I been sittin' here staring
At the clock on the wall
And I been layin here praying
Praying she won't call
It's just another call from home
And you'll get it and be gone
And I'll be crying
And I'll be beggin you baby
Beg you not to leave
But I'll be left here waiting
With my heart on my sleeve
Oh for the next time we'll be here
Seems like a million years
And I think I'm dying

What do I have to do to make you see
She can't love you like me

Why dont you stay
Im down on my knees
Im so tired of being lonely
Don't I give you what you need
When she calls you to go
There is one thing you should know
We dont have to live this way
Baby why dont you stay


You keep telling me baby
There will come a time
When you will leave her arms
And forever be in mine
But I don't think that's the truth
And I don't like being used
And I'm tired of waiting
It's too much pain to have to bare
To love a man you have to share

Why dont you stay
Im down on my knees
Im so tired of being lonely
Don't I give you what you need
When she calls you to go
There is one thing you should know
We don't have to live this way
Baby why don't you stay

I can't take it any longer
But my will is getting stronger
And I think I know just what I have to do
I can't waste another minute
After all that I've put in it
I've given you my best
Why does she get the best of you
So the next time you find
You wanna leave her bed for mine

Why dont you stay
I'm up off my knees
I'm so tired of being lonely
You cant give me what I need
When she begs you not to go
There is one thing you should know
I dont have to live this way
Baby why dont you stay


Lyrics submitted by Crazeysexycool, edited by m16joe

Stay song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

44 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +1
    General Comment

    I heard about this song from my younger cousin, who said she had a "cute" song she wanted me to hear. She played the video for me On Demand, and I broke down in tears, it was that amazing. Especially when she started crying; I just completely lost it.

    I don't normally go for country music, and I detest songs about cheating, but this song just blows me away. Simple, straightforward, and no explanation needed. Listen to it back-to-back with Faith Hill's Cry and I swear you'll be sobbing for a good half hour, at least!(They just happen to be on my playlist in that order. Ugh.)

    cruzntopless, while I don't condone cheating(been cheated on WAAAY too many times to make that leap), there ARE exceptions to every rule. Now, if the woman went into the relationship KNOWING "her" man was married, then, the ho got what she deserved. However, what if, like so many situations, she didn't know he was married until it was WAY too late to back out of? Like they'd been together a couple of years with him successfully hiding his marital status up to that point? Or if he told his lover that he was married, but separated or in the middle of a divorce, then strung them both along until she realized the truth of the situation? And while you and I might have left as soon as we realized something like this was going on, a woman in love wants to believe the best in her man. And it's so much easier for the "other woman" to believe a man's lies: He's not in love with his wife, but staying for the sake of the kids, or because she's sick(physically or mentally), or because she'd ruin him financially or the millions of other lies that can fall from a man's lips so very easily. As long as one or both women involved don't start "nagging," the only one truly happy in that situation is HIM.

    Anyway, awesome song, phenomenal video, excellent artists!

    lanakaelon August 13, 2011   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him. There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Album art
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it. “I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.