Written by: Tony Mortimer, Rob Kean & Dominic Hawken
Released: 1994
US Charts: N/A
UK Charts: #1 (5 weeks)
Other Charts: #3 (Australia), #1 (Sweden)
It’s always a nice feeling to find an amazing song when you were least expecting it. That’s what happened a couple of weeks ago when I was just surfing through Wikipedia and ended looking back at UK Christmas Number One singles, where I found the song “Stay Another Day” by East 17. I’d never heard the song, let alone the band, so I had my reservations when I found out East 17 was a mid-90s British boy band. However, I was proved wrong by this somber yet beautifully written song.
The song was mainly written by the band’s lead singer Tony Mortimer in honour of his brother who had just committed suicide. He was helped by songwriters Rob Kean and Dominic Hawken while Christmas bells were added to the end of the song in order to give it a Christmas touch and appeal to the Christmas singles market, which is a huge deal in the UK. It was successful as it became the 1994 Christmas Number One single.
Most notably, “Stay Another Day” was the band’s first ever ballad as their previous songs were mainly rap or hip-hip. East 17 became one of the most successful boy bands of the 90s, especially in the UK, charting 18 songs in the UK’s Top 20 over just 8 years.
Lyric-wise, the song focuses on the pain that protagonist would suffer if their loved one left them. The protagonist doesn’t understand why they would want to leave them after coming so far and just wants them to stay another day.
The song is also notable for its lack of drums, which was not common in a pop song back then and still isn’t even today. The combination of everyone’s voices in the chorus is probably the highlight of this sombre yet reflective song. Enjoy!
Lyrics can be accessed here.
Chords can be accessed here.
Feel free to comment on this song and/or my review below.
