Synopsis
Lisa Loeb performs "Stay (I Missed You)" inside a largely empty New York loft, turning a breakup song into an intimate one-person performance. Wearing her signature glasses and a dark green dress, she moves through the rooms while singing directly to the camera. The video opens on a gray cat resting on a chair before revealing Loeb, and the cat returns near the end on a windowsill. The stripped-down setting and restrained camera movement keep the focus on her voice, lyrics, and expressive performance.
Factoids & Trivia
- The video was filmed in a SoHo loft in New York City.
- Two principal versions were made: one built around a continuous Steadicam movement and another edited from separate shots of Loeb singing and playing guitar.
- The continuous-shot concept required close coordination between Loeb and the camera operator. During filming, "Entertainment Tonight" visited the set and documented the process for a segment that aired the following day.
- The gray cat appearing at the beginning and end belonged to Ethan Hawke.
- "Stay (I Missed You)" became the closing-credits song for the 1994 film "Reality Bites." Hawke's connection to the film helped bring the song to Ben Stiller's attention.
- The song became a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 before Loeb had signed a record deal, making her the first unsigned artist to top that chart.
- Loeb's forest green dress and tortoiseshell glasses became closely associated with her image after the video entered heavy music-television rotation.