“Lean On Me” is about that kind of love, but it also touches on profound themes lurking underneath the seeming simplicity of all those one-syllable words. It’s about reciprocation, and the ...

That album showcased his refreshing, folksy vocals and simple yet resonant lyrics by way of “Ain ... Like “Grandma’s Hands” before it, “Lean on Me” was built around the hometown ...

As he was playing the phrase “Lean on me” crossed his mind. He used it as a prompt and wrote the lyrics around the question “What could lead someone to say those words?” The songwriter ...

Lean on Me, which came out on his second album in 1972, has proved even more enduring. With its gospel cadences and its simple, powerful words, it has carried people through crisis after crisis.

The phrase “lean on me,” which he attributed to his West Virginia upbringing, popped into his head and he simply spun out the lyrics from there. “I think what we say is influenced by how we ...