All You Had To Do Was Stay
1989 (2014) | 1989 (Taylor's Version) [2023]
Table of Contents
Background
Lyrical Theme
«There’s a song on my album called 'All You Had To Do Was Stay.' I was having this dream, that was actually one of those embarrassing dreams, where you’re mortified in the dream, you’re like humiliated. In the dream, my ex had come to the door to beg for me to talk to him or whatever, and I opened up the door and I went to go say, 'Hi,' or 'What are you doing here?' or something — something normal — but all that came out was this high-pitched singing that said, 'Stay!' It was almost operatic. So I wrote this song, and I used that sound in the song. Weird, right? I woke up from the dream, saying the weird part into my phone, figuring I had to include it in something because it was just too strange not to. In pop, it’s fun to play around with little weird noises like that.»
Taylor Swift
Track Five
Contrary to popular opinion, this is also true of “All You Had To Do Was Stay.” It’s one of the saddest songs in Taylor’s discography, but it’s created in a way that feels foreign to those who have been following her music since her guitar-driven country music.
Live Performances
«So, tonight is our 113th show of 'The Eras Tour,' and that’s my favorite number, which I never mention, it’s like a secret, no one knows that. But I just thought, since it’s my favorite number, I’d just do some of my favorite songs for the acoustic set and see if they’re yours too!»
Taylor Swift
Critical Reception
Taylor's Version
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
People like you always want back
The love they gave away
People like me want to believe you
When you say you’ve changed
The more I think about it now
The less I know
All I know is that you drove us off the road
[Chorus]
Stay
Hey – all you had to do was stay
Had me in the palm of your hand
Then
Why’d you have to go and lock me out
When I let you in?
Stay
Hey – now you say you want it back
Now that it’s just too late
Well, it could’ve been easy
All you had to do was stay
All you had to do was stay
All you had to do was stay
All you had to do was stay
All you had to do was stay
[Verse 2]
Here you are now
Calling me up
But I don’t know what to say
I’ve been picking up the pieces of the mess you made
People like you always want back
The love they pushed aside
But people like me are gone forever
When you say goodbye
[Chorus]
Stay
Hey – all you had to do was stay
Had me in the palm of your hand
Then why’d you have to go and lock me out
When I let you in?
Stay
Hey – now you say you want it back
Now that it’s just too late
Well, it could’ve been easy
All you had to do was stay
All you had to do was stay
All you had to do was stay
All you had to do was stay (Stay, stay, stay, stay)
[Bridge]
Let me remind you…
This was what you wanted
You ended it
You were all I wanted
But not like this…
Not like this
No, not like this
Oh, all you had to do was –
[Chorus]
Stay
Hey – all you had to do was stay
Had me in the palm of your hand
Then why’d you have to go and lock me out
When I let you in?
Stay
Hey – now you say you want it back
Now that it’s just too late
Well, it could’ve been easy
All you had to do was stay
[Final Chorus]
Hey – all you had to do was stay
Had me in the palm of your hand
Then why’d you have to go and lock me out
When I let you in?
Stay
Hey – now you say you want it back
Now that it’s just too late (All you had to do was stay)
Well, it could’ve been easy
All you had to do was stay
All you had to do was stay
All you had to do was stay
All you had to do was stay
All you had to do was stay
Artist | Taylor Swift | |||
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Albums | 1989 1989 (Taylor’s Version) | |||
Released | October 27, 2014 | |||
Re-Released | October 27, 2023 | |||
Recorded | January 10, 2013 | |||
Studios | Conway (Los Angeles) Kitty Committee (New York) Prime Recording (Nashville) | |||
Genre | Synth Pop | |||
Length | 3:13 | |||
Labels | Big Machine Records Republic Records | |||
Songwriters | Taylor Swift Max Martin | |||
Producers | Max Martin (original) Shellback (original) Mattman & Robin (original) Christopher Rowe Taylor Swift | |||
1989 CHRONOLOGY | ||||
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