Stay (Bernard Butler song)
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Stay
| cover = BernardButlerStay.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Bernard Butler
| album = People Move On
| released = 5 January 1998
| recorded = 1997
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Britpop
| length = 5:15
| label = Creation
| writer = Bernard Butler
| producer = Bernard Butler
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = Not Alone
| next_year = 1998
}}
"Stay" is the debut single from Bernard Butler released in January 1998. It is the lead single taken from the album People Move On and charted at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/_/bernard%20butler/|title=Artist Chart History: Bernard Butler|publisher=Official Charts Company|accessdate=15 June 2013}}
Background
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.Raggett, Ned. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r382291|pure_url=yes}} "Stay single review"]. AllMusic. 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."{{cite magazine|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/bernard-butler-30-1392455|title=Butler's done it!|magazine=NME|date=28 February 1998|access-date=19 December 2016}}
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.
Critical reception
Reception to Butler's debut single was very positive. Ned Raggett of AllMusic wrote: "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." Select praised the song's composition, writing: "a classic rock collage: descending chords a la "Dear Prudence", "Whatever", "The Changingman", an impassioned middle eight that sounds almost gospel-esque, a huge arrangement, and plaintive lyrics, sufficiently simple to need no deciphering whatsoever."{{cite journal|url=http://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/showpage.php?file=wp-content/uploads/2011/08/singles1.jpg|title=New Singles|journal=Select|issue=92|page=87|date=February 1998|accessdate=28 July 2013}} Music Week awarded it 'Single of the Week', writing: "This dreamy and delicious keyboard-led solo debut by the former Suede guitarist and McAlmont collaborator proves his ability not only to write songs but also to sing them."{{cite magazine |title=Single of the Week - Bernard Butler: Stay (Creation CRESCD281) |magazine=Music Week |date=27 December 1997 |page=21 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1997/Music-Week-1997-12-27.pdf |access-date=3 July 2024}}
Caspar Llewellyn Smith of The Daily Telegraph called the song "epic stuff, progressing from acoustic balladry to a monumental wall of sound." He felt that the song "abandons the traditional verse-chorus-verse structure that established Suede as early Britpop frontrunners, but the tension between the layers of guitar effects and a simple piano motif gives the song its own dynamism."{{cite news |last=Llewellyn Smith |first=Caspar |title=In with the in-crowd |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=3 January 1998}} British music charts commentator James Masterton wrote: "The quality of the record is undeniable even if he will forever be more famous for his guitar playing than his singing. Sounding like a close relation of George Michael's Praying For Time, the single builds up into a dramatic climax that borders on the epic. Easily one of the most outstanding singles of the year to date (and even after three weeks that is no idle claim)."{{cite web |last=Masterton |first=James |title=Week Ending January 17th 1998 |url=https://chart-watch.uk/archives/1998/week-ending-january-17th-1998 |website=Chart Watch UK |access-date=18 March 2021 |date=11 January 1998 |author-link=James Masterton}}
The single charted at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart, selling 60,000 copies.{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Q4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA24|title=Columbia's Butler Cuts His Songs From Different Fabric On 'People'|magazine=Billboard|last=Reece|first=Doug|page=24|issue=12|volume=110|date=21 March 1998|accessdate=8 March 2021}}
Single track listings
{{track listing
| title1 = Stay
| length1 = 5:23
| title2 = Hotel Splendide
| length2 = 5:49
| title3 = The Sea
| length3 = 4:51
}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Bernard Butler}}
Category:Songs written by Bernard Butler