Stay
by Zedd (featuring Alessia Cara)

Album: Everything Everything soundtrack (2017)
Charted: 8 7
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Canadian singer-songwriter Alessia Cara begs a love interest not to leave her on this electro track.

    All you have to is wait a second
    Your hands on mine
    The clock is ticking, so stay


    The song continues Zedd's winning formula of electronic beats, bass drops, and female vocals, having already perfected that mix with Foxes, ("Clarity"), Hayley Williams ("Stay The Night") and Selena Gomez ("I Want You To Know").
  • Zedd wrote in a post accompanying the lyric video:

    "Alessia and I first met at rehearsals for the HALO Awards, where Alessia, Daya and I performed together. I've loved her songs before but realized that she's an unbelievable talent when we started rehearsing together, so I asked her if she was interested in making music with me."
  • A number of music fans have pointed out a striking resemblance between the start of this song and Banks' 2016 The Altar track "Poltergeist."

    "My fans know," said Banks when asked about the similarities. "That is all I care about."
  • Zedd told ABC Radio that when he first wrote "Stay," he immediately thought Alessia Cara would be perfect for the song, as he felt her voice would reflect the feel of the piece.

    "I think she has a really moody, breathy frequency in her voice that I really love," he said. "The song generally, sonically, is very dark in certain parts... it's very haunting, and there's something about her voice that just fits the track so well."
  • This won for Best Dance Video at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards.
  • The collaboration between the pair was done online. Cara told ABC Radio:

    "He just sent me the beginning of the song that was written, and he was like, 'Hey, do you wanna finish this, do you wanna do it with me? 'And just hearing it and listening to the beginning of it, I knew that it was a really great song."
  • The song has an electronic dance feel with some frantic beats, a sound that is outside Cara's normal wheelhouse. "It was really different for me, it's a lot bolder than my usual stuff," she said. "But I thought if I was gonna do something [with another artist], I wanna sing on a song that I really believe in and work with on a song I believe in and work with an artist, or a deejay, that I really like."
  • The song was included on the soundtrack for the 2017 movie Everything Everything.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Pam Tillis

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

Rock Stars of Horror

Rock Stars of HorrorMusic Quiz

Rock Stars - especially those in the metal realm - are often enlisted for horror movies. See if you know can match the rocker to the role.

Frankie Valli

Frankie ValliSong Writing

An interview with Frankie Valli, who talks about why his songs - both solo and with The Four Seasons - have endured, and reflects on his time as Rusty Millio on The Sopranos.

Part of Their World: The Stories and Songs of 13 Disney Princesses

Part of Their World: The Stories and Songs of 13 Disney PrincessesSong Writing

From "Some Day My Prince Will Come" to "Let It Go" - how Disney princess songs (and the women who sing them) have evolved.

Kip Winger

Kip WingerSongwriter Interviews

The Winger frontman reveals the Led Zeppelin song he cribbed for "Seventeen," and explains how his passion for orchestra music informs his songwriting.

Stephen Christian of Anberlin

Stephen Christian of AnberlinSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist for Anberlin breaks down "Impossible" and covers some tracks from their 2012 album Vital.