Music Review: Zedd & Hayley Williams "Stay The Night"

Zedd & Hayley Williams

Stay The Night

Album: Clarity (Deluxe Edition)

Year: 2013

        Hayley Williams invites her ex-boyfriend to her apartment in the insecure “Stay The Night."

      An appeasing synth opens the single, setting a diffused tone. With his soft lips, he kisses her jaw, neck and collarbone. She moans and puts her hands on his back, remembering how much she missed the feel of his skin on hers. He stares at her with an intensity she thought he forgot. Once he turns his eyes away, she tells him they need to talk before they go any further.  He lets out a frustrated sigh and sits upright on the couch again. She explains to him that she gets they are broken up and won’t get back together again. When they were together, meaningful conversations were nonexistent and they had become roommates. She says they aren’t meant to be but they can hook up every once in a while. (“I know that we are upside down/So hold your tongue and hear me out/I know/That we were made to break/So what? I don't mind.”)

             In the pre-chorus, she gives him a kiss, telling him not to overthink. As she pulls away from him, she tells him to turn off the lights while she’ll close the blinds. (“You kill the lights, I'll drop the blinds/Don't dull the sparkle in your eyes/I know that we were made to break/So what? I don't mind.”)

           In the chorus, she’s cuddled up next to him, her head buried in his nook of his shoulder. She wonders how long the moment will last between them. Another hour, maybe? Maybe he’ll leave at 3 am or perhaps he’ll have breakfast with her in the morning. He always enjoyed her French toast. (“Are you gonna stay the night?/Are you gonna stay the night?/Why're you gonna stay the night?/Are you gonna stay the night?/Doesn't mean we're bound for life/Are you gonna stay the night?/Are you gonna stay the night?/Doesn’t t mean we’re bound for life/ Are you gonna stay the night?”)

            She begins kissing him again and he pulls her on top of him again. He grins, whispering “Again?” She gives him a playful smile in return. (“I am a fire, gasoline/Come pour yourself all over me/We'll let this place go down in flames/Only one more time.”)

              The pre-chorus is sung again.

                The chorus is sung twice to end the single.

                 Williams’ blasé vocals pretend she’s perfectly ok with the no-strings attached situation. However, it’s evident with her constant reassurances that it means nothing that she would like to be with him again. Clearly, his opinion of where their relationship stands is important to her.

                  Zedd’s sheepish arrangement is burdened with questions and false hope, tiptoeing around what it really feels.

                 The blundering “Stay The Night” ponders every blink and smile, wondering what it all means when it’s supposed to be just having fun.