Tragic true story behind East 17’s Christmas hit ‘Stay Another Day’

Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.

We're just a few weeks away from Christmas now and I'm sure many of us having been hearing the festive classics being blasted in our homes, offices and - of course - the pub.

From classic hits like The Pogue's and Kirsty MacColl's 'Fairytale of New York' and Mariah Carey's 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' all the way through to more modern takes on the beloved genre likes Justin Bieber's 'Mistletoe' and Ariana Grande's 'Santa Tell Me' - it's clear the Crimbo tunes are simply unavoidable this time of year.

One of the most-known British classics in the genre is none other than East 17’s 'Stay Another Day', and while most of us can recite the chorus off by heart, not many are actually aware of the tragic true story behind it.

There's a tragic story behind East 17's 'Stay Another Day' (YouTube)

The song was first released back in 1994 by the band which was started by Tony Mortimer, Brian Harvey, John Hendy, and Terry Coldwell three years prior in 1991.

Definitely far from an upbeat jingle akin to the Jackson 5's 'Santa Claus Is Coming to Town' or Michael Bublé's 'It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas', some of the track's lyrics are pretty solemn reading: "Baby if you've got to go away / Don't think I could take the pain / Won't you stay another day? (Stay now)

"Oh don't leave me alone like this / Don't you say it's the final kiss (Stay now) / Won't you stay another day? (Stay now)."

Last week, Mortimer explained the reasoning behind the sadness of the song on BBC Breakfast.

Frontman Tony Mortimer opened up about what inspired the 1994 track (YouTube)

"It had nothing to do with Christmas. But they heard it, the powers that be and said that's a Christmas song that can compete with the likes of Mariah Carey. And I was like, 'oh please don't release this song'," he told Jon Kay and Sally Nugent.

The frontman explained the song was 'so personal', adding: "I wanted it tucked away on the album and no one would really know about it but it became the song, you know."

Mortimer then went on to explain that tragically, it was his brother's death that inspired the song.

Mortimer said he wanted the song to 'mean a lot to a lot of people' (BBC)

He shared: "The inspiration originally was my brother's suicide. I drew on that to kind of write a love song around the pain of losing someone and if you could have that for one more day and what we would do and what we could do.

"What I always say is what it means to the person that likes it, not what it means to me."

Explaining that he wanted the song to be meaningful, Mortimer added: "I wanted to write in an ambiguous way that would mean a lot to a lot of people."

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.