Peak
4
Weeks
20
Score
3,531
Chart Year
1992
In some rare versions the beginning quotes a variation of the opening of William Shakespeare's Macbeth: The original quote of the play ("When shall we three meet again") is changed to "When shall we two meet again", referring to the story told in the video.[25] The video starts with a view of a calm night sky wherein a shooting star passes over a full moon and the song begins. The camera pans back into what appears to be a hospital room showing Marcella Detroit and her male lover (Evans), who is in a coma and on the verge of death. As Detroit tends to him, she sings to him not to leave her. At the bridge of the song, a portal opens and the angel of death, played by Fahey, appears at the top of a staircase, wearing a sparkling catsuit. She dances around in front of a bright light whilst mocking Detroit that she cannot save her lover and the best she can hope for is to return safely to her environment. Detroit tries her best to wake the man up, while Death slowly and eerily makes her way down the stairs to claim his soul. The two women begin fighting over the man, indicating literally and figuratively a fight between life (Detroit) and death (Fahey). During their struggle, the man finally wakes up, and he and Detroit embrace while Death, having failed to seduce him into her realm, walks away in disgust and goes back up the staircase and into the light.[26
Shakespears Sister is the duo of Marcella Detroit and Siobhan Fahey. In "Stay," they assume different characters; Detroit opens the song singing sweetly to her lover: If this world is growing thin And you're thinking of escape I'll go anywhere with you She makes it clear she wants to be with him no matter where he goes, but then Siobhan Fahey enters the song, taking the role of a nefarious force out to destroy him: You'd better hope and pray That you make it safe back To your own world At this point, it becomes clear that this love story is not set on Earth. The song has a surprising inspiration: a 1953 sci-fi movie called Cat-Women Of The Moon, about a group of astronauts who make a lunar landing and discover beautiful women with bad intentions. One of the astronauts falls in love with one of them but must return to Earth. Fahey and Detroit planned to buy the rights to the film (figuring it wouldn't cost much) and use it to create a video album, shooting new scenes to mix with the footage. The audio album would also be based around the concept, so that's how they arrived at this song. The plan to buy the movie never came to fruition. The Shakespears Sister singers have very different voices, which creates a striking contrast in this song. Marcella Detroit, using the name Marcy Levy, was a backup singer for Eric Clapton in the '70s and co-wrote his hit "Lay Down Sally." Siobhan Fahey was a member of Bananarama; she left the group in 1988 soon after marrying Dave Stewart of Eurythmics. It was Stewart who hatched the idea for "Stay," and he is credited as a writer on the track along with the duo. Telling the story of the song in Songwriting magazine, Marcella Detroit said it has "very unusual, conflicting lyrics," adding, "It starts out all sweet, the subject is about this unrequited love and then it gets a little bit nasty. There was a great dichotomy between Siobhan and my characters." This song "stayed" at #1 in the UK for a remarkable eight weeks. It was also #1 in Ireland, where Fahey is from. In America, it rose to #4. Shakespears Sister released their first album in 1989; the single "You're History" reached #7 in the UK. "Stay" was part of their second album, Hormonally Yours, named because the two singers were pregnant during the sessions (they both had sons). The follow-up single, "I Don't Care," went to #7 in the UK and was their only other chart entry in America, reaching #55. When they toured to promote the album, tensions developed, and at the 1993 Ivor Novello Awards, where Hormonally Yours won for Best Contemporary Collection of Songs, Detroit got sideswiped when Fahey's publicist read a statement terminating the group: "I wish Marcy all the best for the future, all's well that end's well." Fahey continued Shakespears Sister as a solo effort until 1996 and revived the name again in 2009. Fahey and Detroit didn't speak for 26 years, but buried the hatchet in 2019, when they launched a tour and released an EP called Ride Again. The track is mainly synth and drum based, except for the parts where Death is singing, which are backed with a simple guitar line. >> The Sophie Muller-directed video shows Marcella Detroit on a spaceship caring for a dying man. Siobhan Fahey, playing the Angel of Death, comes to take him away, but walks down the steps awkwardly. It was rumored that she had to wait on the set for 12 hours before filming her part and killed the time by drinking vodka, which made it hard for her to balance. Fahey claimed she was in character, telling Melody Maker, "I play a sort of camp, drunken, guzzling sort of... thing." The video won the 1993 BRIT Award for Best Video. This was recorded at Friar Park, George Harrison's studio in Henley-on-Thames, England. "Stay" returned to the UK singles chart at #12 in November 2010 after X Factor contestant Cher Lloyd performed the track on the show. Before reuniting with Detroit, Fahey was asked by the BBC if there were any songs she can't listen to because of unpleasant memories. She replied: "'Stay.' Having a #1 single does not make you happy." A few other songs on the Hormonally Yours album were also inspired by Cat-Women Of The Moon from when they were working with that concept, including "Goodbye Cruel World," "Catwoman," "Moonchild" and "Hello (Turn Your Radio On)."
If this world is growing thin And you're thinking of escape I'll go anywhere with you Just wrap me up in chains But if you try to go alone Don't think I'll understand Stay with me In the silence of your room In the darkness of your dreams You must only think of me There can be no in between When your pride is on the floor I'll make you beg for more Oh oh oh Stay with me You better hope and pray That you make it safe back To your own world You better hope and pray That you wake one day In your own world Cause when you sleep at night They don't hear your cries In your own world Only time will tell If you can break the spell back In your own world Ah Stay with me Stay with me Stay Stay with me Ah Stay Stay Stay Stay with me
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 4, 1992 | 77 | 49 |
| 2 | Jul 11, 1992 | 60 | 66 |
| 3 | Jul 18, 1992 | 50 | 76 |
| 4 | Jul 25, 1992 | 33 | 93 |
| 5 | Aug 1, 1992 | 26 | 100 |
| 6 | Aug 8, 1992 | 22 | 104 |
| 7 | Aug 15, 1992 | 14 | 112 |
| 8 | Aug 22, 1992 | 10 | 116 |
| 9 | Aug 29, 1992 | 9 | 117 |
| 10 | Sep 5, 1992 | 7 | 119 |
| 11 | Sep 12, 1992 | 5 | 121 |
| 12 | Sep 19, 1992 | 4 | 122 |
| 13 | Sep 26, 1992 | 6 | 120 |
| 14 | Oct 3, 1992 | 10 | 116 |
| 15 | Oct 10, 1992 | 16 | 110 |
| 16 | Oct 17, 1992 | 26 | 100 |
| 17 | Oct 24, 1992 | 31 | 95 |
| 18 | Oct 31, 1992 | 41 | 85 |
| 19 | Nov 7, 1992 | 48 | 78 |
| 20 | Nov 14, 1992 | 61 | 65 |