First tracks and last tracks of albums have always been something I’m both curious and fond of. Though we live more in the music reality of playlists, I will always love the art of the album, especially if it is a Side A/Side B record (or cassette, if I still had a player) situation. I love knowing, and hearing, the songs in their intended order. Especially the choices of opening and closing an album. It’s like reading a book or watching a film. Those starting and endings are so important. They don’t always work. Especially endings, it seems. Just like with everything else in life – endings are hard.
“Stay”, today’s Song of the Day selection, is one of the brilliant album endings, in my opinion. It is the final track off of Belly’s debut album, Star. It is moody and melodic, a little bit melancholic, and gorgeous sounding. It starts out stark and grows, building as the song unfolds. I love the strings in this. And the harmonies that come together as the song comes to a close. And those last lines…
“It’s not time for me to go.
It’s not time for me to go.
It’s not time for me to go.
Stay.”
What a perfect way to end an album. I mean, the last word you hear sung is “Stay”. Its as if the track is inviting you to start the album all over again, and stay with it a while longer.
I love the sentiment of staying. Love is beautiful and brilliant, and life-changing. But, it is just the start. With real love, the kind that changes your life, and becomes a big relationship that you hope lasts in a forever kind of way, staying is a choice. And, it isn’t a choice you make once or twice (like when you say “I love you” for the first time, or perhaps when you trade vows if it goes that way), it is a choice you actively make every day. Even on the rough days. Especially on the rough days. I know, for me, love and staying with the man I love, is a choice I make every day. It is as powerful as saying I love you, to me. I believe the love we have, and share, is a forever kind of thing. I know for certain I plan on staying forever.
“Stay” by Belly
from the album, Star (1993)
Song of the Day
“But I love him dear,
and I love him dear,
and I’ve loved him hundreds of thousands of years.”
“Stay” is my favorite Belly track, and lead singer, Tanya Donelly is one of my all-time favorite singers. Whether it is with Belly, her solo work, her work with half-sister Kristin Hersh, with Throwing Muses, or with early Breeders. I even love the duets she’s done, with Catherine Wheel (“Judy Staring at the Sun”), and Dylan In The Movies (cover of The Cure’s “Lovesong” and The Smith’s “Shoplifters of the World Unite”).
