"Stay with Me" by Sam Smith - Pop Song Review

Hot 100 rank: 2

Pop Radio play rank: 1

First thing I ever heard about Sam Smith is he is the male equivalent of Adele. Those are quite high expectations to live up too. Can he deliver on the hype? Read on to find out.

Sam Smith is in contention for MVP of 2014 in pop music. He is competing with Iggy Azalea and Ariana Grande for the title. I heard of this guy last year but never look into him. Now he is bigger than ever in the pop music scene scoring two top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and a top 20 on the chart as well.

La La La - Single Cover

 I first heard of Sam Smith on Naughty Boy’s hit song, “La La La” a powerhouse ballad about tuning out an abusive relationship.  I consider it a great song, however; it always had one bad flaw with a kid saying “la la la ” during the chorus. The song suggests putting your hands on the ears during that part so I’m going to follow the advice.

"LA LA LA" Make it Stop!

In Sam Smith case this wasn’t the true pop break through that he would hope it would be . It only went into the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and barely made the top 10 on pop radio.

Latch - Single Cover

 Disclosure an edm group artist from the  UK  had a song recorded two years ago with Sam Smith called, “Latch”.  “Latch” is an odd song ballad in the sense that is electronic ballad that is incredibly soulful but also doesn’t have the 4 x 4 pattern of dance music.  Sam Smith performance here is incredible and the absolute highlight of the song for me. Disclosure production allows Sam Smith to shine though the whole song providing heavenly feel to it. Production wise it takes inspiration for the 90s UK garage scene and makes it soulful but poppy sound.  “Latch” is about being attached to someone you love aka as the song describes it as latching on to someone.  This song went to number 6 on the billboard hot 100 and was a big hit on pop radio. I recommend checking out Disclosure catalogue when you get a chance. These guys are extremely talented.

The record companies put Sam Smith in a weird situation during the summer.  He had three current records pop radio at the same time which is rare for a new artist like Sam.  “La La La” ,”Latch” and “Stay With Me” were all strong pop records being played on the radio during May and June.  I like the guy however he was way over play on pop radio.  Good way to kill your career in music.  

 This brings me to his biggest record,”Stay with Me.” I want to like “Stay with Me” but it is incredibly dull to me.  The presentation of the bland piano playing makes it worse to me.   I want to rename this song “safe song with me.”

Safe song with me. Because this is really easy song for me.

 I want to rename it that because it is really safe song  for an artist like Sam.  “Latch” and “La La La” were both distinctive on the radio and complemented his voice.

“Stay with Me” includes the necessary pop song chords

Pop song chords. Embrace them!

to make it a big smash hit song. The biggest downfall has to be the piano and chords it plays.  It makes a song with soulful vocals dull.  Whenever I heard a piano ballad I usually get my hopes up for different chords but it is usually the same over used chords. The drums could have been a bit more powerful during his proclamation on the chorus. The choir that is added during the chorus is a nice addition to Sam Smith vocals making a verbal proclamation of “Stay With Me” more powerful.

 On the production side of things there are a few different versions of the song that were released. The Darkchild remix is the same song except it has a guest verse of Mary J. Bilge. Mary J. Bilge does a great job vocally and glad to hear her voice on this song. She provides another dimension to the song plot which I’ll explain later. The final version of the song is sometimes called the tempo edit or Rainer & Grimm remix of the song.  It has a funky beat on the background with some added synthesizer.  The remix is no floor filler on the dance floor by any means sticking with a mellow funky dance remix of the song. It is okay but not a version I would seek out if I heard it on the radio. Out of the three commercially released versions of the song I would chose the Darkchild Remix.

As usual let’s look at some of the more interesting lines from Sam Smith.

“Guess it’s true, I’m not good at a one night.”

Sam Smith has spoken out about how hook up apps such as Tinder and Grindr have ruin the idea of long term relationship.  In interviews he admits one night stands are not what he is searching in a relationship and that he wants something longer.

“But I still need love, cause ‘I’m just a man’.”

I’m indifferent on this line.  Sounds like a bad excuse after a break up to resort to or a bad pickup line on Tinder.    At least he is keeping with the one night stand theme going.

“Why am I so emotional?

No it’s not a good look, gain some self control.”

Sam Smith is feeling hurt after his lover is not interested in a relationship. He is pleading with him/her to mature and realize this kind of lifestyle won’t last and stay with him. The other theory I have on this song is the loneliness he has felt from the hookups has gotten to the point where he wants something more emotionally satisfying.  Mary J Bilge sings this verse on the Darkchild remix which adds to the story of Sam Smith both dealing with disappointment of no long term relationship. Sam Smith encounter could be sum up like meeting Quagmire from Family Guy.

The music video is okay I guess. It shows multiple shots of Sam Smith looking like he is about to cry. I know it is an emotional song but at some point you have to get over the person you were with previously especially a one time encounter.

Overall it is a decent song, but I feel like the beats per minutes could made been increase to make it a little less dull. Radio is decreasing overplay of Sam Smith songs. As of writing “Stay with Me” and “Latch” are losing radio play. I look forward to what Sam Smith has in store for pop music in 2014 and beyond. The guy is extremely talented and could make a run on Bruno Mars for top male pop artist in the future.

This version I’ll seek this version out on the radio.  The production of the song is a disco house remix. Sam Smith sounds a lot more home on this over the original. I can’t say it is boring either. The remix gets two thumbs up from me.

Overall “Stay with Me” by Sam Smith final review.

Production: A piano and pop chords. Choir and hard kick drum. Typical ballad stuff.

Lyrics: Not many but he sounds very sincere when he signs them.

Memorable: This will be one of the top songs of the year ballad wise. It is competing with “All of Me” by John Legend for that title. It was a commercial success however I don’t see it becoming an all time classic. Sam Smith stays on topic which is a hard thing to accomplish in pop music for some artists. Could it be Sam Smith biggest songs? Time will tell but this guy likes to experiment so we shall see where he takes it from here.

Final score: (3.5/5)