Synopsis

Andy Bell appears alone in a shadowy apartment, performing "Stay With Me" against an atmosphere of isolation and quiet longing. He sings from within the room while repeatedly looking toward the outside world through a window, giving the performance a reflective, almost voyeuristic quality. The restrained setting keeps attention on Bell's expressive presence and the song's emotional pull, while the subdued visual style matches the track's slow, gospel-tinged ballad mood.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was made in 1995 as a live-action production for "Stay With Me," the lead single from Erasure's self-titled seventh studio album.

• Mario Cavalli and Ashley Potter had previously worked together on the projects "Soho Square" and "Carmen." For this video, they developed ideas from those earlier mixed-media experiments into a purely live-action setting.

• Potter also created the visual artwork associated with the single. The related imagery drew on the atmosphere of Edward Hopper, particularly the sense of observing people from outside or at a distance.

• An alternative edit exists in which Andy Bell appears as an omniscient figure, lurking in the shadows and observing the action.

• Vince Clarke does not appear in the main video. Cavalli later recalled that Clarke was not interested in taking part, although the filmmaker felt his absence was unfortunate.

• "Stay With Me" reached No. 15 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1995. It was less commercially successful than many of Erasure's earlier singles.

• The official high-definition version of the video was uploaded to Erasure's YouTube channel on September 25, 2014.

• Andy Bell later named "Stay With Me" as one of his favorite Erasure songs in a 2009 radio interview.