Released May 31, 2011 Length 3:24 Producer(s) Howard Benson | Genre Southern rock Label Roadrunner | |
Writer(s) Black Stone Cherry
Joey Moi | ||
"Stay" is a song by American rock band Black Stone Cherry, written by the band along with Joey Moi. Black Stone Cherry recorded it on their 2011 album Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, produced by Howard Benson.
Contents
Florida Georgia Line version
American country music duo Florida Georgia Line covered the song on their 2012 album Here's to the Good Times. It was released in October 2013 as the album's fourth single.
Critical reception
In his review of Here's to the Good Times, Billy Dukes of Taste of Country called it "the biggest dud on the album" and wrote that "it’s a clumsy beginner’s effort that only shows off FGL’s vocal flaws when they stray from the party jams." Matt Bjorke of Roughstock was more favorable, writing that "despite being a cover of a Black Stone Cherry song, it suits Florida Georgia Line and is emotional and features some nice mandolin and steel guitar work (though you'll have to strain a bit to hear the latter)."
Music video
The music video was directed by Peter Zavadil and premiered in October 2013. It stars Josh Henderson in the leading role.
The video starts off showing a sad woman sitting in front of a burned down house. A dog goes through the ruins, finds a shattered mobile phone, and gives it to her. The woman starts crying.
Then, the reason for that is revealed. When the song starts, a man is shown standing in the doorway of the house when it was still intact, while the band performs. The woman, revealed to be the man's girlfriend or wife, drives away in a car. The man then sends the woman some text messages, but the woman does not respond. The man loses his mind, and destroys his possessions, including vintage electricals and furniture, and a vintage television.
The woman then goes to have her phone replaced. When the man checks his phone again, there are still no new messages, so he sets fire to all his possessions, including the furniture, the house, his phone, and a picture of the man and his girlfriend, back when they were still in love. At the end of the video, the girlfriend drives over, only to see the band performing the sad song in front of the burning house. Then she steps out of the car, and the video ends.
Commercial performance
"Stay" debuted at number 57 on the U.S. Billboard Country Airplay chart for the week of September 28, 2013. It also debuted at number 47 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of December 22, 2012. It also debuted at number 85 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of November 2, 2013. The song reached over a million in sales in the United States by April 2014.
The song also debuted at number 73 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart for the week of November 23, 2013.