Try this:

Every time you play Stand By Me, explore the fretboard by playing the I – VI – IV – V progression in all areas.

Since you’ll play this tune with most bands, and a lot of singers like changing the key, this is an excellent opportunity for you to check your fretboard knowledge live, under a bit of pressure.

Before you do this on stage in a new key with a new band, perhaps try it as you play along with the original recording. In order to be in tune with it, change the Hz on my online guitar tuner from 440 to 443.