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Lean On Me

Bill Withers

from the album Still Bill released in 1972

jump to: lyrics / notes & tabs / chord progressions / song info

Lyrics

Intro

    C ... C → walk up   → F 
          F → walk down → C 
          C → walk up   → Em → G 

    C ... C → walk up   → F 
          F → walk down → C 
          C → walk up   → G → C     (see below for tabs)


Verse

    C                 F                    C 
    Sometimes in our lives... we all have pain
    C           Em  G 
    We all have sorrow
    C              F                   C 
    But if we are wise, we know that there's 
    C         G   C 
    Always tomorrow

    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

    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


Refrain

        C 
        You just call on me, brother, when you need a hand
                                G    C  
        We all need somebody to lean on
        I just might have a problem that you'll understand
        We all need somebody to lean on

    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

        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

    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

            G    C 
            Call me...
            Call me...
            Call me...
            Call me...

Notes & Tabs

Basic Chords Used

The basic chords you'll need to play this song can be played as shown below. You can easily abbreviate the F chord by omitting the highest and lowest strings (so it looks like x3321x, from lowest to highest).

e-|----0-----1-----0-----3----
B-|----1-----1-----0-----0----
G-|----0-----2-----0-----0----
D-|----2-----3-----2-----0----
A-|----3-----3-----2-----2----
E-|----------1-----0-----3----
       C     F     Em    G

Intro & Verse Riff

The distinctive piano walk-up and walk-down riff heard during the intro and verse can be imitated on guitar as follows. There are many ways you could play this riff, but this is a good and simple version to start with.

e-|----0-------------------------------------0-------------------0---3----
B-|----1----------------1--------------------1-------------------0---0----
G-|----0----------------2--------------------0-------------------0---0----
D-|----2---------0--2---3--------3--2---0----2----------0---2----2---0----
A-|----3----3-----------3--------------------3-------3-----------2---2----
E-|--------------------------------------------------------------0---3----
       C                F                    C                  Em   G 
      "Sometimes in our lives... we all have pain... we all have sorrow"

 -|----0----------------------------------0------------------0---0----
 -|----1-------------1--------------------1------------------0---1----
 -|----0-------------2--------------------0------------------0---0----
 -|----2------0--2---3-------3--2----0----2----------0----2--0---2----
 -|----3---3---------3--------------------3-------3----------2---3----
 -|----------------------------------------------------------3--------
       C             F                    C                  G   C 
      "But if we are wise... we know that there's al-ways tomorrow"

Chord Progressions

Intro

| C . . . | F . . . | C . . . | Em . G . |
| C . . . | F . . . | C . . . | G  . C . |

Verse

"Sometimes in our lives, we all have pain..."
| C . . . | F . . . | C . . . | Em . G . |
| C . . . | F . . . | C . . . | G  . C . |

Refrain

"You just call on me, brother..."
| C . . . | . . . . | . . . . | G . C . |
| C . . . | . . . . | . . . . | G . C . |

Outro

"Call me..."
| G . C . | (repeat)

Song Info

Song: Lean On Me
Artist: Bill Withers
Album: Still Bill
Year: 1972
Label: Sussex

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About

My name is David Potsiadlo, and I created Songnotes to share my collection of guitar tabs, chords, and lyrics for my favorite songs.

Since I started playing guitar over 10 years ago, I've often been frustrated by the preponderance of mediocre and incomplete song tabs littered across the internet. To combat this, I started keeping my own collection of notes for each song I learn -- always taking the extra time to make sure accuracy and completeness are never compromised. Years later, my collection grew to the point where I knew I had to share it online with fellow aspiring musicians.

In December 2012, I began designing & developing a website that became Songnotes. Here, I share my personal collection of hand-crafted music notation with all those online. I hope you enjoy.

You can also view my personal website or follow me on Twitter / Dribbble / GitHub / LinkedIn.