Released: December 3, 2002

Songwriter: Lionel Cole Mariah Carey

Producer: Randy Jackson Mariah Carey

[Verse 1]
Doesn't it ever stay?
Must it always fade away?
Couldn't love ever be
Something tangible and real?
Farewell, fair-weather friend
Abandonment returns to taunt me again

[Chorus]
I only wanted you to stay
Linger and mean the words you said
Foolishly I romanticized
Someone was saving my life for the first time
I only wanted you to be there
When I opened up my eyes

[Verse 2]
I was caught in your masquerade
Wish I'd stayed beneath my veil
But it just seemed so easy to
Open up myself to you
Once more into the wind
The embers scatter
And the chill settles in

[Chorus]
I, I only wanted you to stay
Linger and mean the words you said
Foolishly I romanticized
Someone was saving my life for the first time
I only wanted you to be there
When I opened up my eyes, eyes

[Instrumental Breakdown]

[Chorus]
I only wanted you to stay
Linger and mean the words you said
Foolishly I romanticized
Someone was saving my life for the first time
I only wanted you to be
The one to get me through the night
I only wanted you to be there
When I opened up my eyes
Oh, doesn't it ever stay?
I only wanted you to stay

Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey (born March 27, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, and philanthropist.

Under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, Carey released her self-titled debut studio album Mariah Carey in 1990; it went multi-platinum and spawned four consecutive number one singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Following her marriage to Mottola in 1993 and success with hit records “Emotions” (1991), “Music Box” (1993), and “Merry Christmas” (1994), Carey was established as Columbia’s highest-selling act. Daydream (1995) made music history when its second single “One Sweet Day”, a duet with Boyz II Men, spent a record sixteen weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100, and remains the longest-running number-one song in U.S. chart history, along with Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito.” During the recording of the album, Carey began to deviate from her R&B and pop beginnings and slowly traversed into hip hop. This musical change became evident with the release of Butterfly (1997), at which time Carey had separated from Mottola.