“Stay With Me”
Writers: Sam Smith, James Napier, William Phillips, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne
Original Release Date: April 14, 2014
Remember when Sam Smith burst out of nowhere with his soulful voice and Top 40 hit, “Stay With Me”? Yeah, me too.
It’s a beautiful song, with a lovely, simple piano melody; all the power comes from Smith’s full-bodied voice, dripping with emotion. He tugs at our heartstrings as he laments a one-night stand gone wrong because he caught the feels when the relationship wasn’t meant to last. When “Stay With Me” came out, there was a bit of controversy because of how similar it sounded to Tom Petty’s classic “I Won’t Back Down”, but Petty and Smith reached an agreement, and Petty was granted a writing credit.
I hadn’t heard of A Story Told before I stumbled upon this cover, but I’m going to have to look them up now. They speed up Smith’s song just enough to take it from ballad to banger for a cover I’m going to be listening to for a long time. There’s some fancy guitar work going on in the second verse that backs up the strong vocals, and it still packs the same emotional punch as the original while being a little more upbeat.
If I want to cry, I’ll listen to Smith’s original…but if I want to dance, I’ll definitely be throwing on A Story Told.
