Taylor Swift

Released: October 27, 2014

Songwriter: Max Martin Taylor Swift

Producer: Mattman & Robin Shellback Max Martin

[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!)
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 picking 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!)
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 want 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
(All you had to do was stay)
Well, could've been easy
All you had to do was (Stay!)
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!)

One of the defining artists of the 2010s, Taylor Alison Swift, born December 13th, 1989, is an American singer-songwriter and actress who has achieved success in both country and pop. Raised on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania, Swift moved to Nashville, Tennessee at age fourteen to pursue a career in country music. Scott Borchetta signed Swift to his then-nonexistent label Big Machine Records after seeing her perform at the Bluebird Cafe in November 2004.

Swift debuted in June 2006 with “Tim McGraw,” an ode to a lover who would be leaving town. The song served as an introduction to her self-titled debut album, which touched upon topics like heartbreak and bullying Swift faced at school. Her honesty and relatability appealed to fans from all walks of life, and went on to become the longest-charting album of the 2000s, spending 227 weeks on the Billboard 200.

Swift’s sophomore effort, Fearless, came in November 2008 and cemented her status as a country superstar, while tracks like “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me” also garnered mainstream attention. Not only did the record become her first number one, but it also became the most-awarded country album of all time, winning accolades such as the Grammy award for Album of the Year. Until Billie Eilish’s 2020 win, then-20-year-old Swift was the youngest person to have ever received the honor.

more tracks from the album

1989

From the albums

1989 (Deluxe) (2014)
1989 (2014)

Taylor Swift popular songs

All You Had to Do Was StayTaylor Swift

Taylor Swift

1989