Stay (Bernard Butler song)

"Stay"
Single by Bernard Butler
from the album People Move On
Released January 5, 1998
Format CD
Recorded 1998
Genre Britpop
Length 5:15
Label Creation Records
Producer Bernard Butler
Bernard Butler singles chronology
"Stay"
(1998)
"Not Alone"
(1998)

"Stay" is the debut single from Bernard Butler released in January 1998. It was taken from the album People Move On and charted at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.[1]

The song begins with a gentle acoustic guitar, which leads into Butler's vocals. Drums, electric guitar, keyboards and backing vocals all get introduced gradually, before coming together in one last climax and quiet coda.[2] Butler has said that "Stay" is not a love song but a song about change. "The process of change is hard but you've got to do it. It's about when you know you've got to do something but there's an element of risk. It's about when I first went to France to record. A lot of the lyrics come from a conversation with Elisa, my wife. I wrote them on the train over to France."[3]

Ned Raggett of Allmusic wrote: "The long-awaited introduction of Butler to the music world as a singer/songwriter is at once slightly tentative and quite promising. The title track is one of the more self-consciously grandiose things out there, but its big advantage is that it builds rather than overwhelms."[2]

The music video for the title song was directed by David Mould, whose directing credits include Suede's "Trash", the first single released after Butler's departure.

B-side "Hotel Splendide" features backing vocals from Edwyn Collins.[2]

Single track listings

  1. "Stay"
  2. "Hotel Splendide"
  3. "The Sea"

References

  1. ^ "Chart Stats".
  2. ^ a b c Raggett, Ned. "Stay single review". Allmusic.
  3. ^ Author unknown. "Butler's done it!". NME.com 28 February 1998