Brothers O

This week, our host of Song Lyric Sunday, Jim Adams, has asked us to choose a song from a breakout album. I’ve chosen Stay a Little Longer by Brothers Osborne. It is off the Pawn Shop album.

The Backstory

Brothers John Osborne (born 1982) and TJ Osborne (born 1984) were two of five children raised in Deale, Maryland, a rural fishing community located along the Chesapeake Bay.^[6][7] In addition to their parents, who both wrote and played music regularly, their uncles and cousins also pursued musical hobbies. The family often gathered to perform music, inspiring the brothers’ earliest musical aspirations. “Naturally, John and I wanted to participate and play with the family because it was fun. And that was where we cut our teeth,” said TJ Osborne in 2014.^[8] The brothers then started performing regularly with their father, John Osborne Sr. Together, they played in a band called Deuces and a Quarter, while also helping their father with his day job as a plumber.^[9] When not performing, the brothers practiced music in their family’s backyard shed.^[3]

The duo continued performing more consistently through high school. They later represented their high school in the Anne Arundel County “Battle of the Bands” in 2000.^[10] Upon graduation, John attended Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. TJ soon followed his brother to the city after finishing high school.^[9] They first attempted to have separate careers. John began playing gigs as a sideman, while TJ played upright bass and composed material for other artists. TJ also made several demonstration records. Yet his own voice was considered “not generic enough” for many industry professionals. It was after this that the brothers started working together.^[11] For several years, the duo performed in clubs, bars, and other small music venues.^[9] In 2011, they signed a publishing contract with Warner-Chappell.^[3] In 2012, the siblings secured a recording contract with EMI Nashville, a subdivision of Capitol Records and Nashville’s Universal Music Group.^[12]

Stay a Little Longer

The song is a guitar-driven mid-tempo about a man who has an encounter with an “on again, off again” lover and, after the encounter, wishes that they could “stay a little longer.” T.J. Osborne, one half of the duo, told Rolling Stone that “That song gives them everything that we are. It starts off and the verses are really emotional and fragile. You don’t want to be alone, you’re making the phone call, taking the trip to the house and then you’re tearing t-shirts off and it’s this electric thing,” T.J. says. “But then, boom, you’re by yourself again: ‘I’m lying here wishing you could stay a little longer.’”^[2] The duo previously recorded the song on their 2014 self-titled extended play, but re-recorded it for the single version with Jay Joyce as producer.^[2]

The song is recorded in the key of F-sharp major with a main chord pattern of F♯-D♯m-B.^[3]

The music video was directed by Peter Zavadil and premiered in October 2015.^[8] The video received controversy due to the fact that it included real life same-sex couples kissing. Band member TJ Osbourne said of the video, “We didn’t want it to be about one person or one couple…[w]e wanted to nail down the narrative that it’s really about something that we’ve all felt and been through.”^[9]

The Lyrics

Yeah, something like a strong wind is coming over me
It's got a hold of me, yeah
Thinking and doing things I shouldn't be
I really I shouldn't be

Give her one more call
Just one more "Whatcha doin right now?"
Just one more trip to my side of town and you walk right in
To one more, "Here we go again"

One more drink leads to another
You slide up close to me
Tear our t-shirts off each other
Your hands all over me
I tell myself I'm not in love
But one more time is not enough
One last kiss and then you're a goner
While I'm here wishing you could stay a little longer

So calm and so cool, yeah I try to be
Like it don't bother me
The last time was the last time
Until I'm all alone and picking up the phone

It's one more call
Just one more "Whatcha doin right now?"
Just one more trip to my side of town and you walk right in
To one more "Here we go again"

One more drink leads to another
You slide up close to me
Tear our t-shirts off each other
Your hands all over me
I tell myself I'm not in love
But one more time is not enough
One last kiss and then you're a goner
I'm out here wishing you could stay a little longer

Yeah one more drink leads to another
You slide up close to me
Tear our t-shirts off each other
Your hands all over me
I tell myself I'm not in love
But one more time is not enough
One last kiss and then you're a goner
I'm out here wishing you could stay a little longer
Stay a little longer
Wishing you could stay a little longer, hmm
Ohh


Songwriters: John Thomas Osborne, Thomas John Osborne, Shane L Mcanally. For non-commercial use only.

The Video