Sam Smith unpacks the making of 'Stay With Me' 10 years later

Sam Smith joined the music analysis podcast Song Exploder to mark ten years of their iconic hit “Stay With Me,” and revealed that the song hasn’t quite ‘stayed’ the same.

LISTEN NOW: Sam Smith - Stay With Me | Song Exploder

Back in 2014, Sam Smith was a bartender and hustling singer who had given themself a year to either make it big or quit trying. Speaking to Hrishikesh Hirway of the Song Exploder podcast, Smith recalled how it was by pure luck that they met their longtime songwriting and producing partner Jimmy Napes . “He started to want to write with me, after my work shift,” the singer began. “So I'd go on my lunch break, or I'd go after the bar. And we wrote nonstop.”

Within their first few songwriting sessions, the two wrote the UK and international chart hits “Lay Me Down” and “Latch.” The singles secured Smith their first record deal, and added what they called, “the pressure of the hit.” Napes and Smith again hosted a songwriting session, this time joined with fellow musician Tourist on the piano.

“And then, he hit those first three chords” Smith recalled in the podcast. “I told everyone to stop. Because they made me want to cry. They just, they spoke to me.” While the chords played, Jimmy began to drum and sing general vowel sounds. As they tell it, the ‘ah’ he sang turned into the word ‘Stay’ and the rest of the title quickly followed.“ As soon as we had those words, I immediately knew what I wanted” Smith said. “I was 21 years old. I was gay, and never had a boyfriend, and was so desperate to experience love and to experience a relationship. And I was going out so much. And the queer scene in London that I was going out in was aggressive and cold at times… So, when I heard those three chords, it made me feel lonely.”

With the record label's approval, the trio added in a faux choir, an organ and string section, and a hymn-like bridge, and as we all know, it began a massive hit upon release. “Stay with Me” spent 54 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and earned Smith 4 GRAMMY wins from that year, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year .

While Smith said that the song “healed” them in many ways, it also needed to change over time. As Sam began to develop their non-binary identity, they felt disconnected from the lyric, “but I still need love / cause I’m just a man.” While Smith pushed through, they decided that there would be no better stage to change the lyrics than at the White House’s Respect for Marriage Act signature ceremony in 2022.

“It felt wrong to stand in that moment and say the word man . And so, on that day I changed the lyrics to "baby understand," they told the podcast host. “I promised myself, in that moment, that that was the turning point, and I would never return to that lyric. And I feel so much better about it.”

Now, a full ten years later, Sam Smith has rerecorded the song and album In The Lonely Hour for a special anniversary edition. “You know, I think that's the beauty in songwriting, is that it can actually evolve with you,” they said.

To learn more about the upcoming re-release, check out Sam Smith’s official website here . You can listen to the full Song Exploder podcast diving into the details of “Stay With Me” above and in the free Audacy app. Congratulations Sam Smith, and happy 10 years!