[xp38]

I thought is was a pop song originally. Not exactly an old spiritual. They sing You’ll never walk alone at soccer games in England. Maybe that would have worked better.

[goldstategop]

Who should stand by me? God?

I can think better for a love song.

[Fiji Hill]

They sing You’ll never walk alone at soccer games in England

You'll Never Walk Alone--Judy Garland (1946)

[smalltownslick]

“I thought is was a pop song originally. Not exactly an old spiritual.”

There was another Stand By Me song a year or so earlier by Junior Parker. (I actually liked it better.) It, in fact, was a secularly re-written version of a gospel song. Maybe that’s where the confusion comes in.