The story behind Stand By Me
By Alan Connor
BBC NEWS
"Oh darling, darling..."
These sound like words from a straightforward love song, but everyone who heard it performed in St George's Chapel on Saturday knew that Stand By Me was more than that.
It was published in 1905 by Charles Albert Tindley, though it may go further back into the black American oral tradition. Tindley was a slave's son who volunteered as a janitor at an Episcopalian church in Philadelphia, and eventually became the church's pastor, addressing its mixed-race congregations.
In 1960, Ben E. King, was inspired to update the early 20th century gospel hymn by Charles Albert T psalm, and was first released and made famous by Ben E. King in 1961.
In the context of 1960s America, a black man singing the words "No, I won't be afraid" is "a classic case of political masking". For many, this ballad is also, in fact, a civil-rights anthem.
That's why Harry and Meghan's choice of song meant more than a love song and the performance by the Kingdom Choir takes Stand By Me back further still, re-infusing it with the defiance as well as the devotion of gospel.
