Stay With Me

The harmony of Stay with Me is radically simple — a single three-chord loop of Am-F-C (vi-IV-I) that never deviates throughout the entire song. This deliberate harmonic minimalism places all expressive weight on Smith's vocal performance and the gospel-style layered harmonies. The absence of a dominant chord (G or G7) gives the progression a plagal, hymn-like quality that reinforces the gospel atmosphere. The melodic similarity to Tom Petty's I Won't Back Down, which uses the same vi-IV-I functional pattern in G major (Em-D-G), ultimately led to a co-writing credit settlement.

Sam Smith wrote the song with James Napier (Jimmy Napes) and William Phillips (Tourist) in a studio in Old Street, London. Phillips began playing three chords on the piano, Napier quickly added a drum pattern, and according to Smith, the song flowed out naturally. The entire composition was completed in just 30 to 40 minutes. After finishing the song, Smith began layering vocals approximately twenty times, singing in different parts of the studio and harmonizing with themselves. The result sounded like a full gospel choir but was created entirely from Smith's own voice. This demo vocal arrangement was kept for the final released version.

Released in 2014 from the debut album In the Lonely Hour, "Stay with Me" fuses minimalist piano chords with Sam Smith's multi-tracked gospel choir vocals to create one of the decade's most emotionally resonant ballads. The song won Grammy Awards for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year, peaked at number one in the UK, and reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, establishing Smith as one of pop's most powerful vocal talents.