East 17 singer Tony Mortimer has opened up about the emotional toll of hearing the group’s signature track Stay Another Day every year.
Despite not being a Christmas song in the traditional sense, Stay Another Way topped the Christmas charts in 1994, which – along with its wintery music video – means it’s often played around the festive period.
While at first glance, the lyrics might appear to be a straightforward break-up song, they actually have a much deeper meaning, as they refer to the suicide of Tony’s brother Ollie years earlier.
“It was based on my brother’s suicide and losing someone,” he told Songwriting Magazine in 2016.
“What would you do if you had one more day with a loved one?”
Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
Tony added that the lyrics were “all based on conversations I’d had with my brother and I was trying to change it into a love song about the end of a relationship”.
In a new interview with The Independent, Tony shared: “I accept it, but it’s always been difficult, a two-edged sword, for my family.
“People come up to me and say: ‘That song means a lot to me…’ I’m like: ‘Hang about, I’m not ready for that yet, I’m just in McDonald’s!’ But I’ve got used to it, because it’s been so long.”
“It never stops, though, and it’s every year,” he added of the song’s annual resurgence.
This year, which marks 30 years since Stay Another Day first topped the charts, the song is being re-released, as part of a campaign with with the music therapy charity Nordoff And Robbins.
He explained: “The record company was going to do something. We were batting around ideas, talking about a reunion and something big. And I said: ‘I don’t just want to release the single and be on the take. That’s not right.’
“So I’ve stopped them just releasing it [for money] – and I feel good about that.”
Of his song’s potential to now help others through the Nordoff And Robbins partnership, Tony admitted: “It still stings, but it does help. I can’t play that song and not know what I’m playing, not think of my brother, every time. But it’s not about me any more, and it’s not about him. It’s about the song and how the public see it.
“Most of them don’t even know the thing behind it. And I accept that – that it [just signifies] Christmas. That gives me a smile.”
In 2019, a re-released version of Stay Another Day was also released by Tony, with proceeds going to the mental health organisation CALM.
Help and support:
- Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
- Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI – this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
- CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
- The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
- Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0808 801 0525 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.
