| "Stay" | ||||
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| Single by Shakespears Sister | ||||
| from the album Hormonally Yours | ||||
| B-side | "The Trouble with Andre" | |||
| Released | 25 January 1992 | |||
| Format | 7" single, CD single, cassette | |||
| Recorded | 1991 | |||
| Genre | Pop, rock | |||
| Length | 3:50 (album version) 3:45 (7" edit) |
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| Label | London | |||
| Writer(s) | Siobhan Fahey Marcella Detroit Jean Guiot |
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| Producer | Shakespear's Sister, Chris Thomas |
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| Shakespears Sister singles chronology | ||||
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"Stay" is a million plus selling 1992 single from British-based pop/rock/synth act Shakespears Sister. It was the second single release from their second album Hormonally Yours and is the duo's biggest hit. It topped the charts in various countries in 1992, including a six-week stint (on four separate occasions) in Shakespears Sister member Siobhan Fahey's birth place, Ireland. "Stay" reached No. 4 in the United States; one of the few British acts to dent the US Top 5 stateside in 1992. "Stay" was also the biggest-selling single by a British act in the UK in 1992. It is one of the longest running UK number ones in UK chart history (8 weeks), and the longest by an all-female group or duo. Top 10 success was emulated in the majority of the countries where it was released. The song is regarded as a classic and iconic track.
To prove its longevity, in early November 2010, "Stay" re-entered the charts in the UK, Ireland and the European Hot 100 Singles. A Halloween eve performance of the track by The X Factor contestant Cher Lloyd exposed "Stay" to a new audience who downloaded it. The track re-entered the UK Singles Chart at no.12 and no.10 on the Irish Chart.
This single was the only Shakespears Sister song that featured Siobhan Fahey less prominently on vocals than Marcella Detroit, with Detroit singing the verses and lead chorus and Fahey singing the song's dramatic bridge. Detroit is noted for singing in whistle register before the last chorus of the song, going up to a high F (F6).
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The award-winning Sophie Muller directed the promo video for the single, the concept of which was inspired by the film Cat Women of the Moon.[1] The video featured Detroit and Fahey fighting over a comatose man (played by Dave Evans, former boyfriend of Fahey's Bananarama bandmate Keren Woodward[2]).
The video won Best Video at the 1993 Music Week Awards and Brit Awards, and was the subject of a spoof by comediennes French & Saunders. The epic promo was featured in the Top 100 Music Videos of all time by Channel 4 [2]. Archive footage of this video, and a parody, was used in the novelty Christmas song "Mr Blobby".
The video starts with a view of a calm night sky. A shooting star passes over a full moon and the song begins. The camera pans back into a large dark room. Detroit playing the lover is seen caretaking her man - played by Dave Evans - who is comatose and near death. Detroit sings her verse of the song. At the climax of the song, Fahey, playing a vampish angel of death, appears at the top of a staircase, wearing a sparkling catsuit. She sings her verse of the song and dances around in front of a bright light. Detroit tries her best to get the man to wake up, while Death slowly makes her way down the stairs to claim the man's soul. The two women begin fighting over the man, making it literally and figuratively a fight between life (Detroit) and death (Fahey). During their struggle, the man suddenly wakes up. Detroit embraces him. Death - disgusted by this - having failed to seduce him into her realm, walks back up the staircase to the light, presumably being the stairway to Heaven.
London released the single in a special two-part Digipak sleeve. The first part came in the fold-out cardboard Digipak which featured lyrics and a picture on the inside of Fahey and Detroit from the promo-video. This CD featured "Stay" on tracks one and two and "The Trouble With Andre" on track three. The second CD, issued a week later, featured four tracks, including a compilation of various tracks from the album (to aid its promotion). This CD came in a slip-card case and was a picture disc which fitted into the Digipak. Overseas issues were not in the form of a Digipak and consisted of the standard CD case with the same three tracks on all issues.
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CD maxi single
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7" CD & cassette single
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An acoustic version of "Stay" can be found on the album Long Live the Queens!.
Official versions
Shakespear's Sister
Additional personnel
Peak positions
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End of year charts
Certifications
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| Preceded by "Goodnight Girl" by Wet Wet Wet |
UK number one single 22 February 1992 – 11 April 1992 (8 weeks) |
Succeeded by "Deeply Dippy" by Right Said Fred |
| Irish IRMA number-one single (first run) 15 February 1992 (1 week) |
Succeeded by "One" by U2 |
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| Preceded by "One" by U2 |
Irish IRMA number-one single (second run) 12 March 1992 (1 week) |
Succeeded by "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton |
| Preceded by "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton |
Irish IRMA number-one single (third run) 26 March 1992 (1 week) |
Succeeded by "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton |
| Irish IRMA number-one single (fourth run) 9 April 1992 – 23 April 1992 (3 weeks) |
Succeeded by "Deeply Dippy" by Right Said Fred |
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| Preceded by "To Be with You" by Mr. Big |
Swedish number-one single 13 May 1992 (2 weeks) |
Succeeded by "It's My Life" by Dr. Alban |
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