SLS – Stay – by Sugarland

This week Jim Adams has prompted us with Come/Go/Leave/Stay for this weeks Song Lyric Sunday. Well, there is a crap ton of songs in the Country Music genre to cover these headliners, but I went with my first thought when I saw this prompt.

Image compliments of Mike Coppola/Getty Images (not for monetary use)
Sugarland at the Grammys

Sugarland is a powerful Country Music duo created in Atlanta, Georgia and is made up of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush. Kristen Hall was a third original members, but left the band after only one album. The duo as “Sugarland” signed with Mercury Nashville Records in 2004. In 2008, Hall filed a lawsuit for $14 million against Bush and Nettles stating that she was excluded from sharing profits as had been agreed upon after her departure. The lawsuit was settled out of court in 2010 and the details of that settlement were not disclosed.

“Stay” by Sugarland is a tear jerker and the first song of Sugarland solely written by Jennifer Nettles, their lead singer. Nettles wrote this song in 2003 after being inspired by Reba McEntire’s song “Whoever’s in New England” which was from the perspective of the wife being cheated on. “Stay” is about betrayal written in the “other woman’s” perspective.

Quote from Nettles regarding the song:  “Even though the person who is cheating might think he or she is getting away with something, they know they aren’t living their highest truth, and they wouldn’t be in the situation if they were just happy-go-lucky in the first place. Nobody is happy in this situation.”

There are always at least three people involved in a cheating situation, but human nature often shuns the non-committed cheater (husband or wife). In this case it was the other woman feeling hurt and afraid of being left alone when the affair ended in a non-commitment.

Nettles told CMT in 2007 that once she decided to write this song from the other woman’s perspective, the song pretty much wrote itself.

The first time Kristian Bush heard this song, he was blown away by the lyrics. When Sugarland started playing this in front of fans, they received odd looks as the fans thought the song was between Jennifer and Kristian. They both set everyone straight that their relationship was and had always been a “brother-sister” relationship.

FUN FACTS:

• Song was released in September 2007 as the fourth single from their “Enjoy the Ride” album.
• Most watched video on CMT.com in 2007
• Video is ranked #10 on CMT’s 100 Greatest Videos.
• Video was voted 4th greatest videos of the decade on CMT.com.
• Peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart as the group’s eighth single to reach the chart.
• Certified Gold by the RIAA on February 21, 2008
• Became Sugarland’s first single to become certified Platinum on March 24, 2009.
• “Stay” won “Song of the Year” and “Single of the Year” at the 2008 ACM Awards.
• “Stay” won “Duo Video of the Year” at the 2008 CMT Music Awards.
• In 2009 at the 51st Grammy Awards, “Stay” won a grammy for “Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal” and “Best Country Song”

Stay

I've been sittin' here, starin' at the clock on the wall
And I've been layin' here, prayin'
Prayin' she won't call
It's just another call from home, and you'll get it
And be gone, and I'll be cryin'
And I'll be beggin' you, baby
Beg you not to leave
But I'll be left here waitin'
My heart on my sleeve
Oh, for the next time we'll be here
Seems like a million years, and I think I'm dyin'
What do I have to do to make you see
She can't love you like me?
Why don't you stay?
I'm down on my knees
I'm so tired of bein' lonely
Don't I give you what you need?
When she calls you to go
There is one thing you should know
We don't have to live this way
Baby, why don't you stay?
You keep tellin' me, baby
There will come a time
When you will leave her arms
And forever be in mine
But I don't think that's the truth
And I don't like bein' used, and I'm tired of waitin'
It's too much pain to have to bear
To love a man you have to share
I can't take it any longer, but my will is gettin' stronger
And I think I know just what I have to do
I can't waste another minute
After all that I've put in it
I've given you my best
Why does she get the best of you?
So next time you find you wanna leave her bed for mine
Why don't you stay?
I'm up off my knees
I'm so tired of bein' lonely
You can't give me what I need
When she begs you not to go
There is one thing you should know
I don't have to live this way
Baby, why don't you stay?
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Jennifer Nettles
Stay lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group