"Stay" is the debut single from

Bernard Butler Bernard Joseph Butler (born 1 May 1970) is an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He has been hailed by some critics as the greatest guitarist of his generation; BBC journalist Mark Savage called him "one of Britain's most origina ...

released in January 1998. It is the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

taken from the album '' People Move On'' and charted at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.

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. "Stay single review"

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. 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." 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

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 "

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", " Whatever", " The Changingman", an impassioned

middle eight The 32-bar form, also known as the AABA song form, American popular song form and the ballad form, is a song structure commonly found in Tin Pan Alley songs and other American popular music, especially in the first half of the 20th century. Th ...

that sounds almost gospel-esque, a huge arrangement, and plaintive lyrics, sufficiently simple to need no deciphering whatsoever." ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' 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." Caspar Llewellyn Smith of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' 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." British music charts commentator

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a British music critic and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worke ...

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 George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

Praying For Time "Praying for Time" is a song written, produced, and performed by English singer and songwriter George Michael, released on Epic Records in the United Kingdom and Columbia Records in the United States in 1990. It was the first single from his se ...

, 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)." The single charted at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart, selling 60,000 copies.

Single track listings

References

{{Bernard Butler 1998 singles Music videos directed by David Mould Songs written by Bernard Butler Creation Records singles 1998 songs