All You Had To Do Was Stay

"All You Had to Do Was Stay" is about a former lover who keeps trying to enter the singer's life again after leaving her and causing a lot of emotional pain. The verses of the song describe how the singer still has feelings for this person and wants to believe that they have changed. However, the chorus reveals the main theme of the song, which is that the person could have prevented the breakup if they had just stayed and worked on their relationship. The post-chorus lyrics "All you had to do was stay" are repeated throughout the song to emphasize that the fault of the failed relationship was entirely on the former lover's choice to leave. The bridge of the song suggests that the former lover is now regretting their decision and wants to come back into the singer's life, but the singer thinks it's too late for reconciliation. Overall, the song is a message to someone who has caused the singer heartbreak and regrets, and the singer is telling them that they only have themselves to blame for the result of their relationship. The sadness and frustration in the song reveal the pain caused by being left by someone who did not value the relationship.

[Intro] (Hey, hey, hey) (Hey, hey, hey) (Hey, hey, hey) (Hey, hey, hey) [Verse 1] People like you always want back The love they gave away And people like me wanna believe you When you say you've changed The more I think about it now The less I know All I know is that you drove us Off the road [Chorus] (Stay) Hey, all you had to do was stay Had me in the palm of your hand, then Why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in? (Stay) Hey, now you say you want it back Now that it's just too late, well, could've been easy All you had to do was (Stay) [Post-Chorus] All you had to do was (Stay) All you had to do was (Stay) All you had to do was (Stay) All you had to do was stay [Verse 2] Here you are now, calling me up But I don't know what to say I've been pickin' up the pieces Of the mess you made People like you always want back The love they pushed aside But people like me are gone forever When you say goodbye [Chorus] (Stay) Hey, all you had to do was stay Had me in the palm of your hand, then Why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in? (Stay) Hey, now you say you want it back Now that it's just too late, well, could've been easy All you had to do was (Stay) [Post-Chorus] All you had to do was (Stay) All you had to do was (Stay) All you had to do was (Stay, stay, stay, stay, stay) [Bridge] Let me remind you This was what you wanted (Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh) You ended it You were all I wanted (Oh, oh, oh-oh-oh) But not like this Not like this, not like this Oh, all you had to do was [Chorus] (Stay) Hey, all you had to do was stay Had me in the palm of your hand, then Why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in? (Stay) Hey, now you say you want it back Now that it's just too late, well, could've been easy All you had to do was (Stay) Hey, all you had to do was stay Had me in the palm of your hand, then Why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in? (Stay) Hey, now you say you want it back Now that it's just too late, well, it could've been easy (All you had to do was stay) All you had to do was (Stay) [Post-Chorus] All you had to do was (Stay, oh) All you had to do was (Stay) All you had to do was (Stay, ooh) All you had to do was (Stay)