Stay with Me

this is one of the best in flames songs in years, perhaps ever. it's already a good song until it becomes a full on ballad at 3:30 and just gets progressively better until it ends.

the way i interpret the song is it's about being with someone who has been through abuse and suffers from mental illness, particularly depression, suicidal thoughts, and anxiety or panic attacks ("Stay with me, Away from the darkest of nights", "Open your eyes. Breathe in, breathe out").

the opening verse, to me, relates to my partner's abusive ex husband, who used her and 'brought her to her knees'. I am the one 'leading her for a while', but 'every time i talk to her shes too afraid to see', see that she is now valued and loved.

the repeated 'stay with me's are my own feelings. desperately clinging to her and hoping she never does something irreversible or collapses further into depression.

obviously this is how i relate to the song and your own interpretation may differ :)

Here we go with some heavy stuff.

I have a similar interpretation as Adam.

My partner suffers from a severe Depression, Borderline and suicidal thoughts. Every few weeks she goes through moments where the pain to much and the depression takes control.

If she is in one of these moments, this song really hits.

The first verse for me is about depression. "Don't ever let them use you They will bring you to your knees" Other people are the cause of my partners Depression and Borderline. Sure you can be born with a certain sensitivity to it. But your context is what triggers it. For the second part of the first verse, to me is about trying to convince someone that there is still hope and that things can improve. I can tell and prove to my partner that she is doing better, and that she is getting the help she needs, but it takes time to take effect. Yet when her depression takes over, she can not see this. On top of that she is afraid that therapy will change who she is. "But every time I talk to you You're too afraid to see"

To me it is about Andres trying to guide someone or himself trough some kind of pain. Why himself? Because in the second verse he is talking about a past that he wants to tell us about, but he doesn't know if you will be able to handle it. "I don't know if you're ready You should see where I have been I don't know if you're ready And I don't know where to begin"

The screaming at the end makes me tear up every time. I see that my partner is hurting in those bad moments and really wants to end it. But i just can not let that happen and i will do anything so she can "Stay with me".

Thanks In Flames.

So I listened to the song again several times after reading all of your interpretations. This is what I came up with.

This could be a dialogue between two people, one is the abused/depressive one (A), the other is the person (B) who tris to protect the abused/depressive one.

Starting at "I don't know if you're ready", it is the abused/depressive person (A) talking. The other one (B) keeps saying "stay with me" as he/she doesn't wat to see (A) go. Progressively, (A) tells (B) how he/she's been to dark places and finally sees the light, as in the tunnel of light that one is supposed to see when they die. (A) sees this as a deliverance and prefers this light, to the darkest of night = what (A) has been living. Meanwhile, (B) keeps begging to "stay with me". When (A) finally passes away, (B) cries from sadness and lonelyness. Also "open your eyes, breath in, breath out, breath in life" could simply describe (B) talking to dead or dying (A). I don't believe that the whole lyrics are supposed to be only one person talking. At least in that scenario I can't make sense of the "I don't know if you're ready" piece. Anyways, for anyone with a depressive or abused loved one, this song says so much about this feeling of powerlessness while trying to help with all your heart and soul, and you can't understand why would the other one want to go and not be able to see all the good things to enjoy on the other side of the door.

The last few screams at the end of the song get me every time. That's the sound of someone watching someone slip away and being helpless to stop it. I've had that happen once in my life, and Anders captured that emotion perfectly in this song - the shift from "please don't go down this path" to "stay with me, please don't die" is masterfully done, and chillingly real to anyone who's ever experienced it. Kudos to In Flames for this masterpiece.

I just see it as sort of a uh "im getting better, can't you see that I am?", type thing.

"I, I can see the light" "(so) stay with me"

He's basically saying, why do you feel you need to go if I'm telling you I'm getting better

On face value I'd say that this is about taking someones hand and guiding through their darkest days "I can see the light" (I can see better things), "stay with me" (just believe me on this one.

HOWEVER, I believe the focus and meaning of the track changes as it continues.

The way Anders delivers the vocals towards the end of this track hints of pain and infliction. It's raw, pure, unadultered pain in his voice as he screams "stay with me".

It's anguish, loss, heartache and helplessness.

Almost as if the focus and meaning of "Stay with me" changes towards the end from "i've been through this, follow me" to "please don't die, stay with me".

From initially being about "everything will be fine," to being there for someone and feeling helpless as they fade away.