ToC Critic’s Pick: Brothers Osborne, ‘Stay a Little Longer’ [Listen]
Brothers Osborne’s new single “Stay a Little Longer” demands repeat listens just to decipher everything that's happening within the blues-rocked soaked country cut. TJ Osborne's slow storytelling runs counter to the arrangement and John Osborne’s guitar playing, as if mirroring what the guy he's singing about is doing and feeling.
Butterfly guitar work early on precedes TJ’s languid delivery. “Stay a Little Longer” is part love song, part heartbreaker told within the framework of a one night stand. It’s an example of how an artist can rely on the music around him to tell the story.
“Somethin’ like a strong wind is comin’ over me / It’s got ahold of me,” he sings. “Thinkin’ and doin’ things I shouldn’t be / I really shouldn’t be.”
Each chorus is framed by a rest long enough to let his deep drawl fade into the soundscape. Now guitars and the steady hum of the rhythm section agitate as he sings about his spinning state of mind.
The chorus goes: “One more drink leads to another / You slide up close to me / Tearin’ 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 lyin’ here, wishin’ you could stay a little longer.”
TJ Osborne brings surprising heat to this track, but John Osborne’s guitar is just as important. It weaves around the details of this Shane McAnally co-written cut before another framing pause and explosion of six-string energy. A nearly six-minute version includes an extended guitar solo that takes “Stay a Little Longer” to new heights. No, radio will never play the long version, but find it and play if often if you love great guitar playing.
Key Lyrics: "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 lyin’ here, wishin’ you could stay a little longer."
Did You Know?: Bros wrote and recorded this song three years ago, but recut it recently after deciding they've grown too much as musicians to rely on something from 2011.
Listen to Brothers Osborne, "Stay a Little Longer"