| "Don't Stay" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Song by Linkin Park | |
| from the album Meteora | |
| Working title: | Sick |
| Recorded: | 2002 |
| Length: | 03:08 |
| Time signature: | 4/4 |
| Tempo: | 90 |
| Key: | B Minor |
| Live debut: | February 23, 2003 |
| Last performed: | August 24, 2008 |
| Writer: | Linkin Park |
| Producer: | Don Gilmore, Linkin Park |
| Label: | Warner Bros. |
| Meteora tracklist | |
"Don't Stay" is the second song on Linkin Park's sophomore album Meteora. It is the first full track on the record, and is the first song in Linkin Park's discography to feature guitars tuned to Drop B. It continues Linkin Park's signature style of rapped verses and angry choruses, but also shows the band move into a rawer rock sound.
Background
In March 2003, Mike Shinoda did a track-by-track of Meteora for ShoutWeb. About "Don't Stay", he said, "That song started off as almost a Spanish or reggae style sound with the guitar. The first time I heard it, I almost thought it sounded like some kind of Latin dancing thing. And it was funny because it didn't sound that way. It just gave me that idea in my head so Brad and I worked on it. Brad ended up coming up with the final thing, which is what you hear there. The nice thing about the song is that it's written really heavy. It's got an interesting bounce to it and that Spanish guitar thing is gone now. Because it came from that place, it has a different vibe to the rhythm of it. I think it's a really fun song. It's going to be a really fun song to play live. It's really energetic."
On the Meteora booklet, the band wrote, "Mike and Brad's original guitar parts for this song had a Reggae-Style vibe. After numerous transformations (Probably 5 or 6 different guitar variations), Brad developed the final recorded version. Under the working title "Sick," this song was one of the first tracks finished for this album... Notably, Joe recorded the opening scratch solo on the first take."
Versions
Note: Only the date of the very first release of each version is listed.
Studio
| Title | Album | Length | Recorded | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don't Stay | Meteora | 3:08 | 2002 | March 25, 2003 | |
| Don't Stay | Meteora - Instrumentals | 3:06 | 2002 |
|
Live
| Title | Album | Length | Recorded | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don't Stay | LP Underground 3.0 | 3:11 | August 02, 2003 | November 17, 2003 |
|
| Don't Stay | LP Underground 3.0 | 3:12 | August 11, 2003 | November 17, 2003 |
|
| Don't Stay | Live In Texas | August 02, 2003 | November 18, 2003 |
| |
| Don't Stay (Live In Shanghai, 2007) | Meteora - Live Around The World | 3:16 | November 18, 2007 | June 5, 2012 |
|
| Don't Stay (Live In Texas) | Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition) | 3:19 | August 02, 2003 | April 7, 2023 |
|
| Don't Stay (Live In Nottingham 2003) | Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition) | 3:15 | March 03, 2003 | April 7, 2023 |
|
| Don't Stay | Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition) | 3:11 | July 12, 2003 | April 7, 2023 |
|
| Don't Stay | Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition) | 3:07 | October 29, 2003 | April 7, 2023 |
|
| Don't Stay | Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition) | 3:39 | June 15, 2004 | April 7, 2023 |
|
| Don't Stay | Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition) | 3:42 | August 30, 2004 | April 7, 2023 |
|
Live
"Don't Stay" was a staple in Linkin Park setlists throughout the Meteora touring cycle. "Don't Stay" was the opening song for most setlists on the Meteora touring cycle. The song was one of the first songs from Meteora to be performed live, with it debuting as the opening song of the setlist at the first show of the cycle in Milano, Italy. For the entirety of that first tour, the LP Underground Tour, "Don't Stay" opened the show right after the 2003 version of "Session" was played. When "Session" was dropped on the following tour, "Don't Stay" still remained strong at the beginning of the setlist, opening the shows on its own (with "Foreword" preceding it). The song opened up each show for the better half of 2003, until October, where "Papercut" took over as the show opener instead. "Don't Stay" was moved down to the third slot in the setlist, after "Points Of Authority". In December, "With You" began to open the shows, pushing "Don't Stay" even further back in the setlist, to the fifth position. The song remained in this position until the Meteora International Tour in the summer of that year. "Don't Stay" returned as the opener of the setlists with a brand new intro, entitled the "Gacela Intro". This intro featured a reading by Joan Baez, of the poem entitled "Gacela Of The Dark Death" by Federico García Lorca, remixed with the intro riff of "Don't Stay". The song and its intro opened shows for the rest of 2004. In 2005, "Don't Stay" only appeared in one of two shows played that year: at the Music For Relief: Rebuilding South Asia Benefit, where "Foreword" returned as the song's intro. The same held for 2006, where "Don't Stay" and "Foreword" opened each show at the band's Summer Sonic festival appearances.
