Go to main content

I Need Somebody to Lean On

Rating:
4.5 / 5

Words & Music: Doc Pomus Mort Shuman

I need somebody to lean on
I need somebody to tell my troubles to
No use denying, I'm close to cryin'
But what good, tell me what good would my crying do

I need somebody to help me
Help me forget all those worries on my mind
And when I'm lonely, if someone would only
Want to be sweet and kind

I need somebody, won't that somebody
Please, please listen to my plea
Need that somebody, won't that somebody
Come running to me

I need somebody to lean on
I'm tired of being unhappy and so blue
If she came I would hold her 'cause I need that shoulder
To lean on, yes I really do
I need somebody, and maybe that somebody is you
Mmmmmmm

Recordingdate: 1963/07/10, first released on: Viva Las Vegas (EP)

Musicians

Musicians who contributed to the first recording of I Need Somebody to Lean On:

(guitar)
(guitar)
(guitar)
(bass)
(drums)
(drums)
(drums)
(piano)
(piano)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(vocals)
(percussion)
(percussion)
(percussion)
(percussion)
(percussion)
(sax)
(sax)
(trombone)
(trombone)
(trumpet)

Availability

Find available albums with I Need Somebody to Lean On.

MJB63 wrote on May 20, 2009
I was a young elvis fan in the late 70's and i bought the "I Got Lucky" album and discovered this song.Always love hearing it.And the way it was presented in "Viva Las Vegas" was perfect. Great lyrics and a classic performance.
Steve V wrote on December 26, 2009
One of the best movie ballads ever. The scene in the movie is just how you picture it when you listen to the record. For once they got it right. Great song, a scene that was not just thrown in for a song, and a mood perfectly captured. Aces songwriting team as well.
JerryNodak wrote on December 26, 2009
There's nothing more i can add. Steve V said it perfectly. 5 stars.
My boy, my boy wrote on December 26, 2009
I guess the movie Viva Las Vegas was meant to hold the 2 best Elvis movie ballads, the other being "Today, tomorrow and forever"...not to mention that I also love "Santa Lucia". I need somebody to lean on sounds absolutely amazing, even in the 21st century.
Deano1 wrote on December 26, 2009
A very good ballad from the 1964 movie "Viva Las Vegas". Elvis sings the sad and lonely lyrics as if he is feeling every word (you would swear he is "close to cryin" in parts of the song). It still amazes me to this day that one of Elvis' finest musicals (along with "King Creole", "G.I. Blues" and "Blue Hawaii") did not have a soundtrack LP. Why wasn't "Kissin' Cousins" the movie with just an extended play? A "Viva Las Vegas" album would have probably been a #1 LP for several weeks in the Summer of 1964 (heck the next movie soundtrack "Roustabout" hit #1 and it did not have nearly as good of material) and been the gigantic LP that he needed to compete with The Beatles.
JerryNodak wrote on December 26, 2009
Great song. Great scene. 5 stars.
NONE000000 wrote on December 26, 2009
One of my all-time fav Elvis ballads. This is very much in the same mold as Sinatra's "One For My Baby (and one more for the road)". I wish Elvis would have done a few more of those kinds of songs. Very atmospheric, sung just perfectly by Elvis. There is a saxaphone playing in the movie version, and I had hoped when FTD put out their "Viva Las Vegas" cd that version would be included. But it wasn't. Either way, this is a great track!
Gorse wrote on January 17, 2013
Smooth as silk and like cut glass this is a real classy number from a very entertaining film. In the 'Fever' mould it has that same smoky nightclub feel, and Elvis on top vocal form.
marty wrote on February 12, 2013
One of the best ballads from his soundtrack years. I really love this song. Amazingly it is relatively unknown outside the fans. Wish he did more songs like that in the mid sixties...
ElvisSacramento wrote on February 14, 2013
This is such a magnificent and underrated ballad and it should definitely be much better known than it actually is. I love every song from the "Viva Las Vegas" recording sessions.
sugartummy wrote on March 16, 2013
Right from the beginning you're dragged into the song. It has a jazzy feel that suits the song well.
Cruiser621 wrote on May 01, 2017
This is definitely a 5-star song and one heck of a ballad to boot. I could never understand why RCA never released a soundtrack album as to "Viva Las Vegas"; there certainly were enough songs to warrant one. Excellent ballad.
Back to List