Songfacts®:

• This was Suede's most ambitious single and its release decisively set them apart from their more 'Indie' peers. Where "Line Up" by Elastica and "Girls And Boys" by Blur - released at around the same time - were more raw and not so instrument-heavy, "Stay Together" was lyrically and instrumentally extravagant. This was a massive departure from the more clean-cut and concise singles they were known for. John Harris said of the song in his book The Last Party, "It split the critical fraternity in two: some were seduced by the sense that Suede had massively advanced their artistic boundaries; others believed, not entirely unreasonably, that they had teetered into absolute ludicrousness." >>>

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  Radhika - Melbourne, Australia
• Suede were formed in 1989 by Brett Anderson, the year he lost his mother to cancer and guitarist and co-songwriter Bernard Butler was soon recruited via an advert in Melody Maker. By 1994 there were growing tensions between the pair and Suede released this tale of two suburban lovers united in narcotic nihilism as a stopgap single, whilst Butler's father was dying of cancer. Anderson's lyric was inspired by vivid childhood memories of nuclear war, while Butler conceived a tumultuous and multi-tiered ballad lasting over seven minutes. "I was desperate to do something emotional and strung out, Butler told Mojo June 2011, who admits he was constantly stoned on weed during that period. "I'd seen all these tragic characters around the band, and I felt the world had become a nasty place. Brett had retreated. Probably because of what had happened to his mum, he didn't want to connect to me."