"Don't Stay" returned on the Minutes To Midnight touring cycle, where the song (with its "Foreword" intro) took up a mid-set position. The song was played in this position on the first Minutes To Midnight European Tour, being dropped only when the band opened for Pearl Jam in Chorzów, Poland, where the both "Don't Stay" and "Given Up" were dropped for time constraints. The song was not played at the few promo shows the band performed between the European Tour and Projekt Revolution 2007. When the band introduced rotating setlists, "Don't Stay" only made it on to two of the three: Set A and Set C. In Set A, "Don't Stay" was fifth in the setlist after "Lying From You". In Set C, "Don't Stay" was moved farther down into the mid-set, after "Given Up". By the end of the tour, however, "Don't Stay" was added to a modified version of Set B (known as Set D), where it was performed mid-set after "From The Inside". Due to an unknown reason, the song was dropped at the band's show at the New York State Fair in Syracuse, New York. The band continued to use these setlists on the following tour in 2007 (the Minutes To Midnight Asian Tour), "Don't Stay" retained its positions in all of the sets (including the new version of Set B).
In 2008, "Don't Stay" returned to the setlists. Of the three new setlists on the Minutes To Midnight Winter European Tour, it appeared in two: Set R and Set S. In Set R, it was moved up early into the set, being the second song, right after "No More Sorrow". In Set S, it was later in the set, at the fifth position, where it was still performed after "No More Sorrow". This stayed consisten on the following Minutes To Midnight North American Tour. In the summer, on the second Minutes To Midnight European Tour of 2008, it only appeared in Set Y, where it was performed mid-set after "Lying From You". This carried over to Projekt Revolution, as well.
"Don't Stay" has not been played since the last show of 2008, for multiple reasons. The main reason being that the baritone guitars that Brad would use to perform the song have either been sold or auctioned off by Music For Relief at this point. Brad had four baritone guitars, each of which are no longer in his possession. One was donated to the Hard Rock Cave in Denver in 2011, another sold at the Music For Relief auction at the Music For Relief Benefit in Los Angeles, California, and another was auctioned off by Music For Relief for Typhoon Haiyan relief in 2013. This leaves one guitar left that is unaccounted for, but it is unlikely the band still has the guitar. Another problem persisting with the song being performed live is that even if the band had the guitars still, they would simply take up space on the guitar racks, as only two Linkin Park songs actually use the tuning that "Don't Stay" utilizes (Drop B), the other song being "Nobody's Listening".
Variations
Last Updated: December 13, 2015
| Type | Description | First Played | Last Played |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intro | Foreword Intro | March 23, 2003 | August 24, 2008 |
| Intro | Devil Worship Intro w/ Foreword Tease | July 4, 2003 | August 10, 2003 |
| Intro | Ambient Intro | November 15, 2003 | March 15, 2004 |
| Intro | Gacela Intro | June 3, 2004 | September 11, 2004 |
Personnel
Linkin Park
- Chester Bennington: vocals
- Rob Bourdon: drums
- Brad Delson: guitar
- Joseph Hahn: records, sampling
- Phoenix: bass
- Mike Shinoda: emcee, vocals, sampling
Production
- Don Gilmore: producer
- Andy Wallace: mixer
Lyrics
Sometimes I
Need to remember just to breathe
Sometimes I
Need you to stay away from me
Sometimes I'm
In disbelief I didn't know
Somehow I
Need you to go
Don't stay
Forget our memories
Forget our possibilities
What you were changing me into
(Just give me myself back and)
Don't stay
Forget our memories
Forget our possibilities
Take all your faithlessness with you
(Just give me myself back and)
Don't stay
Sometimes I
Feel like I trusted you too well
Sometimes I
Just feel like screaming at myself
Sometimes I'm
In disbelief I didn't know
Somehow I
Need to be alone
Don't stay
Forget our memories
Forget our possibilities
What you were changing me into
(Just give me myself back and)
Don't stay
Forget our memories
Forget our possibilities
Take all your faithlessness with you
(Just give me myself back and)
Don't stay
I don't need you anymore
I don't want to be ignored
I don't need one more day
Of you wasting me away
I don't need you anymore
I don't want to be ignored
I don't need one more day
Of you wasting me away
With no apologies
Don't stay
Forget our memories
Forget our possibilities
What you were changing me into
(Just give me myself back and)
Don't stay
Forget our memories
Forget our possibilities
Take all your faithlessness with you
(Just give me myself back and)
Don't stay
In Other Media
- "Don't Stay" is featured in the 2004 film Riding Giants.
- "Don't Stay" is featured in the 25th episode of Season 11 of the TV series Hinter Gittern - Der Frauenknast, titled "Dickes Ende".
- "Don't Stay" was used as the opening theme of the TV show Zona Urbana (from Uruguay). Various other Linkin Park songs were used during the episodes throughout its existence.