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Stay Stay Stay

RED (2012) | RED (Taylor's Version) [2021]

“Stay Stay Stay” is track nine on Taylor’s fourth studio album, RED (2012). She is daydreaming about what a real love might be like. The re-recording of the song, “Stay Stay Stay (Taylor’s Version),” was released on November 12, 2021, on the album RED (Taylor’s Version).

Background and Lyrical Theme

“Stay Stay Stay” was written by Taylor, while the production was handled by her and Nathan Chapman. It heavily uses elements of country pop. The lyrical content finds Taylor daydreaming about real love, as she imagines a boyfriend that treats her much better than her exes. It’s a very cute, upbeat and catchy song. Taylor said:

«The song ‘Stay Stay Stay’ is a song that I wrote based on what I’ve seen of real relationships, where it’s not perfect, there are moments where you’re just so sick of that person, you get into a stupid fight. It’s still worth it to stay in it. There’s something about it that you can’t live without. In the bridge it says, ‘I’d like to hang out with you for my whole life’ and I think that’s what probably the key to finding the one, you just want to hang out with them forever.»

Taylor Swift

Live Performances

Taylor has performed “Stay Stay Stay” over 40 times. She added it to the regular setlist for “The RED Tour” (2013-2014) and performed it as a mashup with “Ho Hey,” the hit song by The Lumineers, which was popular at the time. However, due to time constraints, Taylor removed the performance from the setlist permanently. The last time she sang “Stay Stay Stay” on that tour was at the show in Kansas City on August 2, 2013. She didn’t perform the song again for ten years, until she chose it as the first surprise song for her “The Eras Tour” show on July 29, 2023, in Santa Clara. She sang “Stay Stay Stay” acoustically on guitar.

Critical Reception

“Stay Stay Stay” received enormously positive reviews from music critics, who deemed it as a really fun catchy song that brought Taylor back to her country roots after the poppy “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” and noting its similarities to her quirky country hit “Ours” from the 2010 album Speak Now.

Commercial Performance

Upon the release of RED, “Stay Stay Stay” debuted at No. 91 and 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Hot 100 respectively. It also peaked at No. 24 on US Country Songs chart. “Stay Stay Stay (Taylor’s Version)” debuted at No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the week ending November 26, 2021.

Taylor's Version

On August 6, 2021, Taylor announced that a re-recorded version of “Stay Stay Stay”, titled “Stay Stay Stay (Taylor’s Version)”, would be included as the sixth track on her second re-recorded album RED (Taylor’s Version), which was released on November 12, 2021, through Republic Records.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I’m pretty sure we almost broke up last night
I threw my phone across the room at you
I was expecting some dramatic turn away but you…stayed

[Verse 2]
This morning I said, “We should talk about it”
‘Cause I read you should never leave a fight unresolved
That’s when you came in wearing a football helmet and said, “Okay, let’s talk,” and I said

[Chorus 1]
Stay, stay, stay
I’ve been loving you for quite some
Time, time, time
You think that it’s funny when I’m
Mad, mad, mad
But I think that it’s best if we both stay

[Verse 2]
Before you, I’d only dated self indulgent takers
Who took all of their problems out on me
But you carry my groceries and now I’m always laughing
And I love you because you have given me…no choice but to

[Chorus 2]
Stay, stay, stay
I’ve been loving you for quite some
Time, time, time
You think that it’s funny when I’m
Mad, mad, mad
But I think that it’s best if we both stay
Stay, stay

[Bridge]
You took the time to memorize me
My fears, my hopes and dreams
I just like hanging out with you
All the time
All those times that you didn’t leave
It’s been occurring to me
I’d like to hang out with you
For my whole life

[Breakdown]
Stay…and I’ll be loving you for quite some time
No one else is going to love me, when I get mad, mad, mad
So I think that it’s best if we both stay
Stay, stay, stay, stay, stay

[Chorus 3]
Stay, stay, stay
I’ve been loving you for quite some
Time, time, time
You think that it’s funny when I’m
Mad, mad, mad
But I think that it’s best if we both stay
Stay, stay, stay, stay, stay

[Outro]
Stay, stay, stay
I’ve been loving you for quite some
Time, time, time
You think that it’s funny when I’m
Mad, mad, mad
But I think that it’s best if we both stay

[Spoken]
“Hahaha, that sounds fun!”